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CDP Week in Review - May 27 to June 2, 2007
From the Democratic Governor's Association Report
Ritter's Roadshow Earns Applause. Gov. Bill Ritter has traveled the state in recent weeks, signing bills in a senior citizens center, at a dog walking event in Denver's Washington Park, and even in a forest. Republican and Democratic lawmakers alike praised Ritter for making so many bill signings public, and for holding a majority of those events outside the governor's office. "What the governor told us was that he wanted, to the extent that it was possible, to sign bills in the communities where they will do the most good," a Ritter spokesman said. "It reinforces what he said on the campaign trail: that every county, every community, every person in Colorado matters."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/government/article/
0,2777,DRMN_23906_5565102,00.html
Wayne Allard: Worst Typo Award
File this one under the "Oh my God" of news release errors.
It came from the office of U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., who has introduced a bipartisan resolution to designate Sept. 25 as National First Responder Appreciation Day:
"First responders in Colorado have recently provided critical services in the face of blizzards and tornados. Since I don't think first responders have really done anything significant in comparison to their counterparts who have dealt with real natural disasters, I have no idea what else to say here."
Allard's quote in a press release sent at 2:53 p.m. Thursday:
"Please pardon my typo."
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/
0,1299,DRMN_15_5565347,00.html
Save The Date - Breakfast with Governor Bill Ritter
A special fundraising event for the Colorado Democratic Party will be a breakfast meeting on June 27, 2007 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
We are in the process of finalizing details and will announce the location shortly but for now, please reserve the date. Space will be limited.
If you want to tickets for this event, the price is $250 and can be paid via personal credit card on-line at the Colorado Democratic Party website:
http://www.coloradodems.us/events/ritterbreakfast
Or, you can send a personal check for that amount (payable to "Colorado Democratic Party") to Christine Pokrandt at the Colorado Democratic Party, 777 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, Colorado 80204.
Gov. Ritter Signs Consumer-Protection Bills To Stem Tide of Foreclosure and Mortgage Fraud
Some additional bills also signed this week include
House Bills 1355 and 1040
Joined by legislative sponsors, consumer-protection advocates and mortgage brokers, Gov. Bill Ritter today signed a tough new package of bills into law aimed at stemming Colorado's rising tide of residential-property foreclosures and mortgage fraud.
"Colorado has one of the highest foreclosure and mortgage-fraud rates in the country," Gov. Ritter said at Brothers Redevelopment Inc., which runs the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline through the state Division of Housing. "We're on pace to log another 37,000 foreclosures this year, which was up about 30 percent from 2006, and that was up 30 percent from 2005. Those are just staggering numbers.
"But the good news is that these bills will help stem the tide by setting standards for mortgage brokers, by prohibiting predatory lending practices and by protecting consumers in Colorado."
The bills are:
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HB 1322 (Marshall/Groff), "Mortgage Fraud Prevention Act"
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SB 85 (Veiga/Massey), "Protect Consumer Real Estate Transactions"
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SB 203 (Groff/Marshall), "Mortgage Broker Licensing"
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SB 216 (Veiga/Marshall), "Mortgage Loan Acts Practices"
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SB 249 (Veiga/Rice), "Real Estate Title Escrow Settlement"
"This is a great day for the state of Colorado," said state Rep. Rosemary Marshall, who championed the bills through the legislature. "This is the most comprehensive package of foreclosure-prevention and mortgage-fraud prevention laws in the country."
"These bills will make a substantial difference in the lives of people across the state," said Sen. Peter Groff. "These are among the most important bills that I have helped pass in my time in the legislature."
Denver City Council President Michael Hancock also participated in the signing ceremony after advocating on behalf of the bills during the legislative session.
"The next step will be educating consumers about how best to use the mortgage products available on the market," Hancock said. "Our goal is to make sure the American Dream doesn't turn into the American Nightmare."
