Page 2 of 4
1 p.m. - Land Use & Economic Development Committee
A majority of the Supes oppose a BART surcharge on SFO employees. They want you to know that because, unlike BART, you might care what they think.
You have to be an optimist to last long in politics.
A surprisingly broad coalition (Campos, Maxwell, Mirkarimi, Dufty, Chiu, and Chu) have also proposed what sounds line terrific regulations for Mortgage Modification Consultants -- swarthy financial pirates who sail under flags of continued home ownership but often sink troubled mortgages to the bottom of the red fiscal sea.
Yarrrrrrr.
The regulations would require that Mortgage Modification Consultants:
• Provide a written contract describing services to be provided prior to initiation of services;• Provide notice on any contract entered into that the services may be canceled within 14 calendar days AND that the services may be obtained free of charge from nonprofit sources;
• No longer be allowed to collect fees until the consultant has obtained a written loan modification offer for the homeowner;
• Be subject to enforcement by criminal penalties and private cause of action.
Hilariously, the bill will also make "environmental findings," just in case these new regulations would create more traffic, or spew greenhouse gases.
I'm not normally one for overregulation of businesses -- and in 21st-century San Francisco, nearly any proposed regulation is overregulation -- but I have to say these sound solid to me. Because we already trusted the industry to police itself, and look what happened.
Damn it, does NOBODY follow the honor system anymore?
How about the buddy system? If we asked the housing industry and the financial industry to at least hold hands, would they do it? Or was that the problem already?
Finally, it looks like David Chiu and Bevan Dufty's proposal to require building owners who abandon their buildings to still care for them is going to head out of this committee and to the full board of Supervisors. Pretty soon in this city, it will be tougher to abandon a building than a spouse.
