Schakowsky Backs Comprehensive Plan to Support Homeowners, Address Mortgage Crisis

SCHAKOWSKY BACKS COMPREHENSIVE PLAN TO SUPPORT HOMEOWNERS, ADDRESS MORTGAGE CRISIS

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) joined a bipartisan majority today to vote for H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. H.R. 3221 will help families keep their homes, provide aid to local communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and strengthen financial markets. The bill was passed today in the House by a vote of 272 to 152.

"The bill we passed today will help homeowners keep their homes, increase the amount of affordable housing and restore confidence in our financial markets,... said U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). "Millions of American families have been hit hard by this crisis which has forced people out of their homes and caused property values to plummet. In Illinois, reports estimated that there were nearly 70,000 foreclosures as of December 2007. In my district alone, more than 1,700 properties were in foreclosure as of March 2008. This bill will provide hard-working Americans families with immediate relief by addressing the causes of this crisis and by strengthening our economy....

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act will allow hard-working American families in danger of losing their home to refinance into lower-cost government -insured mortgages they can afford to repay — at no cost to the American taxpayer. The legislation also:

• strengthens neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis by providing resources to allow cities and states to purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties that are currently driving down home prices, reducing state and local revenues, and destabilizing neighborhoods;
• expands homeownership opportunities for veterans and helps returning soldiers avoid foreclosure and stay in their home;
• provides tax breaks to spur home buying; and
• creates a new fund to boost the nation's stock of affordable rental housing in both rural and urban areas for low and very low-income individuals and families.

The legislation passed today also includes provisions that will help restore confidence in financial markets and shore up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill provides the Department of the Treasury with emergency and temporary financing authority for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are important institutions that hold or guarantee nearly half of all mortgages in the United States. However, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office said that it was unlikely that the new Treasury authority would be used before it expired at the end of December 2009.

The legislation has earned the support of Democrats and Republicans in both the House and Senate and President Bush has indicated that he will sign the bill into law.