Home security package passed from House

February 6, 2008 

OLYMPIA — The Democrat-led House of Representatives today passed a package of policies and reforms that aim to keep dreams of affordable housing from turning into nightmares across Washington state.

"This is shaping up to be the most productive legislative session in state history when it comes to helping people find and keep decent homes," said state Rep. Mark Miloscia, D-Federal Way, who chairs the Housing Committee in the House of Representatives.

Several reforms passed today seek to protect Washington families from getting trapped into bad home loans that have wreaked economic havoc in many other states. The House also voted overwhelmingly to help more homeless and working families find affordable housing, and to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of housing programs in order to get more bang for the state’s housing investments.

Today’s housing security package marks the second time in three weeks that the House took up housing reforms.

Among the bills the House passed:

Homeownership Security (House Bill 2770 by Rep. Phyllis Kenney, D-Seattle)
This comprehensive reform is the result of a bipartisan task force that brought together everyone—lawmakers, leaders from business, consumer advocates—to find ways of protecting homeowners.

"This bill will help protect families from bad deals and scams," said Rep. Kenney. "It bans several unfair practices, such as unjust prepayment penalties that hammer families for trying to pay off their home early. It also gives people better information—on a single page and in plain language—before they sign a loan and it makes mortgage fraud a class B felony. Getting mugged and losing your wallet is bad enough. Getting mugged by a bad deal and losing your home is a much greater tragedy."

House Bill 2770 also ends the practice of negative amortization loans, which is a complicated term for home loans where you could make mortgage payments for years and still wind up owing more than the day you took out the loan.  (Passed 92-0)

Mortgage scams (House Bill 2791 by Rep. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor)
This law would help prevent scam artists from preying on people at risk of losing their homes and the equity they have worked hard to build up.

"The national mortgage crisis is breeding con artists who are swooping in to take advantage of people who fall behind on their house payments," said Rep. Lantz. "They basically bamboozle people into signing over their house to them. We have a duty to stop these scams, and our Attorney General says this law will provide the crucial protection homeowners need. I'm proud we passed this law to protect citizens."  (Passed 96-0)

Green home weatherization (House Bill 3141 by Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo)
This measure encourages the use of the most efficient and sustainable technologies in the state’s low-income housing programs, including the home weatherization program. Emphasizing energy efficient and environmentally friendly materials, fuels and practices would secure better value for state investments while helping Washington to become a national leader in sustainable technologies.

"This will help senior citizens and others who benefit from state weatherization or housing programs to save more energy and money," said Rep. Liias. "It will also help boost our economy and save our environment by promoting technologies that combat causes of global warming." (Passed 90-2)

$6M for Washington Families Fund (SB 6335)
The Washington Families Fund is a highly successful public-private partnership that provides state matching dollars for service enriched housing that saves families with children from homelessness. The Gates foundation and 17 other organizations have worked with the state to serve thousands of families in the program. The $6 million infusion of state support will help about 5,000 people avoid homelessness over the next 10 years. (Passed 83-13)

Financial literacy information and counseling (SB 6272)
Responding to one of the top priorities of the Washington Task Force for Homeowner Security, this reform would provide $1.5 million for counseling and information to help families make good loan decisions and avoid financial disaster from loans they cannot afford.

The housing package passed today is part of a session-long effort launched by Gov. Chris Gregoire and legislative Democrats to improve housing security for families across Washington. (Passed 69-27)