Oregon State Public Interest Research Group (OSPIRG) has been working with the state government to help prevent foreclosures and protect consumers.  The importance of this fight and the work done by this group was recently profiled in this piece by KUOW, the local radio station.  It reported on the struggles of one family fighting for a loan modification but repeatedly being denied for unexplained reasons, despite legislation that should have helped people stay in their homes:

Last year’s bill requires lenders to give homeowners on the brink of losing their house more information about how to request a loan modification. But Bartholemew [Jon Bartholomew from OSPIRG] says too many people are given the runaround and are turned down for no apparent reason.

Bartholemew: “If a lender does deny a loan modification, we want them to tell the homeowner why, and have it actually written down with numbers, the actual numbers that they used to figure out why this homeowner is not qualified for a loan modification.”

The idea has gained some traction in the legislature. Democratic State Senator Suzanne Bonamici chairs the Senate Consumer Protection Committee. At a hearing last month, she asked bankers point–blank why they couldn’t do what OSPIRG is suggesting.

Bonamici: “How difficult would it be to provide the homeowner with the reason for not giving the modification? You probably have it in your records anyway. Would it be a big burden to say, if you’re going to say to someone, no you aren’t qualified, and here’s why?”

A representative from the Oregon Mortgage Lending Association said “There are concerns about providing more information because we do tend to be in a rather litigious society,” while the President of the Oregon Bankers Association, Linda Navarro, claimed that many bankers do already provide that kind of information, but “she doesn’t think the state should require banks to outline their reasons for rejecting a loan modification.”

The consumer in question did get her loan modification and peace of mind, but there are many more homeowners like her in Oregon and around the country.  Thanks to groups like OSPIRG, they’re finally being heard.

Click here to read or listen to the full story. For more information about OSPIRG, click here.

(Photo: TheTruthAbout)