Increasing Number of Foreclosures Prompts Debate on Bill in Pennsylvania Senate
Increasing number of foreclosures across Pennsylvania has prompted debate on a bill in the state Senate aiming to give protection to the renters and the homeowners. Senator Benjamin B. Downing said, “The sate has recently seen a new spike in foreclosures and we felt there is a need to react to some of that, particularly the concern around reverse mortgages.”
The legislator from Berkshire said that in general he supported the measures being proposed for providing relief to foreclosure victims – whether owners or tenants, but he is still mulling over the complex reverse mortgages that are posing a serious threat to senior citizens. He said, “People look for ways to try and get through difficult times. People look for ways to try and get through difficult times.”
The bill offers to give protection to the tenants from being evicted even if the house is foreclosed. Tougher safeguards would be provided to the elderly. It would also give incentives to lenders for modification of loans. A registry would be set up for listing the abandoned foreclosed units. Mortgage fraud would come under criminal law.
In Berkshire the foreclosure crisis was not as severe as elsewhere but locally there are concerns. Jay Anderson of Pittsfield Cooperative Bank said, “(The national foreclosure rate) has to impact values and it has to impact everybody – there’s no getting away from it. We’re not immune.” Local institutions have served as a bulwark against the lashing waves. It has followed lending operations that were not as risky as followed elsewhere.
Mike Daly of Berkshire Bank said, “I think that, frankly, the community banks, even across the state, were a little bit more conventional and conservative in their underwriting. I think that’s where the mortgage companies and some of the more aggressive mortgage loaners [in other counties] are in a circumstance where they’re seeing more foreclosures than they are in Berkshire County.”
As per the findings of Foreclosures.com in the previous 60 days there have been 38 foreclosures. This is in contrast to 550 foreclosures in each of the counties of Middlesex and Worcester during this period.
The director of Berkshire Regional Housing Authority, Brad Gordon was questioning the effectiveness of the bill and how far actual relief it would provide. He said, “It’s been really challenging because as much as on the federal side they’ve tried to come up with legislation that will provide a wide range of remedies for people who are at risk or are in foreclosure, they’ve been inadequate. It creates some real steep challenges for keeping people in their current living situation.”
