Issue Position: Housing

Issue Position

There are many statistical measures one may use to calculate the well-being of the average American. But the truth is one need look no further than the middle class to gauge how well our nation is doing. As a Member of Congress, I have the opportunity to vote on bills that make a difference.

I believe that one of the best ways to turn our ailing economy around is to take steps to make sure that more Americans are able to keep their current homes. As your Congressman, I have worked to pass legislation that would make it easier for more Americans to stay in their homes by giving them the tools necessary to avoid foreclosure.

Foreclosure Crisis

The foreclosure epidemic has affected thousands of families in Memphis and we all stand to lose if we do not stop the steep decline in home prices. By keeping families in their homes, we help preserve neighborhoods because foreclosures often result in the deterioration of surrounding property and an influx in crime. Although the economy is beginning to bounce back, we are still working through tough economic times and many responsible borrowers are finding it difficult to make their mortgage payments.

I introduced H.R. 1131, Preventing Homeowners from Foreclosure Act of 2011 to establish a grant program for state and local governments to carry out programs to provide mediation between homeowners and lenders to prevent foreclosure. It would help fund local outreach efforts to make distressed homeowners aware of the program and of special loss-mitigation tools that may help them save homes.

Stabilizing the housing market is central to restoring the American economy. My legislation would assist with the foreclosure crisis which has affected every community across the nation. We must give those across the country a chance to stay in their homes rather than face eviction.

Like many Americans, I am concerned with the high levels of unemployment among our nation's veterans. It is important that we help provide these veterans with every opportunity to succeed and find adequate housing in recognition of their service. I cosponsored H.R. 287, the Homes for Heroes Act of 2011, which will create a special assistant for veterans affairs in the Department of Housing and Urban Development tasked with ensuring that veteran have access to HUD housing and homeless assistance programs. In addition to this, I cosponsored H.R. 284, the Veterans, Women, Families with Children, and Persons With Disabilities Housing Fairness Act of 2011, which would authorize funds to prevent housing discrimination through the use of nationwide testing, to increase funds for the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, and for other purposes.

In July 2010, I held a Congressional field hearing in Memphis on our area's foreclosure crisis. I had the great honor of serving as Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law and used the position to shine a spotlight in Congress on the home foreclosure crisis. The hearing was held at the University Of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School Of Law. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, who serves with me on the House Judiciary Committee, also participated. We discussed a variety of issues related to the home foreclosure crisis including the Wells Fargo lawsuit, how to make the bankruptcy process more fair for homeowners, what legal services are available to those facing foreclosure, and how community organizations are assisting homeowners.

In March 2009, I hosted a foreclosure assistance workshop at the Hickory Hill Community Center. The workshop provided homeowners concerned with rising mortgage payments or foreclosure with timely, confidential information and objective advice from trained counselors. The workshop was convened in light of the nationwide foreclosure crisis, which has hit hard in Memphis.

We all stand to lose if we do not stop the steep decline in home prices. In fact, each foreclosed home reduces nearby property values by as much as 9 percent. By keeping families in their homes, we help preserve neighborhoods because foreclosures often result in the deterioration of neighboring property and an influx in crime. Stopping foreclosures also helps state and local governments by keeping homes on the tax rolls.

The House passed several pieces of legislation that addresses the foreclosure crisis and helps the nation's struggling economy, all of which I am proud to have voted for: The House passed the final Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, which was signed into law by the President in May 2009. This legislation provided key tools and incentives for lenders, servicers, and homeowners to modify loans and to avoid foreclosures by:

Protecting lenders from frivolous lawsuits when they made loan modifications consistent with the Obama Administration's program or done through the Hope for Homeowners program;

Reducing the current fees for homeowners and lenders that discouraged them from participating in the Hope for Homeowners program;

Offering new incentives for lenders to negotiate loan modifications with borrowers at risk of foreclosure under the Hope for Homeowners program; and

Expanding the President's loan modification program to FHA and mortgages in rural areas (RHS).

The Hope for Homeowners program helps individuals at risk of default and foreclosure to refinance into more affordable, sustainable loans. Hope for Homeowners is an additional mortgage option designed to keep borrowers in their homes. The program is effective from October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2011. If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments, the Hope for Homeowners program may be able to help you, by refinancing your loan into a new 30-year or 40-year fixed-rate loan with lower payments.

The President's Plan:

The Obama Administration announced the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan, a bold housing plan to help up to 9 million families restructure or refinance their mortgages to avoid foreclosure -- as well as their neighbors whose own house values will drop as a result of a nearby foreclosure. The Obama plan takes advantage of historically low mortgage interest rates to:

Help millions of families refinance into lower interest rate loans if they have mortgages issued or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and owe more on their houses than their current value; and

Spur lenders into working with families stuck in unaffordable sub-prime mortgages to change the terms of those loans.

Lenders representing 75 percent of the U.S. mortgage market have agreed to work with troubled homeowners under this program.

The Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan allowed eligible borrowers who stayed current on their mortgages but were unable to refinance to lower their interest rates because their homes have decreased in value to have the opportunity to refinance into a 30 or 15 year fixed rate loan. Through the program, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allowed the refinancing of mortgage loans that they hold in their portfolios or that they placed in mortgage backed securities.

In 2009, The House passed H.R. 1728, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. The bill responds to the sub-prime mortgage crisis by instituting much needed reform to prevent these bad loans from being made in the first place. It stops the kinds of predatory and irresponsible mortgage loan practices that played a major role in the current financial and economic meltdown and prevents borrowers from deliberately misstating their income to qualify for a loan.

To restore the integrity of mortgage lending industry, this bill would make sure that the mortgage industry follows basic principles of sound lending, responsibility, and consumer protection, ensuring that:

borrowers can repay the loans they are sold;

mortgage lenders make loans that benefit the consumer and prohibit them from steering borrowers into higher cost loans;

all mortgage refinancing provides a net tangible benefit to the consumer;

the secondary mortgage market, for the first time ever, is responsible for complying with these common sense standards when they buy loans and turn them into securities;

there are incentives for the mortgage market to move back toward making safe, fully documented loans; and

tenants renting homes that are foreclosed would receive notification and time to relocate.

President Obama and I will continue to do whatever is necessary to break the destructive cycle of job loss in this country and put Americans back to work. That includes our comprehensive plan to help responsible homeowners pay their mortgages and re-finance their homes.

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