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Patrick signs law toughening foreclosure safeguards

Gov. Deval Patrick has signed into law extra protections for Massachusetts homeowners facing foreclosure and for tenants in foreclosed apartment buildings.

The new law bars bankers and lenders from issuing wholesale eviction notices to tenants in foreclosed buildings. Tenants could only be evicted for just cause, like not paying rent on time.

For homeowners, the law temporarily extends an existing 90-day cooling off period designed to give property owners and their lenders time to negotiate new terms to a mortgage to help avoid a foreclosure. The law extends that period to 150 days.

The new law also requires those who want to obtain a reverse mortgage on their home to meet with a counselor approved by the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.

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