DATE
Governor Rick Snyder
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909
Dear Governor Snyder,
On behalf of (INSERT ORGANIZATION NAME), I am writing to urge you to veto a tie-barred package of bills (HB4765, HB4766,
SB 380 and SB383) that is on its way to your desk for signature. If signed into law, these bills will effectively dismantle what has proven for
years to be fair, well-balanced and effective foreclosure policy, replacing it with extreme laws that will set Michigan back decades in its
efforts to prevent foreclosures and protect consumers, neighborhoods and communities. At the same time, these ill-conceived bills will
unnecessarily create new public safety concerns, all at a time when Michigan’s economic recovery is still fragile.
Most extreme and troubling of these bills is SB 383 which relates to Michigan’s 6-month redemption period. Michigan has
historically provided homeowners with a 6-month redemption period that begins when a home is sold at the sheriff sale. This six months
provides the homeowner the chance to stay in the home they still own in order to challenge an illegal or fraudulent foreclosure, come up
with the money to save the home, or sell it on a short sale to avoid the damaging effects of a foreclosure (for the homeowner, ruined credit,
for the neighborhood, another vacant property). If all else fails, this 6-month period allows the homeowner the time to find a safe,
affordable place to live, not easy when your credit was just ruined.
While it is true that SB383 as passed does not reduce Michigan’s longstanding redemption period from 6 months to 60 days as the original
bill would have, this statement is misleading because the version that awaits your signature is even a greater threat to the redemption
period. It opens the door for the banks (or other purchasers of the home at the sheriff sale) to totally eliminate the 6-month redemption
period for tens of thousands of homeowners whose homes are found to be in need of repair. SB 383 would give the sheriff sale purchaser
(usually the foreclosing bank) the unprecedented authority to conduct an unlimited number of unannounced inspections of not only
the exterior of the property including ancillary structures such as a garage or shed but the interior of the home itself while still
occupied by the homeowner. This is authority we don’t even grant to law enforcement without a court order. The stated purpose of these
inspections is to look for damage, whether it has occurred in the past, since the sheriff sale or is anticipated to occur in the future –
“imminent”.
Among the laundry list of repairs that are included in the bill as constituting damage are things as minor as a boarded up or closed off
window, a broken hinge, etc. If anything on the list is discovered or if the banks determine that some type of damage is ”imminent”, such
as a roof that may leak the next time it rains, the homeowner would lose the critical 6-month redemption period and instead face immediate
eviction, displacing yet another family and adding yet another vacant home to the hundreds of thousands already pock-marking Michigan
communities. If the homeowner refuses the bank entry to their home for these inspections, and the refusal is deemed
”unreasonable”, the homeowner is subject to the same fate - immediate eviction and loss of the redemption period.
Additionally, unlimited unannounced inspections of the interior of someone’s home while they are still occupying it as the homeowner,
present very real public and personal safety concerns. They give carte blanche to criminals posing as agents of the bank only to “case”
the home for future wrongdoing. They also put both the homeowner and those showing up unannounced to inspect the home at great
personal risk of violence.
The unfortunate political reality is that these extreme, ill-conceived bills were drafted by Senate Republicans with input from only the banks
with only the banks interests at heart. No consumer groups were part of the process despite repeated requests to be included. The
resulting bills are bad for Michigan homeowners, neighborhoods, communities and our still struggling state economy. We know
we can do better when all stakeholders are included and are urging you to exercise your authority as our Governor and veto the
entire tie-barred package.
Respectfully,
SIGNATURE