LANSING-Today Senate Democrats fought against Senate Republicans’ efforts to gut the foreclosure protection legislation that was approved with bipartisan support two weeks ago. Democrats sought to restore true protections to House Bills 4453, 4454 and 4455 that would safeguard homeowners from Michigan’s growing foreclosure crisis.

“By significantly undermining some of the major provisions in these bills, Senate Republicans are dragging out the negotiation process making struggling consumers wait even longer for relief,” said Sen. Tupac A. Hunter, Minority Vice Chair on the Senate Banking & Financial Institutions Committee. “With more families losing their home each week, this delays the passage of much-needed foreclosure assistance for Michigan homeowners and only adds to this growing crisis.”

The Senate Republican substitutes for HB 4453-4455 taken up in the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee today ultimately strip the judicial foreclosure provision that requires a lender to work with a borrower who qualifies for a loan modification under the FDIC workout program. The amendments Senate Democrats introduced today would restore the original language in the House-passed version of this legislation that said that if lenders refuse to modify a loan for a qualifying borrower, then a foreclosure proceeding will be converted to a judicial proceeding.

“This foreclosure legislation is too little and too late for Michigan homeowners that have been waiting years for relief, and the Senate bills only further water it down and hold up action,” said Sen. Hansen Clarke (D-Detroit), a member of the Senate Banking Committee. “The Senate Republican plan is more protection for bad actors in the lending industry who refuse to address this crisis than it is protection for struggling homeowners and their neighbors. I fear that if enacted, these bills will be publicized as relief for homeowners and give residents false hope that they actually have some assistance in facing foreclosure.”

“This foreclosure crisis affects every one of us, as we watch our economy sink and our home values plummet,” said Sen. Dennis Olshove (D-Warren), a member of the Senate Banking Committee. “We need to act swiftly on meaningful reform, and this Republican version does not do nearly enough.”

The Senate Democrats’ amendments failed on a party line vote, and the Senate Republicans’ watered down substitutes also passed 4-3. The bills now move to the full Senate for consideration, and may be voted on as early as tomorrow.

# # #