Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

Floor Speech

HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - March 05, 2009)

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to yield myself such time as I may consume.

Today we are considering some important legislation that is going to provide borrowers, lenders and the government with a number of very important tools to address the housing and foreclosure crisis in this country. Much of the focus of this debate has been on the bankruptcy reform portion, which is also the focus of the amendment on the floor right now.

Under current law, those filing for bankruptcy must receive counseling services from an improved credit counseling agency during the 180-day period before the bankruptcy filing. H.R. 1106 eliminates the counseling requirement for those who have already received a foreclosure notice because of a concern that the requirement would be a procedural burden for those who file for bankruptcy quickly in order to save their homes.

The Peters' amendment would preserve the requirement for credit counseling but would allow those who have received a foreclosure notice to file for bankruptcy so long as they obtained the required credit counseling within 30 days after the bankruptcy filing.

This will ensure that everyone who enters the bankruptcy process will continue to receive this very important service, but it also makes clear that no one will lose their home because they could not get access to counseling on time.

Credit counseling is an incredibly important service. In some cases the independent credit counselors can review a debtor's finances and recommend options other than bankruptcy that may be appropriate. It should always be our goal to keep people out of bankruptcy whenever possible.

In every case, however, credit counselors can provide important tools for budgeting that will help the debtor adjust to living under the kinds of financial restrictions that bankruptcy requires.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. PETERS. Mr. Chairman, my amendment is a commonsense compromise that ensures that everyone who enters into the bankruptcy process will continue to get important credit counseling services, while at the same time giving those who do not have the time to complete the counseling and are in danger of losing their home the opportunity to do so after they have filed for bankruptcy. The amendment is supported by the Financial Counseling Research Roundtable, which is comprised of the Nation's leading nonprofit organizations providing Americans with bankruptcy, housing, consumer credit, and financial counseling.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Chairman Conyers for working with me on this amendment and for his leadership in helping to put together this package.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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