Obama to Veto Foreclosure Bill

President Obama plans to veto a bill that could make it more difficult for homeowners to fight foreclosures, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The veto comes in the wake of revelations about “robo-signers,” people who signed foreclosure documents without first reviewing them. Blocking the bill could make it more difficult for companies to complete the foreclosure process and paperwork quickly, allowing homeowners more time to resolve loan issues.

The president will oppose the bill with a pocket veto, which means that it will be sent back to Congress. “We believe it is necessary to have further deliberations about the intended impact of this bill on consumer protections, including those for mortgages, because this bill can be finalized,” said White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer in a blog post quoted in the report.

The bill, called the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009, applied to many types of documents, including foreclosures. It would have required state and federal courts to accept documents from other states that were notarized by people or computers. The bill garnered little attention when both the Senate and House of Representatives passed it this year. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner brought the bill to the White House’s attention last week due to concerns about how it would affect the foreclosure process.