Fairfax Senator goes one-for-two on foreclosure bills

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.