Maryland Lawmakers Pass Foreclosure Legislation; Egregious Scams To Be Criminally Prosecuted

The Washington Post reports:

• Maryland lawmakers passed some of the nation's most ambitious legislation to control the housing crisis yesterday by toughening oversight of the mortgage-lending industry and establishing preemptive measures to help people at risk of foreclosure. Taken together, Maryland's bills are among the most sweeping in the country as legislatures from California to Florida consider proposals to stem the escalating rate of foreclosures. [...] The bills include making the most egregious mortgage schemes subject to criminal prosecution, extending the foreclosure timetable from 15 to 150 days and prohibiting prepayment penalties and transactions in which homeowners are tricked into signing over their houses to third parties.

For more, see Sweeping Bills Passed To Help Homeowners.

For story update, see: O'Malley Signs Foreclosure-Relief Bills.