Full Text of HR0010 97th General Assembly
HR0010 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0010 | | LRB097 00255 AJO 40273 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The mortgage foreclosure crisis deepened after it | 3 | | was disclosed that several large home mortgage lenders utilized | 4 | | procedures that were legally insufficient to support | 5 | | foreclosures; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, After problems were revealed about the manner in | 7 | | which foreclosure affidavits were processed, the uncertainty | 8 | | about the true ownership of mortgages, and the questionable | 9 | | legal standing of the entities that initiated foreclosure | 10 | | proceedings, 2 of the nation's largest residential lenders | 11 | | announced that they were each beginning a self-imposed mortgage | 12 | | foreclosure moratorium; and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Although this crisis has its origins in numerous | 14 | | events, practices, and policy decisions, a central element of | 15 | | the foreclosure problem is the Mortgage Electronic Registry | 16 | | System (MERS), an electronic registry of land records which was | 17 | | created in 1998 by the Federal National Mortgage Association | 18 | | (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation | 19 | | (Freddie Mac), and several large U.S. banks; and
| 20 | | WHEREAS, Today MERS is listed as the agent for mortgage | 21 | | lenders on documents for 65 million home loans, which represent | 22 | | about 60% of the mortgages in the United States, and is the |
| | | HR0010 | - 2 - | LRB097 00255 AJO 40273 r |
|
| 1 | | agent for about 97% of the home mortgages created between 2005 | 2 | | and 2008; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Although MERS boasts on its website that it | 4 | | "simplifies the way mortgage ownership and servicing rights are | 5 | | originated, sold and tracked" which "eliminates the need to | 6 | | prepare and record assignments when trading residential and | 7 | | commercial mortgage loans", housing counselors and advocates | 8 | | have documented patterns of abuse and fraud by mortgage | 9 | | servicers that utilized MERS; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, Joining MERS at the center of the foreclosure | 11 | | crisis is the practice of "robo-signing", the process of | 12 | | generating thousands of affidavits often by unskilled and | 13 | | unqualified employees who neither read nor certified the | 14 | | underlying documents, which are used to obtain summary | 15 | | judgments in foreclosure proceedings; and | 16 | | WHEREAS, Since a large volume of mortgages were digitized, | 17 | | there have been countless instances of original promissory | 18 | | notes being lost or misplaced; in lieu of producing the | 19 | | original promissory notes in the foreclosure proceedings, | 20 | | servicers simply provided "robo-signed" affidavits that state | 21 | | that the loan servicers own the notes; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Court records in mortgage foreclosure cases have |
| | | HR0010 | - 3 - | LRB097 00255 AJO 40273 r |
|
| 1 | | documented egregious examples of: falsified documents; "fee | 2 | | padding"; misapplication of mortgage payments; and improper, | 3 | | unnecessarily expensive insurance assessments, which, in turn, | 4 | | precipitated defaults on otherwise up-to-date loans and wholly | 5 | | improper mortgage foreclosures; and | 6 | | WHEREAS, The effect of all of these problems and the | 7 | | resulting consumer confusion cry out for a nationwide | 8 | | moratorium on pending and new mortgage foreclosures; | 9 | | therefore, be it
| 10 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 11 | | NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 12 | | we urge Congress to enact legislation that creates a mortgage | 13 | | foreclosure moratorium
to allow a thorough review of | 14 | | foreclosure actions, provide meaningful opportunities for | 15 | | homeowners to renegotiate their mortgages so as to avoid | 16 | | foreclosure, enact further reforms, and allow the entire | 17 | | housing market to return to normalcy; and be it further
| 18 | | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 19 | | presented to President Barack Obama, the Speaker of the United | 20 | | States House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of | 21 | | the United States Senate, and each member of the Illinois | 22 | | congressional delegation.
|
|