Many of Colorado’s legislators are getting tired of laws trying to change the state’s foreclosure process and that’s why House Bill 1156 was cut a few weeks ago. Even after hours of debate, most of the time in favor of the foreclosure bill, it was killed by legislators that believe even though the foreclosure system is a mess, it just needs to work itself out instead of adding another law into the mix.

The bill would have required lenders to prove they have the right to foreclose on a home before doing so. Currently, a lawyer representing the lien holder can file a document, known as the “statement of qualified holder”, stating their client has the right to file notice of default. When the lawyer submits this document on the lien holders behalf, they are never required to provide proof that the lien holder owns the mortgage on the home. If an error is made and a home that shouldn’t have been foreclosed upon is, there are no penalties for making this mistake.

Although many legislators believe that there are still too many laws dealing with the foreclosure crisis, this bill, brought about by the Colorado Progressive Coalition, would have passed if it had had different backing. Some legislators even supported the bill but still voted against it because of the current state of the foreclosure process. They feel that the housing industry is already overregulated and adding another law would make it that much worse.

Since 2005, there have been 15 different bills have been put into place that have either impacted or changed the foreclosure process in Colorado and legislators just want the process to be left alone once and for all. They feel the current foreclosure process is working fine, so why fix something that isn’t broken?