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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
A bill that would move foreclosure notices from newspapers to a Tennessee Secretary of State website was pushed back two weeks in the Senate State and Local Government Committee.
Currently, homes in foreclosure in Tennessee are required to be advertised in a local newspaper. Those notices also appear on the statewide tnpublicnotice.com website.
If Senate Bill 1324 passed in its current form, those foreclosure notices would go to a new Secretary of State platform statewide with an accompanying $200 fee.
A fiscal note on the bill shows that the state expects those fees to lead to nearly $1 million in annual revenue after a $117,969 cost to create the website.
“These homes will sell for a higher sale price and that is one of the primary reasons for this legislation,” said Sen. Paul Bailey, R-Sparta.
Bailey explained the legislation but did not include an explanation of the fee or that foreclosures already appear on a statewide website, saying that “by moving these public notices to the Secretary of State website, it will be a significant cost savings to the homeowner and it will attract many more homeowners to the sale.”
Bailey noted that both newspapers and banks have objected to the bill, asking for it to then be rolled a few weeks. Bailey noted that there were seven foreclosures in his home of White County last year.
“I would like for them to continue to work on this for the next couple of weeks and see if we can come to a compromise and make sure that both entities are satisfied with the legislation that we would pass,” Bailey said.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
One Response
Needs to remain in papers.