SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California State Senate passed a foreclosure relief bill on April 28 (Senate Bill 1137) that backers say has the potential of preventing more than one million troubled homeowners from losing their homes. The bill resulted largely from the efforts of the community group, ACORN, which sponsored a Foreclosure Solutions Forum on Dec. 3rd that drew several key legislators, including Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, along with more than 250 community members.

Those discussions led to the introduction of SB 926, which failed in the Senate on Jan. 30, just one vote short of passing, but the bill's sponsors keep pushing for a legislative fix, later introducing Senate Bill 1137, which passed this week. The bill requires that lenders meet with homeowners to discuss loan modifications before filing a notice of default.

The bill would fight blight from spreading in foreclosed neighborhoods by imposing penalties on banks that allow foreclosed properties to fall into disrepair. Other provisions provide that tenants must be given 60 days' notice prior to eviction from a property that has been foreclosed on, and when rental properties are put up for sale, tenants must get notice in several languages.