A group of Democratic lawmakers has proposed a range of state laws aimed at stemming the foreclosure wave in metro Atlanta.

Key among the proposals is a bill that would extend the period between foreclosure and sale of a property to 90 days. It currently takes 37 days.

Metro Atlanta posted a record number of foreclosures in 2007, according to Equity Depot, which tracks Georgia foreclosures. Last year, the 13-county area experienced 58,076 foreclosures.

Georgia uses a nonjudicial foreclosure process that ranks among the shortest in the nation.

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Ellenwood) said the speed of the process offers homeowners little opportunity to work out a new payment plan with their lender to keep their family in their home.

"Under the administrative process they use now, there is very little time to work out anything else," Jones said.

Corporate travel agent Stephanie Eckels faced the sale of her Lithonia home next month because of a pending divorce. She worked out a repayment plan with a housing counselor she started working with in January, but the heavy demand on lenders from homeowners like herself delayed bank approval.

Providing her lender, Bank of America, with financial information showing she can afford the repayment plan took weeks, Eckels said. And by the time her bank got to her request, the three-bedroom, two-bath home she shares with her two children was scheduled for sale on March 4.

"I'm kind of frustrated with all of this, knowing I can afford my house and can stay in it," Eckels said.

A longer foreclosure process "definitely would have helped me," Eckels said.

The Jones proposal, Senate Bill 465, is being joined with other bills aimed at a variety of contributing factors to the region's high foreclosure rate. Other proposals would curb unscrupulous appraisals, require foreclosure to be carried out by the current holder of the mortgage instead of the servicer, protect renters' rights in foreclosed property and crack down on foreclosure rescue scams.

"We need to slow this freight train down before it completely derails," Jones said.

But Joe Brannon, president and CEO of the Georgia Bankers Association, said he sees little benefit from a longer foreclosure process.

"Our foreclosures usually don't start ... until there's clearly no other solution," Brannon said.

Brannon said efforts like the recently launched Project Lifeline are helping to turn the tide on foreclosure. Project Lifeline is a federal initiative that would postpone foreclosure for 30 days when the homeowner and lender are negotiating a new repayment plan.

"Do we really need to make a permanent fix to a law that has so many temporary fixes?" Brannon asked.

Housing counselor Xavier Edwards, who works for Green Forest Community Development Corporation in south DeKalb County, said the period between the time a delinquent borrower in Georgia makes contact with a counselor and the sale of the house rarely allows for sufficient review of the homeowner's finances.

Jones' proposal, Edwards said, would give more homeowners and lenders time to find common ground.

"It would give the mortgager more time to seek assistance from certified housing counselors and work out a workable solution," Edwards said.

Although the coalition championing the changes to Georgia's foreclosure laws is predominantly Democratic, Jones said he expects the initiative to gain broader support.

"To me, this is not a partisan effort. The people who are getting foreclosed on are Republicans, Democrats and independents," Jones said.