This Friday, April 6th the Occupy Foreclosure Action Committee is calling on you to send the Oregon Governor a letter we have written asking him to sign 1552 into law and impose a moratorium on foreclosures until the law can be implemented, 91 days after he signs it. There is no deadline, but we would love to have the governor receive as many letters within one week as possible.
1552 recently passed during the Oregon state legislative session and it ends a process known as duel tracking. Duel tracking is when the banks claim to be negotiating with homeowners, but instead they lie, saying they never received homeowner submitted documents to purposefully stall the process so they can foreclose on the homeowner at the same time. That is no longer allowed according to 1552. The bill also requires banks to meet with homeowners in loan modification negotiations if the homeowner requests it.
1552 isn’t perfect, but it will help some homeowners, and it needs to be signed immediately. However, even after being signed by the Oregon governor, it won’t go into affect for an additional 91 days. We are calling on the Oregon governor to implement a statewide moratorium on foreclosures until the bill can be completely implemented and effective.
The letter we have drafted for you to send is below. You can copy and paste into your document editor software of choice or download the DOC to print, sign, and send to the Oregon governor. We recommend sending it via registered returned receipt from your local US post office to be sure they received your letter.
Thank you for all you do!
– The Occupy Foreclosure Action Committee
Governor Kitzhaber
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047
[Today’s date]
Dear Governor Kitzhaber,
I am a concerned citizen living in Eugene Oregon and I respectfully call on you to act in your capacities as chief executive and the chief defender of the State’s laws and immediately impose a moratorium on all foreclosures in Oregon until SB 1552B takes effect. I also respectfully urge all due haste in signing SB 1552B into law.
I am gratified by the passage of SB 1552B, which mandates face-to-face mediation between banks and homeowners, offers more protection for renters of foreclosed properties, and ends “dual tracking” efforts by lenders. This legislation offers substantial protection of the rights of Oregon homeowners.
However, I am concerned that during the period before the bill takes effect lenders might accelerate foreclosure actions in order to get around these new regulations. Only last Friday, the Securities and Exchange Commission was forced to file suit in the Northern California US District Court against Wells Fargo to obtain documentation for its mortgage practices. Currently, there is great uncertainty regarding the legality of foreclosure practices being utilized by the big banks.
The Attorney General of Washington State suggests that Homeowners may possess a cause of action against MERS because MERS is not a lawful beneficiary. Similarly, two Federal Judges in Oregon and our own Attorney General Kroger have recently opined that MERS is in violation of Oregon law. As you know, adding more foreclosures of questionable legality to the existing backlog only compounds the problems SB 1552B is designed to alleviate. More Oregon homeowners will fall victim to illegal foreclosure practices, and foreclosures also result in reduced property tax revenue for our struggling counties.
I appreciate the effective homeowner protection rules Mr. Kroger has put in place, and strongly suggest you add a temporary foreclosure moratorium to them, to protect Oregon homeowners until the safeguards of SB 1552 take effect. We have initiated a petition to this effect, with a target of gathering 50,000 signatures. You may view it here: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-governor-of-or-immediate-statewide-moratorium-on-mortgage-foreclosures
Respectfully submitted,
[Your name, address, phone number]