Mortgage Reform Is Needed

Floor Speech

MORTGAGE REFORM IS NEEDED -- (House of Representatives - May 05, 2009)

(Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, Hawaii has some of the least-affordable housing in the country. Many of my constituents have more than one job just to make enough to put food on the table and pay their bills. Others have lost jobs due to the bad economy and the downturn in tourism.

Families are struggling to stay in their homes. In Hawaii, foreclosures are up 500 percent from a year ago, and one in 29 homes with high-cost loans are likely to go into foreclosure.

Forestalling foreclosure is often an exercise in frustration for homeowners. Some people in Hawaii are 2 or 3 months behind in their mortgages and are spending hours trying to reach out-of-state lenders in a different time zone to get their loans modified. To make matters worse, lenders tell them that their paperwork is lost and slap them with fees and penalties.

We recently passed H.R. 1106 to help families like these restructure or refinance their mortgages. We also need to pass H.R. 1728 to support counseling efforts, provide foreclosure prevention assistance and strengthen loan standards.

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