Conyers Supports President's Decision to Forgo Signing Notarization Bill into Law in Midst of Widening Foreclosure Problems

(Washington)— House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) announced today that he supports the President’s decision to not sign H.R. 3808, the "Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009." H.R. 3808 would require courts in one state to recognize notarizations of another state." Consumer advocates have recently raised concerns that the bill could have negative unintended consequences, particularly in the context of foreclosures.

I support the President’s decision not to sign the "Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2009." Although I believe the bill was originally well intentioned, I now believe this issue requires more careful review and discussion before the law is changed." There is substantial concern that this legislation may exacerbate the problems we are seeing with improprieties in the foreclosure documents being processed by mortgage lenders. We have not held a hearing on this matter since 2006 and I think it is worth our time to take another look at this issue before we consider legislation to ensure it does not harm consumers. At a time when three of the nation’s largest mortgage companies – Ally Financial, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America – have suspended legal proceedings in 23 states due to document flaws, we need to be very careful not to pass legislation that could allow increased deficiencies.