Governor of Colorado Signs New Laws on Mortgage Fraud

GOV. RITTER SIGNS CONSUMER-PROTECTION BILLS TO STEM TIDE OF FORECLOSURE AND MORTGAGE FRAUD

“Joined by legislative sponsors, consumer-protection advocates and mortgage brokers, Gov. Bill Ritter today signed a tough new package of bills into law aimed at stemming Colorado’s rising tide of residential-property foreclosures and mortgage fraud.”

“‘Colorado has one of the highest foreclosure and mortgage-fraud rates in the country,’ Gov. Ritter said at Brothers Redevelopment Inc., which runs the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline through the state Division of Housing. ‘We’re on pace to log another 37,000 foreclosures this year, which was up about 30 percent from 2006, and that was up 30 percent from 2005. Those are just staggering numbers.’”

“‘But the good news is that these bills will help stem the tide by setting standards for mortgage brokers, by prohibiting predatory lending practices and by protecting consumers in Colorado.’”

Here is a summary of the foreclosure and mortgage-fraud bills.

* HB 1322 (Marshall/Groff), “Mortgage Fraud Prevention Act”
* SB 85 (Veiga/Massey), “Protect Consumer Real Estate Transactions”
* SB 203 (Groff/Marshall), “Mortgage Broker Licensing”
* SB 216 (Veiga/Marshall), “Mortgage Loan Acts Practices”
* SB 249 (Veiga/Rice), “Real Estate Title Escrow Settlement”


The full press release is available here.
There is also a video available from (CBS4) DENVER

According to RealtyTrac: Total Foreclosures Available Year-to-Date for Colorado: 44,473.


Brothers Redevelopment Inc: A local, non-profit housing redeveloper providing safe, affordable, accessible housing and housing services for the low-income, elderly and disabled of Colorado.



The Colorado Foreclosure Hotline connects borrowers with non-profit housing counselors who can provide information on a borrower’s options when facing foreclosure. Counselors can also act as facilitators for communication between lenders and borrowers.


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