Gov. Ritter also signed the following bills this week:
HB 1117
HB 1040
HB 1228
HB 1244
HB 1248
HB 1269
HB 1323
HB 1355
HB 1363
Here is a summary of the foreclosure and mortgage-fraud bills:
HB 1322, Measures to Prevent Mortgage Fraud (Marshall/Groff) Expands the current regimen of registration for mortgage brokers by regulating the behavior of mortgage brokers and others involved in residential real estate transactions. Brokers must act for the benefit of the borrower, including making reasonable inquiry into the borrower's financial situation and using best efforts to obtain a loan that takes into consideration the borrower's situation.
SB 85, Protect Consumer Real Estate Transactions (Veiga/Massey) This bill addresses the relationship between mortgage brokers and real estate appraisers. Brokers are prohibited from trying to influence the judgment of a real estate appraiser through coercion, intimidation, or compensation.
SB 203, Mortgage Broker Licensing (Groff/Marshall) The bill creates the "Mortgage Broker Licensing Act." Brokers must now be licensed by the Division of Real Estate; must get adequate training, testing, and receive continuing professional education; and are now prohibited from engaging in 24 specific activities (misrepresentation, fraud, conflicts of interest, and obligations to the consumer). A broker who has had his license revoked for violating this legislation would not be eligible to get re-instated unless he provides full restitution to those individuals he has harmed.
SB 216, Mortgage Loan Acts Practices (Veiga/Marshall) Imposes on a mortgage broker a statutory duty of good faith and fair dealing toward a borrower. These duties include:
* Not to recommend the borrower to enter into a transaction "that does not have a reasonable, tangible net benefit to the borrower" considering his circumstances.
* To make reasonable inquiry into the borrower's financial circumstances and use best efforts to obtain a mortgage loan taking those circumstances into account.
* Not to engage in a pattern or practice of providing mortgage loans based on acquiring the foreclosure or liquidation value of the collateral without regard to ability to repay, or entering into a loan transaction knowing there was no reasonable probability of repayment by the borrower.
Violation of this duty of good faith and fair dealing is made a deceptive trade practice under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.
SB 249, Real Estate Title Escrow Settlement (Veiga/Rice) Directs the Division of Insurance to provide annual reports to the JBC and other specified legislative committees, and to post on the DOI website, a statistical report of the number of enforcement actions taken, the market trends associated with title insurance and real estate transactions, and consumer complaints generated by market analysis, investigation and enforcement efforts regarding title insurance.
To view the full text of these bills, see:
http://www.leg.state.co.us
Priority Request for Plan to Help Fight Wildfires
This week Congressmen John Salazar (CO-3) and Mark Udall (CO-2) released a copy of a letter sent to U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey urging that the U.S. Forest Service place a high priority on completing and implementing a long-awaited plan on modernizing and securing air tanker readiness to help fight wildfires.
Following a letter sent to Undersecretary Rey in May 2006 wherein Congressmen Udall and Salazar expressed concerns about the safety and effectiveness of air tankers and other aircraft support in suppressing dangerous wildfires, Undersecretary Rey met with Congressmen Udall and Salazar and committed to producing a "long-term plan" by the spring of 2007 for updating the air tanker fleet and making sure such equipment is safe and effective. Last week, Congressmen Salazar and Udall wrote to Undersecretary Rey asking about the status of that promised plan.
Although a response has not yet been received from Undersecretary Rey, press reports, which included comments from a Forest Service spokesman, indicated that this plan is not ready and may not be for some time-which means that it is not ready for the 2007 fire season. As a result, Congressmen Salazar and Udall have again written to Undersecretary Rey urging that the Forest Service redouble its efforts to get this plan completed and implemented.
Long-term Presence in Iraq?
The Colorado Democratic Party has heard from a lot of concerned citizens on the funding vote for the war in Iraq. While respecting votes of conscience, many feel that we need to hold the President's feet to the fire. This week President Bush announced that he believes U.S. troops should have a long-term presence in Iraq similar to our presence in South Korea where thousands of troops have been based for the last 50 years. [USA Today, 5/30/07] Despite evidence that Coloradans want a change of course in Iraq and don't want our troops policing an Iraqi civil war, President Bush continues to dig his heels in by sticking to a failed strategy in Iraq.
If there ever was a time to work toward electing a new president, it is now. Then we will not have to worry about overriding vetoes.
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