The Virginia Senate on Tuesday signed off on a bill that would penalize people for knowingly falsifying foreclosure documents, but rejected one that would require deeds of trust to be recorded in county courthouses.
Sen. Chap Petersen, D-Fairfax, the patron of the bills, said the one that failed was intended to increase transparency and document who actually owns mortgages in the wake of the financial crisis fueled, in part, by the collapse of mortgage-backed securities.
Petersen has found allies on the foreclosure issue this session in Sen. Donald McEachin, D-Richmond, and Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William.
A House subcommittee remanded similar measures on foreclosures to a gubernatorial task force for further study, effectively killing them for the session.
But Petersen told The Washington Examiner that simply getting two bills — opposed by none other than the powerful banking lobby — to the Senate floor was a success.
