After two years of new state laws and a federal program designed to prevent unnecessary home foreclosures, loan modifications remain rare.
Worse, borrowers continue to get notices of sale even if they have a loan modification application under review, or have been paying on a trial modification.
In short, if servicers make errors or don't follow through on their modification programs, there's no accountability.
That's why California lawmakers should pass and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign Senate Bill 1275. Authored by Sens. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, it would accomplish two things left out of previous bills:
• Prohibit loan servicers from starting the foreclosure process until a homeowner has received a final decision on a modification.
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