BILL REQ. #:  S-4151.1 

Read first time 01/25/10.   Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED, AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     WHEREAS, The residential foreclosure crisis continues to affect communities throughout the United States at an alarming rate; and
     WHEREAS, Many homeowners, including speculators, find that they are "underwater" in their mortgages; owing more than their house or investment is worth and walking away from their mortgage; and
     WHEREAS, If you live in a nonrecourse state such as Washington, where if lenders choose a nonjudicial foreclosure, they are precluded from seeking deficiencies from the mortgagee. The taxpayers ultimately end up paying the price for speculators or homeowners who walk away from their responsibilities, unlike recourse states where the lenders must pursue homeowners for any deficiencies after foreclosure;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress require that all residential mortgages and deeds of trust become recourse loans as a matter of course so that no citizen is responsible for the actions of homeowners or speculators who walk away from their mortgages to the detriment of the public at large.
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.