Bill Text: HI SCR39 | 2012 | Regular Session | Amended

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Attorney General; Mortgage Loan Servicing Settlement

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 14-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-04-12 - (S) The committee on JDL deferred the measure. [SCR39 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2012-SCR39-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	39
TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE OF HAWAII TO CONTINUE TO COLLABORATE WITH STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES, INVESTIGATE INSTANCES OF WRONGFUL AND UNLAWFUL CONDUCT BY LENDERS AND SERVICERS, AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii has been experiencing a mortgage crisis since 2004; and

 

     WHEREAS, the mortgage crisis resulted from a number of widespread and unlawful or otherwise improper practices involving residential mortgage loan origination, servicing, and the provision of foreclosure services; and

 

     WHEREAS, unnecessary foreclosures of people's homes have resulted in vacant homes, homelessness, and declining property values and neighborhoods; and

 

     WHEREAS, mortgage defaults led to a record number of foreclosures across the nation and in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, from 2006 through 2009, there were more than six million foreclosures nationwide as compared to only 100,000 foreclosures in 2005; and

 

     WHEREAS, the national rate for foreclosures has increased an additional twenty-three percent since 2008, with approximately 2.9 million home mortgages in the United States in foreclosure in 2010; and

 

     WHEREAS, the ongoing housing crisis and significant increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have exacerbated the current financial crisis; and

 

     WHEREAS, it appears there were numerous fraudulent loan transfers, assignments of mortgage, and quitclaim deeds, and their filing statuses were therefore inaccurate due to illegal loan transfers and lack of recordation at the state level; and

 

     WHEREAS, fraudulent and improper practices have clouded property title in Hawaii and damaged borrowers and subsequent purchasers; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, mortgage fraud is a growing criminal threat that is hurting homeowners, businesses, and the national economy; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the fall of 2010, nationwide reports exposed fraudulent foreclosure filings, which included the practice of signing mortgage documents without first verifying the contents, a practice often referred to as "robo-signing"; and

 

     WHEREAS, many lawsuits were filed in response to the fraudulent activities of lenders and servicers, including a $16,500,000,000 class action lawsuit against Merrill Lynch for providing misleading documents; and

 

     WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the fifty state attorneys general have been actively and jointly investigating wrongful conduct by lenders and servicers; and

 

     WHEREAS, the joint multistate investigation recently resulted in a settlement with the United States Department of Justice, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, forty-nine state attorneys general, the District of Columbia, and the nation's five largest lenders and servicers; and

 

     WHEREAS, the settlement addresses certain wrongful conduct by the five largest lenders and servicers and benefits struggling homeowners by providing certain types of foreclosure relief; and

 

     WHEREAS, the settlement agreement provided the five largest lenders and servicers a limited release, and investigations are ongoing regarding claims that were not released and claims against other lenders and servicers; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-sixth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2012, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii is requested to continue to collaborate with appropriate state and federal agencies, investigate instances of wrongful and unlawful conduct by lenders and servicers, and take appropriate action; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Attorney General, and Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

Report Title: 

Attorney General; Mortgage Loan Servicing Settlement