By Annapolis Digest
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Maryland officials delivered an alarming forecast of continuing erosion in the state's housing market as lawmakers started work yesterday on a key portion of Gov. Martin O'Malley's legislative agenda aimed at slowing the rate of home foreclosures.
About 23,000 homes entered foreclosure in Maryland last year, and the number of foreclosure actions increased by 38 percent from the third to fourth quarter, Housing Secretary Raymond A. Skinner said at a hearing yesterday of the Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee.
Skinner said Prince George's County continues to be the hardest-hit jurisdiction in the state, with 28 percent of all foreclosures occurring in the majority-black county.
The Senate committee heard testimony on three bills proposed by O'Malley (D) to change the rules governing the mortgage lending industry and help people at risk of losing their homes.
The bills would provide consumer protections and impose disclosure requirements on foreclosure consultants. The legislation also would create a mortgage fraud statute, including penalties for mortgage fraud.
"All too frequently, when we try to deal with the [homeowner], the train wreck has already occurred and we're just picking up the pieces," Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez said.
More than a dozen interest groups submitted testimony on the bills and almost all supported them. The Maryland Association of Realtors opposed a measure that would prohibit foreclosure rescue transactions.
Last summer, O'Malley organized a task force, chaired by Perez and Skinner, to study laws and regulations governing foreclosures. Perez said the governor's legislative package addresses the concerns raised by the task force.
"They are appropriately aggressive," Perez said of the bills. "They are surgical. We did not approach this with a meat ax. We approached this with a scalpel."
-- Philip Rucker
Special Elections Proposed
Two Montgomery County Democrats introduced a bill yesterday to require that some General Assembly vacancies be filled by special election.
Sens. Richard S. Madaleno and Jamie B. Raskin said they want to establish a more democratic process to fill vacancies that occur when lawmakers leave office in midterm or when they die in office, as in the recent cases of Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt (D-Prince George's) and Del. Jane Lawton (D-Montgomery).
Under current law, the Democratic or Republican committee from the lawmaker's home jurisdiction recommends a replacement for appointment by the governor. The replacement holds the seat until the vacating lawmaker's term expires.
The proposed change would cut short some appointments by requiring that a special election be held to coincide with the next presidential election. The change would not apply if the next regular General Assembly election fell before the presidential election.
"As things stand now, it's a very long time to have someone appointed to a seat" without being up for election, Madaleno said. The change would require an amendment to the state constitution.
-- Lisa Rein
Drug Dealers' Loophole Targeted
Members of the House Judiciary Committee will hear testimony today on a bill to eliminate a provision in state law that one Montgomery County delegate says has benefited drug traffickers and money launderers.
Under current law, police can prosecute drug traffickers for financial transactions, such as buying a car or jewelry, only if the purchases involve money derived from a drug crime totaling $10,000 or more.
The legislation, introduced by Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons (D-Montgomery), would change the rules so that any financial transaction in Maryland involving drug money of any amount would be subject to criminal prosecution.
-- Philip Rucker
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