About - SB 94 Compliance

On October 11, 2009, Senate Bill 94 was signed into law by California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The new legislation has been designed to protect homeowners from loan modification scammers, preventing companies, individuals, real estate licensees and even attorneys from receiving fees or any other form of compensation until after the contracted services have been rendered.

SB 94's author and founder was California State Senator Ron Calderon, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, thus having assumed ties to the lending industry. While this bill will help to protect consumers from con artists who take advantage of homeowners desperate to save their homes from foreclosure by charging up front fees and then failing to deliver anything of value in return, it is also attempting to make it more difficult for those consumers to have any sort of legal or specialized representation when attempting to negotiate a modification with their lender.

Upon signing SB 94, Governor Schwarzenegger noted: "Although I support the prohibition of individuals charging advance fees for mortgage loan modifications, I do not agree with the provision of this bill that will only allow fees to be collected if a modification is successful. This could adversely affect legitimate businesses that provide loan modification services. As such, I am signing SB 94 that accomplishes this prohibition against advance fees without unnecessarily harming legitimate companies."

Mortgage Assistance Centers stands behind the fundamental principles of SB 94 and has taken measures to comply with SB 94 based on our legal counsels interpretation of the new laws. We firmly believe, however, that consumers deserve the right to be represented in their battle to modify their home loans in these unprecedented economic times. We will continue to fight for our clients each and every day to help them receive the help that is so desperately needed. We are here to make sure the American Dream of Homeownership continues to live on.