Beacon Economics Report Warns of Adverse Impact of
California Homeowner Bill of Rights

Christopher Thornberg

An industry coalition consisting of the United Trustees Association, the California Mortgage Association, the California Bankers Association, the California Mortgage Bankers Association, the California Credit Union League, and MERSCORP Holdings, have financed an economic report produced by Beacon Economics.

Beacon Economics is a firm of California’s leading economic researchers and consultants, including Dr. Christopher Thornberg.  Prior to forming Beacon Economics, Thornberg was the Chief Economist for the California State Controller and Senior Economist of the UCLA Anderson Forecast.  He is widely quoted in the media.

The Beacon Report, entitled “Foreclosure Reform in California:  An Economic Analysis”, was released on June 28th.  The report focused on the unintended consequences of making the foreclosure process more difficult for lenders and provides an economic and fiscal impact of the proposed Homeowners Bill of Rights.
Among the findings of the report:

• The California Homeowner Bill of Rights will not help California’s housing market recovery.
• The legislation would reduce home values.
• The bills are unlikely to help borrowers who are behind on payments.
• The bills could end up costing owners who are in financial trouble on their mortgages.
• The bills could actually increase the number of foreclosures in the state.
• The bills would reduce the availability of credit for future homebuyers.

UTA has released a press release to the media on the report.  Additionally, the industry coalition has also released a press release to the media and Dr. Thornberg will attend media events to address the report.

Read the Beacon Economics Report

Read UTA’s Press Release

Read the Industry Coalition’s Press Release