Senate Aims to Aid Those At Risk of Foreclosure

A bill aimed at curbing the tide of home foreclosures passed unanimously in the Virginia Senate yesterday.

The bill, introduced at the request of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D), would require lenders of risky mortgages to give borrowers notice when they are at risk of foreclosure and provide them with contact information for credit counselors.

The legislation, which must be approved in the House of Delegates, grew out of the mortgage crisis that has led hundreds of thousands of Americans to lose their homes.

-- Sandhya Somashekhar

Backers of Guns on Campuses Chide House

Two Virginia delegates criticized their fellow state lawmakers yesterday for failing to act on legislation that would have allowed students and professors to carry concealed weapons on college campuses.

Republican Dels. Robert G. Marshall (Prince William) and C. Todd Gilbert (Shenandoah) introduced similar bills this year that would have prevented public colleges in Virginia from banning guns. Neither bill received an up-or-down vote in the House.

They were joined yesterday by two members of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, an organization of college students that believes allowing law-abiding professors and students to carry guns on campuses might prevent killings such as the one at Virginia Tech, which left 33 dead, including the shooter.

-- Sandhya Somashekhar

Senate Panel Votes to Curb Payday Lenders

A state Senate committee passed restrictions yesterday on the payday lending industry that legislators touted as some of the most stringent in the country.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee unanimously passed a compromise bill that, among other things, extends the time borrowers have to repay a loan and effectively limits them to fewer than a dozen a year.

Payday lenders called the changes too restrictive, while industry opponents said they do not go far enough to protect vulnerable borrowers.

-- Associated Press