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California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris on Wednesday announced the California Homeowner Bill of Rights designed to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies and to help consumers and communities cope with the state's urgent mortgage and foreclosure crisis.
Joined by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Attorney General Harris announced her sponsorship of six bills designed to guarantee:
- Basic standards of fairness in the mortgage process, including an end to dual-track foreclosures.
- Transparency in the mortgage process, including a single point of contact for homeowners.
- Community tools to prevent blight after banks foreclose upon homes.
- Tenant protections after foreclosures.
- Enhanced law enforcement to defend homeowner rights – paid for by fees imposed on banks.
- A special grand jury to investigate financial and foreclosure crime.
"California communities and families are being devastated by the mortgage and foreclosure crisis. We must ensure the deceptive practices that caused it never happen again," said Attorney General Harris. "The California Homeowner Bill of Rights will provide basic fairness and transparency for homeowners, and improve the mortgage process for everyone."
The legislation builds on the California commitment announced by Attorney General Harris earlier this month, which is expected to result in $18 billion of benefits for California homeowners.
That agreement included reforms for mortgages owned by the five banks that were signing parties. The California Homeowner Bill of Rights will strengthen those protections, make them permanent, and apply them to all mortgages in the state.
"When I secured the California commitment, I made clear it was only one of many steps I am taking to comprehensively address the mortgage and foreclosure crisis," Harris said. "I want to thank Senate President Pro Tem Steinberg, Assembly Speaker Pérez and all the other lawmakers who are supporting this urgent package of legislation for homeowners."
"I want to congratulate the Attorney General on the victory she won on behalf of the people of California," said Speaker John A. Pérez. "Our state has suffered greatly as the result of bad actors in the banking and financial industries, and this settlement holds them accountable as we continue the difficult work of recovering the housing market and stemming the tide of foreclosures, evictions and auctions."
"Millions of Californians have already lost their homes to foreclosure and the mortgage crisis is far from over," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. "This landmark settlement negotiated by Attorney General Harris helps thousands of Californians but thousands more need the same help. We need to put these protections into law so that more people can save their homes."
CALIFORNIA HOMEOWNER BILL OF RIGHTS LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE
ASSEMBLY BILL 1602 / SENATE BILL 1470- THE FORECLOSURE REDUCTION ACT OF 2012
Authors: Assemblymen Mike Eng and Mike Feuer; Senators Mark Leno, Fran Pavley and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg.
- Requires creditors to provide documentation to a borrower that establishes the creditor's right to foreclose on real property prior to recording a notice of default.
- Requires creditors to provide documentary evidence of ownership, the chain of title to real property, and the right to foreclose, at the time of the filing of a notice of default.
- Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of default when a timely-filed application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure is pending.
- Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of sale when a timely-filed application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure is pending.
- Prohibits creditors from recording a notice of sale while a borrower is in compliance with the terms of a trial loan modification or after another loss mitigation measure has been approved.
- Requires creditors to disclose why an application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure has been denied.
- Requires that notices of foreclosure sales be personally served, including notices of foreclosure sale postponement.
- Provides homeowners with a private right of action in instances in which the requirements set forth in the legislation are not followed
ASSEMBLY BILL 2425 / SENATE BILL 1471 - DUE PROCESS REFORM LEGISLATION
Authors: Assemblywoman Holly Mitchell; Senators Mark DeSaulnier and Fran Pavley.
- Requires creditors to provide a single point of contact to borrowers in the foreclosure process who will be responsible for providing accurate account and other information related to the foreclosure process and loss mitigation efforts.
- Requires creditors to provide a dedicated electronic mail address, facsimile number and mailing address for borrowers to submit information requested as part of a loan modification, short sale or other loss mitigation option.
- Authorizes borrowers to challenge the unlawful commencement of a foreclosure process in court.
- Imposes a $10,000 civil penalty on the recordation or filing of "robosigned" documents, defined as documents that contain information that was not verified for accuracy by the person or persons signing or swearing to the accuracy of the document or statement.
- Requires that certain documents be recorded in a county recorder's office.
ASSEMBLY BILL 2314 / SENATE BILL 1472 - BLIGHT PREVENTION LEGISLATION
Authors: Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter; Senator Fran Pavley.
