FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2010
KLMNO veto from A1
figure out Thursday how they al- lowed a bill to pass that critics say would introduce more fraud into the system, a Pelosi staffmember said. It was sponsored by Rep. Robert B. Aderholt (R-Ala.), the first measure he sponsored that passed. Even he was surprised that it
passed,his spokesmansaid. “There is absolutely no connec-
tionwhatsoeverbetween[thebill] and the recent foreclosure docu- mentation problems,” Aderholt saidina statement. The vetoed bill, which is two
pages, would have required local courts to accept notarizations, in- cluding thosemade electronically, from across state lines. Its spon- sors said it was intended to pro- mote interstate commerce. Law- makers sawnoproblemswhenthe House approved it in April by a voice vote,which leaves no record ofvotes.TheSenatepassedthebill unanimously lastweek. Butas thelackofaproperpaper
trail inmortgagedocumentscame to light, the idea of relying on electronic notaries triggered pro- tests fromreal estate lawyers and consumer advocates. Relying more on electronic notaries, they warned, could allow more fraud into the system. That the White House had to
pay somuch attention to the two- page bill few had heard of before thisweekshowsjusthowpolitical- ly chargedthe issueof flawedfore- closureshas become. White House press secretary
Robert Gibbs said the president does not think the measure was trying to undermine protections forhomeownersfacingforeclosure. Said Dan Pfeiffer,WhiteHouse
communications director: “The authors of this bill no doubt had the best of intentions in mind when trying to remove impedi- ments to interstate commerce.We will work with them and other leaders in Congress to explore the best ways to achieve this goal go- ing forward.”
Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) said in a statement that his office heardnoobjections frominsideor outside the Senate andevenasked the Justice Department to review the language.His committee then approved the bill and it passed by unanimous consent after every Senate officewasnotified. Some lawmakers worried that
the foreclosure paperwork issues couldbecomeamajor threat tothe financial system. On Thursday, Rep. Alan Gray-
son(D-Fla.) sentaletter toanewly formed council of top regulators asking it to form an emergency task force to determine whether the foreclosure problem poses a systemic risk to theU.S. economy. “So far, banks are claiming that
the many forged documents un- covered by courts and attorneys represent a simple ‘technical problem’ with foreclosure pro- cesses,”hewrote. “This isnot true. What ishappening is fraud to cov- erupfraud.” The Treasury Department did
not reply to a request for com- ment.Aspokesmanfor theSecuri- ties and Exchange Commission declined to comment. A Justice Department spokeswoman re- ferred to comments made earlier this week by Attorney General EricH.HolderJr.,whosaidfederal prosecutors are looking into alle- gations ofwrongdoing. National civil rights groups, in-
cluding the NAACP, the National Council of LaRaza and theCenter for Responsible Lending, joined labor unions Thursday in calling for an immediate national mora- toriumonforeclosures. “If we don’t take drastic mea-
sures now,we can expectmillions of additional foreclosures in the coming years, with a dispropor- tionate number of theminvolving LatinoandAfricanAmericanfam- ilies,” saidWadeHenderson,presi- dentof theLeadershipConference onCivil andHumanRights. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
(D-R.I.) also called for a national foreclosuremoratoriumon Thurs-
Howard U. breaks with tradition on dorm guests
howard from A1
commonatmost stateuniversities or liberal arts colleges. Michael L. Lomax, president
and chief executive of the United Negro College Fund, said histori- callyblackcollegesare“verymuch influenced by the values, tradi- tions and social codes of the black community — which tend to be more conservative.” Parents espe- cially want that sort of structure, but oftenstudentsdo, too. “Not every studentwants tolive
in a coed dormitory. Not every studentwants 24-hour visitation,” said Lomax, a past president of DillardUniversityinNewOrleans. But Howard’s resistance to
overnight guests spawned occa- sional efforts to outsmart it—and a persistent suspicion that late- night fire drills were thinly veiled attempts to ferret out those defy- ing the rules. The policy irked some students, who said that if theywereoldenoughtovote,mar- ry and fight wars, they were old enough to choose who slept in theirdormrooms. With the change have come
new rules: Roommatesmust sign an agreement consenting to host overnight guests. Guests must be current Howard students. Only one guestmay stay over at a time. On school nights, guests must check into the dorm before mid- night — and they must leave by noonthenextday. Undergraduates living in other
dorms must continue to escort their guests out at the appointed hour or risk losing their visitation rights entirely. “We’re not elementary kids,”
saidAdeOwolabi, 21, a juniorwho lives in the dormbut hasn’t filled out the paperworkneeded tohave a late-night guest. “We should be able tohavepeople come stay.” Howard Plaza Towers, West is
