PROPOSED LAW WOULD BE FIRST IN THE NATION TO PROTECT SURVIVOR HOMEOWNERS
San Francisco, CA June 30, 2016- Earlier this week, California’s legislature moved one step closer to enacting
legislation designed to protect widows, widowers, and other heirs from unnecessary foreclosures. Senate Bill
1150, the Homeowner Survivor Bill of Rights (SBOR), was passed out of the Assembly Judiciary Committee on
a 7 to 3 vote Tuesday. The next step is a vote by the entire Assembly, which is expected in August.
“Surviving homeowners deserve better than the status quo of needless foreclosures by banks and mortgage
servicers. SB 1150 would create an even playing field for widows and widowers by improving communication
and giving mortgage servicers clear guidelines to follow,” explains Maeve Elise Brown, executive director of
Housing and Economic Rights Advocates, a co-sponsor of SB 1150.
Authored by Senators Mark Leno and Cathleen Galgiani, SB 1150 provides critical protections for widowed
spouses and other survivors including domestic partners, heirs, siblings, joint tenants, and other people who own
their homes but who weren’t listed on the mortgage. SBOR closes a loophole in California law that fails to
provide important protections to surviving homeowners (against foreclosure) that are available to other
homeowners.

“We’ve been hearing complaints from nonprofit housing counselors, legal aid attorneys, and widowed
homeowners about this problem for several years. Building on the landmark Homeowner Bill of Rights, this bill,
if enacted, would be another example of California leading the way to protect homeowners,” adds Kevin Stein,
associate director at the California Reinvestment Coalition, a co-sponsor of SB 1150.
“The successful vote earlier this week signifies that issues still matter, and that people still matter,” said Nan
Brasmer of California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA), a co-sponsor of the bill. “We sincerely thank
the Assembly Judiciary Committee members who stood up for seniors and other heirs by voting yes on Senate
Bill 1150.”
Broad Support: SB 1150 is co-sponsored by Housing and Economic Rights Advocates (HERA), the California
Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), and the California Alliance for Retired Americans (CARA). SB 1150 is
supported by California Attorney General Kamala Harris and over 60 well-known organizations, including
AARP California, Courage Campaign, CalPIRG, the Multicultural Real Estate Alliance for Urban Change, the
National Council of La Raza, National Housing Law Project, Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles
County, and more.