A bill signed into law Thursday morning will require banks to sit down with homeowners to explore options outside of foreclosure.

The Foreclosure Fairness Act, House Bill 1362, requires lenders to communicate early in the foreclosure process to give homeowners the best opportunities to get help from a housing counselor and provides a mediation process when a housing counselor or attorney deems it appropriate.

“Foreclosure may sound like someone else’s problem, but when it’s happening to tens of thousands of families, like it’s happening right now, it’s our shared problem,” said Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, who sponsored the Senate companion bill (SB 5275). “It really tears the connecting threads out of our neighborhoods.”

The legislation also requires financial institutions which issue more than 250 notices of default in the preceding year to pay a $250 fee on each notice of default. The fee will primarily fund more housing counselors, but will also fund outreach campaigns and enforcement dollars for the Attorney General’s Office.

“This bill gives people a good chance at avoiding foreclosure all together,” Sen. Kline said. “This means keeping people in their homes, keeping kids in their schools, keeping neighborhoods together, keeping other house prices up and keeping our society together.”