Below is a letter in my inbox from Congressman Charlie Wilson (D-OH6)
Dear Friends,
This week I voted for the most comprehensive response yet to the American mortgage crisis. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act will help families keep their homes; aid local communities hit hard by the foreclosure crisis and strengthen the economy and financial markets. The bill was passed in the House by a vote of 272-152, the Senate is likely to take it up this weekend and the President has said he’ll sign it.
Unfortunately the mortgage crisis has hit Ohio really hard. I’m pleased that this comprehensive bill includes language that I helped to draft early last year that clearly outlines unacceptable practices when it comes to influencing house appraisals. Unfair house appraisals have led to some families actually owing more than what their house is worth. That’s bad for working families, for communities and for our economy. This legislation will also require civil penalties for improperly influencing house appraisals.
In addition, 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:
- expands homeownership opportunities for veterans and helps returning soldiers avoid foreclosure and stay in their home;
- provides tax breaks to spur home buying;
- 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; and
- strengthens neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis by providing $4 billion to allow cities and states to buy up and rehabilitate foreclosed properties that are currently driving down home prices, reducing state and local revenues, and destabilizing neighborhoods.I’m particularly pleased that this major piece of legislation will also allow communities to use some of that money to demolish blighted properties, if they need to. If foreclosed properties are so far gone that they can’t be rehabilitated, neighborhoods need to have the option to get rid of the problem. I fought hard for communities to have this option, and I’m proud that it’s included.
The legislation passed this week 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 these two government sponsored enterprises. Fannie and Freddie are important institutions that hold or guarantee nearly half of all mortgages in the United States.
Charlie Wilson
Member of Congress
Ohio’s Sixth District
Sincerely,