one of the school’s biggest dorms, with 840 upperclassmen in apart- ment-style rooms with full kitch- ens, private bathrooms and un- derground parking. It’s close enough to academic buildings to allow last-minute dashes to class but removed enough to feel like off-campus housing. The neigh- boring dorm, Howard Plaza Tow- ers, East, housesmainly graduate and honors students and has long allowedvisitors at allhours. College officials say that if stu-
dents in Howard Plaza Towers, West handle the programrespon- sibly, it might be expanded next semester to allow non-Howard visitors inthedorm,andtheweek- nightcheck-intimemightbeelim- inated. There are no plans to ex- tendtheprogramto otherdorms. “We’re looking at trying to be
progressive and help these stu- dents grow into mature adults,”
saidMarcD.Lee, the interimdean of residence life. “Everything has been going well so far. There ha- ven’t been any outrageous parties late into thenight.” Other colleges are also taking
stepstoliberalizetheirdormguest policies,sometimestokeepupper- classmen from moving off cam- pus.BaylorUniversity, aChristian college in Texas, has gradually addedhours tothevisitationclock in its dorms. Now, students can have guests of either sex visit be- tween 1 and 10 p.m. on school nights and until midnight on Fri- days and Saturdays. Students in on-campus apartments have until 2 a.m. everynight. Last year,WestVirginiaUniver-
sity began allowing overnight guestsof theopposite sex inoneof its upperclassman dorms. At Vir- ginia Tech, there are four catego- ries of visiting rules, ranging from strict visiting hours to none, de- pending onwhere students live. Catholic University has modi-
fied its visitor policy several times inthepast five years.Students can have guests of the opposite sex in their rooms only until midnight on school nights and 2 a.m. on weekends. Last year, the school extended theweeknight curfewto
2a.m.as longas studentshangout incommonareas—notbedrooms. Even schools that allow visitors
at all hours have some guidelines, and most require roommate ap- proval. Georgetown University al- lowsovernightguestsbutprohibits “cohabitation.” George Washing- ton University sets a limit of eight nights a month. Washington and Lee University allows roommates tocomeupwiththeirownpolicy,as long as it includes “a provision for quiethours”onschoolnights. Some of the schools with visit-
ing hours don’t enforce them strictly.ButHowarddoes. If a student’s guest has not
checked out by curfew, housing staffmemberswill search for him orher.Visitationrightsareamong the first that hall supervisors re- moveifastudentgets intotrouble. Lee saidthe ruleskeepstudents
safe on the urban campus. That’s especially important for fresh- men, who are living away from home for the first time. Butas studentsenter theirearly
20s, they canhandlemore respon- sibility, said student government Vice President William Roberts, 24, a third-year law student. He and other student leaders spent monthsmeetingwithofficialsand researching policies at other schools. “We thought it was time for us to try it out and see if we could handle it,” he said. “The main thing is allowing students the freedom to decide what they dowiththeir time.”
johnsonj@washpost.com
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day, while Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Virg Bernerosaidhewouldwithdraw$1 billion in state money from J.P Morgan Chase banks if they re- fusedtoeaseuponforeclosures. On Thursday, Iowa Attorney
General Tom Miller asked three large mortgage lenders to freeze foreclosures in the state.His office saidIowawill take the leadincoor- dinatingwithabout40other states investigating allegations of mis- handled foreclosures. The coali- tion has begun to call lenders to
ascertainthe scopeof theproblem. “There appears to be an emerg-
ing pattern of careless and per- haps cavalier attitudes by a grow- ing number of lenders when it came to the seriousness of the foreclosureprocess,”Miller said. Industrygroupsplantomounta
defense of the banks’ records and will hold a lunch for Capitol Hill staffmembersinthecomingweeks. “Industry is correcting the
problems, continuing to work with homeowners and communi- cating with policymakers about
EZ SU
From Page One A11 Obama vetoes foreclosure measure as anger over fraud grows
the issue,” said Scott Talbott, se- nior vice president for govern- ment affairs at the Financial Ser- vices Roundtable, which repre- sents big financial firms. The nation’s banks, in turn, are
beginning to feel pressure from investors. Chris Katopis, executive direc-
torof theWashington-basedAsso- ciationofMortgageInvestors,said securities trustees should “audit and review the resulting losses to hold servicers accountable for negligence inmaintaining the as-
sets of trusts.” “We are afraid that people’s
pensions and retirement savings are being impacted,” Katopis said in an interview Thursday. “Inves- tors are deeply concerned about possible documentation inconsis- tencies related to mortgages. It is vital that trustees promptly ad- dress thesematters.”
yangjl@washpost.com chaa@washpost.com
Staffwriter ScottWilson contributed to this report.
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