Washington, DC— Senate Democrats held a press conference today to discuss their efforts to address the housing crisis and help families threatened with foreclosure stay in their homes.
They were joined by an Ohio family and a coalition of organizations who support the Foreclosure Prevention Act. The legislation will help struggling families keep their homes, help others avoid foreclosure in the future, and help communities recover from foreclosures and plummeting property values.
“We should be giving families every reasonable tool to ensure they can keep a roof over their heads instead of giving banks every opportunity to keep padding their bottom line,” Senator Richard Durbin said. “Today the Senate is proposing small changes to an outdated bankruptcy code which could help hundreds of thousands of families keep their homes. We need to focus on preventing these families from drowning in financial difficulties instead of worrying about keeping the banking lobby afloat.”
Said Senator Charles Schumer: “The first stimulus package passed quickly and in bipartisan fashion. This second stimulus – which aims straight for the bullseye of the economic downturn, the housing crisis – must be treated as a similarly high priority. Each of its provisions will have a direct impact on families caught in the whirlwind of the housing mess, and we don’t consider a single American home expendable to foreclosure.”
“Two years ago there were a lot of slick promises made about how these loans could be refinanced,” Senator Sherrod Brown said. “Today, we know that is not the case. So we need to act, and act this week, so two years from now we can focus on expanding home ownership rather than trying to stop the bleeding.”
Said Senator Amy Klobuchar: “In the world of subprime lending, the chickens have come home to roost – it is clear that the subprime crisis will not correct itself and we can no longer bury our heads in the sand. We must act now to help contain the economic spillover effect of the subprime lending disaster. I am committed to working with my colleagues to pass this bill to help middle class families keep their homes.”
The Glicken family of Ohio also joined the Senators. “Like so many families in greater Cleveland, Mr. and Ms. Glicken are facing the loss of their home because they were steered into an inappropriate subprime loan,” said the family’s attorney, Richard H. Nemeth. “Their home is within their means, but their mortgage is not. Loan modification would give the Glickens an opportunity to save their home at no cost to the taxpayers and their lender will receive more than it will if the home were sold at foreclosure. The Glickens have tried to work with their lender toward loan modification, but the lender has not cooperated. We need to give families like the Glickens an additional tool to save their homes.”