- Prevents blight enforcement actions from being taken against new purchasers of blighted property for 60 days, provided that repairs are being made to the property.
- Requires banks that release liens on foreclosed property to inform local code enforcement agencies of the release so that demolition of blighted property can proceed.
- Increases fines against owners of blighted property from $1,000 per day to $5,000 per day, and allow the imposition of the costs of a receivership over blighted property to be imposed directly against the owner of blighted property.
ASSEMBLY BILL 2610/ SENATE BILL 1473 - TENANT PROTECTION LEGISLATION
Authors: Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner; Senator Loni Hancock.
- Requires purchasers of foreclosed homes to honor the terms of existing leases and give tenants at least 90 days notice before commencing eviction proceedings.
ASSEMBLY BILL 1950 - ENHANCEMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL ENFORCEMENT
Author: Assemblyman Mike Davis.
- Imposes a new $25 fee to be paid by servicers upon the recording of a notice of default. The fee would be deposited into a real estate fraud prosecution trust fund that would support the Attorney General's efforts to deter, investigate and prosecute real estate fraud crimes, including the work of the Mortgage Fraud Strike Force.
- Extends the statute of limitations from one year to four years from the date of discovery for violations of law commonly occurring in connection with foreclosure-related scams, including acting as a real-estate agent without a license and charging up-front fees for loan modification services.
SENATE BILL 1474 / ASSEMBLY BILL 1763 - ATTORNEY GENERAL SPECIAL GRAND JURY
Authors: Assemblyman Mike Davis; Senator Loni Hancock.
- Authorizes the attorney general to impanel a special grand jury for the purposes of investigating and indicting multi-jurisdictional financial crimes against the state.
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LAKEPORT, Calif. – A man whose travel trailer burned last week has been arrested for allegedly setting it on fire.
John Austin Mitchell, 48, was arrested Friday, Feb. 24, by Lake County Sheriff’s Deputy Jay Vanoven on suspicion of arson.
Lakeport and Kelseyville firefighters responded early last Friday evening to the report of a burning travel trailer on Mission Rancheria Road outside of Lakeport, as Lake County News has reported.
Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said the travel trailer was destroyed and the occupant was gone by the time firefighters arrived.
Shortly after 6 p.m. Friday sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene based on a report that it may have been arson, according to a report from Capt. Chris Macedo.
Macedo reported that the deputies met with Wells, who informed them that a bystander had told him the fire had been intentionally set.
When the deputies met with Mitchell to interview him, Mitchell allegedly told them that he recently had been despondent and wanted to get rid of “some of the bad things” in his life, according to Macedo.
Based on the interview with Mitchell, deputies learned that he allegedly started the fire by igniting a blanket in the dwelling, Macedo said.
Mitchell also is alleged to have told deputies that he used no accelerants in starting the fire, and that he had no intention of harming anyone.
Mitchell was arrested and booked into the Hill Road Correctional Facility for maliciously setting fire to an inhabited structure, Macedo said.
Jail records showed that Mitchell remained in custody on Tuesday, with bail set at $100,000.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Richard Hinchcliff said the case against Mitchell has been submitted to the District Attorney’s Office, and that he charged Mitchell with arson of an inhabited dwelling.
Hinchcliff said Mitchell will be in court next Monday for appearance of counsel.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
The problem of drugged driving continues to rise, according to figures released Tuesday by the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).
Based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 30 percent of all drivers who were killed in motor vehicle crashes in California in 2010 tested positive for legal and/or illegal drugs, a percentage that has been increasing since 2006.
Drugged driving is a problem not widely recognized by the public, but increases in crashes, fatalities and injuries point out that society must acknowledge this serious problem and work to curb it, the agency reported. The problem of drugged driving is growing, even while DUI fatalities have been in decline.
Drugs which can impair driving are not only illegal narcotics and stimulants, but can be prescription and over-the-counter drugs as well as marijuana and its synthetic substitutes. Many, when combined with alcohol, heighten the effect of both, the report noted.
“You can be as deadly behind the wheel with marijuana or prescription drugs as you can with over-the-limit alcohol,” said Christopher J. Murphy, director of the Office of Traffic Safety. “The bottom line is drugs and driving do not mix.”
