DeGette Aims to Provide Relief During Foreclosures Crisis

Press Release

As home foreclosure rates increase across the nation and American working families continue to suffer under a poor economy and high gas prices, Chief Deputy Whip Diana DeGette (D-CO) joined her colleagues in the House to pass the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 and the Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008. These measures are the most comprehensive pieces of legislation to date providing immediate relief to Americans struggling to hang on to their most prized asset - their homes - and to assist communities with the increasing number of foreclosed homes in their neighborhoods.

"Our nation and Colorado are in a housing and credit crisis. What we need is real help for struggling American families. Colorado already has 32,000 homes in foreclosure and approximately 50,000 more are expected in the next two years. Today, I supported bold comprehensive steps to help end this crisis and provide government mortgage refinancing assistance to help keep families in their homes and protect home values," said DeGette.

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 will provide mortgage refinancing assistance and expand programs run by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) that will allow borrowers in danger of losing their home to refinance into lower-cost government-insured mortgages they can afford to repay.

"I also supported legislation that will provide $15 billion in loans and grants to states to allow local communities to rehabilitate foreclosed properties, which currently drive down surrounding home properties, and place these homes back on the market. These comprehensive measures will keep more families in their homes, provide relief to local communities to address foreclosed properties, and help put our nation on a path to ending the home foreclosure crisis."

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