A bill to eliminate the publication requirement for notices of sheriff’s sales was defeated March 28 in its Senate Local Government Committee hearing.
H.B. 1212 died when the vote was four “ayes” and five “nays on a motion to pass it. The five senators who voted against this anti-public notice advertising bill were:
- Sen. Ron Grooms, R-Jeffersonville
- Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michigan City
- Sen. Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn
- Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis
- Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson
The four who supported the bill were:
- Sen. Jim Buck, R-Kokomo
- Sen. Jim Tomes, R-Wadesville
- Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell
- Sen. Linda Rogers, R-Granger
While the bill is dead, the language remains eligible for amendment into another bill since it was passed by the House earlier this session. HSPA will attempt to monitor bills that could become a home for the sheriffs’ sale notices language.
Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, is the author of H.B. 1212. The sponsor is Andrew Zay, R-Huntington. Rep. McNamara testified that the bill would be good for the mortgage foreclosure “industry.
HSPA attempted to stress the value of the notice for the person facing foreclosure and the community while acknowledging that newspapers are paid for these publications.
HSPA thanks the following publishers for taking the time to travel to the Statehouse in support of our opposition to H.B. 1212 during the two-hour committee hearing:
Robyn McCloskey, Bev Joyce, Brenda McLane, Laura Welborn, Doug Brown, Greg Morris and Nate Feltman.
Feltman testified against H.B. 1212. He is an owner of the Indianapolis Business Journal, Court & Commercial Record and Indiana Lawyer.