Drug-impaired driving is often under-reported and under-recognized and toxicology testing is expensive, the agency said. Additionally, because there is no established impairment level for drugs, prosecuting drug impaired driving cases can be difficult.
With the increased awareness of this growing problem, the Office of Traffic Safety and the California Highway Patrol are working together to provide officers statewide with specialized training to detect and apprehend drug-impaired drivers.
The federally funded program, new to California and developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is called Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement (ARIDE).
In the past five months alone, more than 700 officers from police departments across the state have attended ARIDE training.
Police departments also are being encouraged to send officers to the most advanced drug recognition program to become Drug Recognition Experts (DRE).
CHP manages the statewide program that currently has over 1000 officers as active DRE’s – the most in the nation.
Drug detection experts will be in place more often at DUI checkpoints and federally funded grant support will be used to fund operations to detect and apprehend drug-impaired drivers, OTS reported.
“This invaluable ARIDE and DRE training for law enforcement is the key to successfully removing drug-impaired drivers from the road, ultimately reducing the number of people killed and injured by irresponsible behavior and making our communities a safer place,” said CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow. “It’s also imperative that the public realize the synergistic effect of combining alcohol with prescription or over-the-counter drugs, and the danger this presents while driving.”
OTS announced last month that Sacramento and Orange counties were awarded federal funding to purchase state-of-the-art drug testing equipment.
In addition, district attorney offices in eight counties are being funded to create special “vertical prosecution” teams that will follow drug-impaired driving cases from arrest through trial.
Regional traffic safety resource prosecutors are providing training to district attorney offices on how to successfully prosecute drug impaired driving cases.
“Drug impaired driving is the new challenge for not only law enforcement and the judicial system, but for DUI prevention efforts as well,” said Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten, president of the California District Attorneys Association. “We need to make sure that drivers displaying objective signs of drug impairment either through bad driving or failed standardized field sobriety testing are arrested and prosecuted.”
Research shows drugs have an adverse effect on judgment, reaction time, motor skills and memory – critical skills for safe and responsible driving.
Recently, experts at the Dalhousie University in Canada released the results of a study that found that drivers who had used marijuana within three hours of driving had nearly double the risk of causing a crash as those not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The Canadian research reviewed nine studies of more than 49,000 people involved in crashes.
In fall 2010, six cities in California conducted nighttime weekend “voluntary” roadside surveys and found that the percentage of drivers who tested positive for marijuana (8.4%) was greater than the percentage that were using alcohol (7.6%).
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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Wednesday Golden State Water Co. will break ground on a new $418,600 pipeline replacement project as part of its infrastructure improvement plan for its Clearlake Customer Service Area.
The project involves installing 2,175 feet of new 8-inch diameter pipeline at San Joaquin Avenue east of the intersection of Lakeshore Drive at Island Drive, proceeding east to Parkview Drive and Park Terrace Drive at 12480 San Joaquin Ave., the company reported.
Existing 2-inch steel water mains that are more than 50 years old will be replaced with new polyvinyl chloride pipe (PVC), Golden State Water said.
The company said the replacement project will result in reduced leaks and improved fire protection for the Clearlake Customer Service Area.
In addition to this project, which was budgeted in a previous year, Golden State is authorized to invest another $480,000 in local improvements in 2012. More information about these projects is available at www.gswater.com/csa_homepages/clearlake.html.
“This project is one of several scheduled in our Clearlake Water System this year to help us maintain our critical infrastructure for our customers,” said Golden State Water Company District Manager Paul Schubert.
Golden State believes that proactive system maintenance is critical to protecting water service now and for future generations. Delaying or deferring needed improvements can be more costly and jeopardize water quality.
The work will consist of cutting through the existing concrete to remove the older pipeline and to install the new one.
The streets will remain open to traffic during the construction period but traffic and parking may be restricted during the working hours. The construction crews will make every effort to keep dust to a minimum.
Residents may experience periods with an increased level of noise during construction. Weekly activities such as trash pickup will not be interrupted.
The work is scheduled to last up to 45 days. Normal water service will not be interrupted except as needed to connect the new water mains to the existing system.
