Majority Whip Michael Padilla

STATE News:

SANTA FE – New Mexico Senate Majority Whip Michael Padilla has announced several pieces of legislation to stop unfair foreclosures and support and educate homebuyers.

“In the past year I’ve met with and listened closely to advocates and professionals across New Mexico, who conduct various aspects of home sales. We discussed how to best protect and serve New Mexico homeowners and buyers,” Padilla said. “We came up with seven pieces of legislation to ensure that those considering buying a home are financially educated, supported and protected from unfair foreclosure.”

Padilla’s bills would help homeowners in several ways including: 

• ensuring homeowners facing foreclosure are given due process before a judge;
• providing increased notification of a proposed sale of a foreclosed home to interested parties, including the former owner; 
• reducing the period in which to enforce a deficiency judgment arising from a foreclosure from 14 years to four years;
• providing New Mexico homeowners with alternatives to foreclosure by requiring servicers to take less harmful actions prior to foreclosure;
• requiring lenders and banks to seek settlement facilitation before proceeding with the foreclosure process;
• appropriating $50,000 from the general fund to support holding foreclosure process task force meetings around the state; and 
• appropriating $500,000 from the general fund to implement a pre-purchase homebuyer education program.

“This package of legislation was created to address the high number of people losing their homes while there is a scarcity of jobs in our state. The American Dream should not be shattered because people are ill-equipped or uninformed about what is needed to be successful,” Padilla said. “I believe that these bills should be seriously considered for the assistance of New Mexico families. Parents should not have to worry about losing a home for their kids because they’ve hit unfortunate financial circumstances. Kids should go to school and concentrate on learning; they should not worry about where they’re going to sleep at night. These bills will give New Mexico homeowners and buyers a hand up.”