California 90-day Foreclosure Moratorium

On February 20, 2009, the Governor signed Senate Bill SBX2 7, which puts an additional 90-day hold on foreclosures to allow for loan modifications. In cases where the lender is not willing to do a modification, this will not force them to do so. They just have to wait another 90 days. However, it will provide a little breathing space for some people.

The bill is not in effect yet and does not go into effect until 14-days after certain regulations have been drafted. And even after it goes into effect, mortgage companies can apply for an exemption upon a showing that they have an acceptable loan modification program. My personal feeling is that this will do little to stem the flood of foreclosures.