Democratic lawmakers in the state House and Senate have introduced legislation they say will curb Georgia's runaway home foreclosure rate.
Lawmakers call the state’s foreclosure rate a crisis of epidemic proportions, created they say by an industry which preys on the poor and uninformed.
Now, state Democrats in both houses have signed on to a slate of bills designed to reign in Georgia's subprime mortgage lenders.
One suggestion is to extend the deadline from 15 day to 90 days, for homeowners to respond to a foreclosure notice. Another would require lenders to inform homeowners by certified letter when a home loan has been sold.
Senator Vincent Fort is a member of the Senate Consumer Affairs Committee.
"This is the greatest foreclosure crisis, mortgage crisis since the 1930s. It’s unprecedented in the history of this country."By mid-2007, Georgia was home to nearly a quarter million subprime mortgages. Currently, the state ranks seventh in the nation in home foreclosure rates.