Customers will receive advance notification if their service will be temporarily interrupted.
Customers with questions about the project can call Golden State’s 24-hour Customer Service Center at 800-999-4033.
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SACRAMENTO – Department of Water Resources snow surveyors on Tuesday confirmed that California’s mountain snowpack holds far less water than normal for this time of year.
Manual and electronic readings show that statewide, snowpack water content is only 30 percent of historic readings for the date.
That is a mere 26 percent of the average April 1 measurement, when the snowpack is normally at its peak before it begins to melt with rising spring temperatures, the state reported.
“The weather news so far this winter has not been good,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “We still have good reservoir storage due to last winter’s storms, but we would like to see more rain and snow this season.”
Due to persistent dry weather, DWR on Feb. 22 dropped by 10 percent its estimate of the amount of water the State Water Project (SWP) will deliver this calendar year.
The delivery estimate – or allocation – was reduced from 60 percent to 50 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of water requested by the 29 public agencies that supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot.
The 50 percent allocation is not severely low, and could be increased if late season storms significantly improve hydrologic conditions.
One area visited by DWR snow surveyors on Tuesday was off Highway 50 near Echo Summit, approximately 90 miles east of Sacramento.
Electronic readings from remote sensors indicate that snowpack water content in the northern mountain ranges is 31 percent of normal for the date and 28 percent of the April 1 seasonal average.
Electronic readings for the central Sierra show 26 percent of normal for the date and 23 percent of the April 1 average.
The numbers for the southern Sierra are 33 percent of average for the date and 28 percent of the April 1 average.
Statewide, the snowpack water content is 30 percent of normal for the date and 26 percent of the April 1 average.
DWR and cooperating agencies conduct manual snow surveys around the first of the month from January to May. The manual surveys supplement and check the accuracy of real-time electronic readings.
Mountain snow that melts into streams, reservoirs and aquifers in spring and summer normally provides approximately one-third of the water for California’s households, farms and industries.
But unless conditions change this winter, water from the snowpack will be substantially less than normal this year, DWR reported.
One bright spot is good reservoir storage carried over from last winter.
Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal storage reservoir, is at 100 percent of average for the date (71 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity), Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, is at 94 percent of its normal storage level for the date (69 percent of capacity), according to DWR.
San Luis Reservoir in Merced County, an important storage reservoir south of the Delta, is at 99 percent of average for the date (85 percent of its capacity of 2,027,840 acre-feet). DWR said San Luis is a critically important source of water for both the State Water Project and Central Valley Project when pumping from the Delta is restricted or interrupted.
Statewide, reservoir storage is 110 percent of normal for the date.
Unusually wet conditions last winter allowed the State Water Project to deliver 80 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet requested for calendar year 2011.
The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007.
The last 100 percent allocation – difficult to achieve even in wet years because of fishery agency restrictions on Delta pumping to protect threatened and endangered fish – was in 2006.
This winter’s unusually dry conditions to date have principally been caused by a high pressure ridge along California’s coast that has diverted most storms to the north.
Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.
Electronic reservoir level readings may be found at http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action.
See DWR’s new Water Conditions page at http://www.water.ca.gov/waterconditions/ .
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Forecasters are predicting a strong storm system will bring winter weather to Northern California and the county over the next few days.
The National Weather Service on Monday issued a winter storm warning for northern Lake County and other parts of the state’s northern half.
The agency said the storm system is expected to pass from north to south through Northern California between late Tuesday night and midday Wednesday.
The storm is expected to bring rain, large amounts of snowfall in areas with elevation over 3,000 feet – where snow showers could continue until later in the week – and gusting winds, the National Weather Service said.
In Lake County, rain is expected to arrive after 4 p.m. Tuesday, with 1 to 2 inches possible overnight, forecasters said.
In addition, the forecast predicts south southwest winds up to 20 miles per hour and wind gusts up to 28 miles per hour in the evening.
Rain and wind is expected to continue Wednesday, with snow fall down to the 2,500-foot level Wednesday night, the National Weather Service said.
Warmer weather and sunshine is expected to return later in the week and over the weekend, according to the forecast.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at