M I N U T E S
CPTA Legislative Committee Meeting
Friday, August 11, 2006
Jefferson County Courthouse
10:30 a.m.
Attendees:
Bob Sagel Jeannie Reeser
Roxy Huber (on the phone) Sandra Berry
Rich Krohn (on the phone) Angela Dazlich
Mary Schaefer Mary Wenke
Jill Voegtle Sandy Hume
Peg Ackerman
Not present:
Tina Whitmer Karla Herridge
Karen Sheaffer Debbie Wagner
Jack Arrowsmith Peggy Foley
Jim Ventrello Larry Gilliland
Connie Joiner Jamie Crockett
Alta Mae Brown Jim Covington
Ed Murray
1. The meeting was called to order at approximately 10:35 a.m.
2. Jill Voegtle, Chief Deputy Public Trustee, City and County of Denver was appointed Secretary
3. HB 1387
a. Training Opportunities –
1) Getting a Handle on New Foreclosures – Douglas County 8/25, 10/13 & 12/15
a) Jack Arrowsmith has reported that 43 people have signed up, including Public Trustees, investors and attorneys; Up to 60 participants can be accommodated
2) CCTA/CPTA Seminar – Fort Collins 10/16 – 10/20
a) To be presented in the afternoon session – not going in-depth, but will have time for questions with Rich Krohn
3) Western Division Organizational Meeting – Grand Junction 9/6
4) Fall Eastern Division Meeting – Limon 9/14 & 9/15
5) CCTA/CPTA Summer Conference – Douglas County 6/18/07 – 6/22/07
b. Cleanup Bill in 2007
1) Representative Michael Garcia has reserved a bill title
2) Notify Roxy Huber or Bob Sagel with any proposals for the bill
3) Sandy Hume suggested that the new bill should re-codify the current, post-HB 1387, foreclosure statute (not §38-37-101, et seq. or §38-39-101, et seq.); The cleanup bill will already be somewhat substantial, so the committee agreed to address this for the 2008 session.
c. Subcommittee to work with Bar Committee
1) Work starts in earnest in next couple months to be prepared by December
4. Current Proposals
a. Release forms
1) Discussion was had regarding the title companies’ failure to mark the “Partial” box on the Release forms; the committee recommended legislation for two different forms (one for partials & one for full Releases); A motion was made by Bob Sagel that the CPTA’s position on the use of standardized Release forms should be a strong advisory for substantial compliance with the intent of the form, but not a mandate; Motion was seconded by Jeannie Reeser; The committee voted in favor of the motion
a) A bill to this effect would be simple and straightforward & could be carried by a freshman legislator
b) Bill should have a narrow title
c) The standardized format should be included in the bill
2) Roxy mentioned the memo from Caren Castle, General Counsel to MERS regarding the fact that MERS is not a qualified entity under §38-39-102(3.5), C.R.S., and cannot use the Request for Release Without Evidence of Debt form. There has been no change in the CPTA’s position on this.
b. Removal or reversal of junior lienor redemptions
1) Most states don’t have a redemption period for junior lienors – they just bid at sale
2) Need to research other states to see how they handle gaps if they have multiple lienors and determine if there is some sort of national association deals with this topic
3) Eliminating junior lienor redemptions would be easier on the process than reversing the order of redemptions, however it would be a harder sell in the legislature
4) The fraud legislation passed this year was due to the current process – much fraud would be cut down if there were no junior lienor redemptions
5) Bob Sagel suggested that we see how HB1387 works first, then look at this topic again; This topic was tabled until the next meeting
c. Removal or reduction of publications
1) It has been suggested that the language of the statute make it permissive instead
2) Smaller papers would lose the majority of their revenue; CPTA would need to meet with the Colorado Press Association about this topic
3) Sandy Hume moved to drop this idea, as it would be a waste time to run a bill on this – too strong of an opposition; Mary Wenke seconded, and the idea was dropped.
d. Pre-sale payoffs through the Public Trustees’ offices
1) Questions were raised as to the liability of Public Trustees to make sure a payoff figure is correct
2) Suggestions for enforcing a timely response to requests for payoff figures included imposing a fine or continuing the sale
3) This topic was tabled until the next meeting to give the committee more time to think about it
e. Fee structure for electronic v. manual submissions (Releases & Foreclosures)
1) The committee agreed that the new electronic filing systems should be in place longer, and the volume of electronic submissions should be greater before a differentiation in fees is considered
f. Review reserve account requirements
1) A question was raised as to whether a 100% cushion is excessive
2) The committee agreed that the current requirements should be left as is
g. Allow property inspections prior to the end of the redemption period
1) The committee agreed that it would create more chaos in the Public Trustee offices, because keys would have to be managed, etc.
2) A comment was made that the Realtors’ Association should bring this type of legislation; Angela Dazlich made a motion to drop this topic, and Sandy Berry seconded it; The committee voted in favor of the motion
h. New Combined Withdrawal & Request for Release form
1) This topic was tabled, as it corresponds to proposal ‘4d.’ above
5. Foreclosure Prevention Task Force update
a. The Home Ownership Preservation Initiative is a national program funded by GMAC
b. A Colorado-oriented (800) hotline will be established for pre- and post- foreclosure filings in an attempt at loss mitigation; Callers will be connected with housing counseling agencies in their area
c. A public relations program for the hotline is to be funded by FHLMC, with pro-bono/Public Service Announcements
d. A luncheon will be held on August 21, 2006 at Dolan’s in Boulder from 11:30 – 2:00 for anyone interested
6.
The next meeting of the CPTA Legislative Committee will be held on October 5,
2006 at 10:30 a.m. at the Jefferson County Administration and Courts Building,
100 Jefferson County Parkway, Golden, CO
(NOTE: The date has been changed to October 6,
2006.)