Fix It Yourself, Part II

[January 23rd, 2008]

When Oregon opens its first scheduled off-year legislative session Feb. 4, one bill that will attract enormous interest is a package of “front-end” reforms designed to protect borrowers from mortgage abuses.

The measure, Senate Bill 1090, will be sponsored by Sen. Ben Westlund (D-Tumalo) and will include reforms incorporating the following basic concepts:

• Strict limits on prepayment penalties.

• A prohibition on lenders providing incentives to brokers for sticking borrowers with artificially high interest rates.

• A requirement that lenders determine whether borrowers are sufficiently credit-worthy.

WW wrote last week (see “Fix It Yourself,” WW , Jan. 16, 2008) that the actions and written statements of Democrats, who control both legislative chambers and the governor’s office, seemed to lack urgency in addressing the worst abuses of the loan process. House Speaker Jeff Merkley (D-Southeast Portland) and Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin (D-Tualatin) both rejected the story’s assertion that they were doing nothing. And so did a spokeswoman for Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

The joint list of priorities for the upcoming one-month session issued by House and Senate Democrats on Jan. 9 addresses only fixes to foreclosure processes, which are after-the-fact solutions at best.

But Merkley, a contender for his party’s U.S. Senate nomination, says he works best behind the scenes and that lending abuses are a “huge issue.” Devlin pointed to the 2007 session, in which the Senate approved

Senate Bill 965, which included reforms listed in Westlund’s bill, only to see lenders and Republicans kill it in the House. Today, Devlin says the back-end foreclosure problem is more pressing than front-end lending abuses, and that Ds are doing plenty.

Kulongoski spokeswoman Patty Wentz says her boss went on record favoring front-end reforms last fall, lthough his mortgage-lending task force recommended only changes to the foreclosure process.

“Democratic legislators and the governor proved with payday loans they believe in consumer protection,” says Angela Martin of the advocacy group Our Oregon. “The stakes are higher and the time shorter with mortgage reform but based on what they’ve told us, we’re confident they will help Oregon borrowers.”

We asked key Dems where they stand on SB 1090, including the gov; those on committees that will hear mortgage bills; and those running for secretary of state and treasurer.

Here are their responses (click on the image top left for a larger view, or download the PDF here).