Board adopts resolution pressing banks, requests controller audit and state action on foreclosures

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 10 adopted a resolution urging state and federal officials to strengthen protections for homeowners, asking major banks to suspend foreclosure and eviction activities in the city, and requesting a follow-up audit by the city controller into foreclosure practices. The measure passed on an 11-0 vote.

The resolution, introduced and explained by Supervisor John Avalos, frames foreclosures as a local crisis tied to broader national trends and seeks city-level accountability and review. Avalos said, “I do not believe that our city has really recognized the magnitude of the problem of how the mortgage crisis is hitting our city.” He credited community groups such as the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACE) and the California Reinvestment Coalition for organizing neighborhoods and pushing for remedies.

The resolution asks the mayor to direct city lobbyists to press for state and federal measures including elements of the proposed “homeowners’ bill of rights,” and it specifically supports calls for suspension of certain foreclosures by entities such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Supervisor Campos, a co-sponsor, urged banks that do business with the city to halt actions that could harm homeowners while an investigation proceeds, saying, “If you want to do business with the city, we welcome your business, but we also urge you to make sure that you engage in business in a manner that protects the rights of the people who live in this city.”

Supervisor Jane Kim and others stressed the human costs and the rise of neighborhood blight and declining property values tied to foreclosures. Kim noted that supporters want local action to supplement state and federal efforts and to protect homeowners and tenants. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi (speaking as a cosponsor in committee and in remarks supporting the idea, as recorded earlier) and others described community counseling and advocacy groups’ work to prevent evictions and assist homeowners seeking loan modifications.

Supervisor Scott ElsberG (Ellsberg) warned against blanket measures that would simply halt all foreclosures, saying the idea of “pure stopping foreclosures is frankly silly” and urging careful policy design so lending and credit markets are not unintentionally disrupted. The resolution was amended on the floor to add a clause requesting that the controller conduct a follow-up audit to the assessor-recorder’s report "Foreclosure in California: A Crisis of Compliance," and that amendment was agreed to without objection.

The board recorded the roll call after debate; the clerk announced the item had 11 ayes and no noes. The adopted resolution did not specify a particular ordinance number in the hearing record and instead urges further city action, interagency coordination and state/federal lobbying.

Why it matters: Supervisors described foreclosures as reducing property values, creating neighborhood blight and imposing fiscal and social costs on San Francisco. The measure directs city scrutiny toward bank practices and seeks additional public accounting of how foreclosures were handled in San Francisco.

What happens next: The resolution asks the controller to perform the follow-up audit and requests the mayor’s office to lobby at state and federal levels for measures the board supports, including provisions similar to the homeowners’ bill of rights and, in some cases, temporary suspension of select foreclosure activity while investigations proceed.