Status on Non-Judicial Foreclosure Bill

On March 16, 2004, I reported on a Senate Commerce, Consumer Protection and Housing Hearing on a bill relating to non-judicial foreclosure. The committee held the bill and absent something unusual, the bill is dead for this year.

HB 783 HD2 Various versions of the bill attempted to address issues with the 1874 nonjudicial (power of sale) foreclosure law which contains no consumer protection provisions and the 1998 alternate power of sale foreclosure process which was never used because no one would go through the process in the hopes that the delinquent party would sign the conveyance document after the foreclosure. Currently, non-judicial foreclosures are handled under the 1874 law although title companies require that the foreclosing party follow the consumer protection requirements in the 1998 law (but do not require that the delinquent party sign the foreclosure deed). That practice will likely continue since the bill appears to be dead.