Rep. Maxine Waters announced plans for a hearing on the foreclosure paperwork debacle that has raised questions about the legality of thousands of foreclosures nationwide.
The California Democrat, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee's housing subcommittee, said Monday that she will hold a hearing Nov. 18 with industry representatives, regulators and outside watchdogs. The hearing is meant to examine various proposed solutions to address the foreclosure crisis.
"The foreclosure process is a patchwork of different state rules, time frames and procedures so there is no single national standard," Waters said in a press release announcing the hearing. "But some states are providing innovative, effective responses that might be informative for Congress and federal policymakers."
Waters is sponsoring the Foreclosure Prevention and Sound Mortgage Servicing Act, which would require lenders to exhaust loss mitigation alternatives like loan modifications before they can initiate foreclosures.
Waters also issued a press release Tuesday condemning Bank of America Corp. and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage for ending their foreclosure freezes, expressing doubt that so many cases could have been reviewed so quickly. Waters called on regulators to conduct an investigation of mortgage servicers.
