Reed Joins with Democratic Leadership to Address Housing Crisis

Press Release

Reed Joins with Democratic Leadership to Address Housing Crisis

Senate Democrats today announced a package of legislation intended to address the national housing crisis and help Americans avoid foreclosure. The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, which includes several key provisions authored by U.S. Senator Jack reed (D-RI), will keep families facing foreclosure in their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help communities already harmed by foreclosure to recover.

"Since last year Senate Democrats have been moving quickly to ensure more Americans will be able to stay in their homes and we have made some progress," Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said. "But in the face of an uncertain economy and with so many Americans struggling, we know that more needs to be done to address the housing crisis. The provisions we are announcing today is another step in the right direction and will help over 1 million people stay in their homes and help families and communities avoid foreclosure the future."

Said Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL): "Preventing foreclosures should be the primary means of stemming the mortgage crisis. Small changes to an outdated bankruptcy code could help over 600,000 at risk families keep their homes. That should be our goal. We should be giving families every reasonable tool to ensure they can keep a roof over their heads."

"This package is aimed at the bullseye of our economic crisis - the housing market. If we really want to tackle the economic problems the country is facing, we must address the housing crisis that got us here," Democratic Conference Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. "We need to apply the same bipartisan commitment to attacking the housing crisis that we had in putting together the economic stimulus package."

Said Democratic Conference Secretary Patty Murray (D-WA): "We are seeing communities in this country where people are literally abandoning their homes because they can't afford their mortgages, and they can't find a willing buyer. Homeownership has always been a sign of prosperity in our country. It should never be a trap."

Said Jack Reed (D-RI), a senior member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee: "The economy is slowing dramatically. We have a crisis and it is spreading from the housing market to other aspects of our economy. Now, from a national perspective, that is chilling. But when you sit around the family table, it takes on a much more immediate and consequential effect. The essence of our legislation is to deal quickly, effectively, and critically with this housing problem. We also want to ensure that this foreclosure crisis never happens again. So the legislation includes a provision I authored to set new disclosure standards for lenders that clearly spell out: what is the maximum payment involved in this mortgage. If there is going to be sticker shock, it should happen before the closing, not in the middle of the mortgage."

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