PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

May 7, 2008

Contact:        Mark Bergman

                202-225-5206 (office)

Congressman Hodes Votes for Comprehensive Housing Assistance Package

Washington, DC--- Congressman Paul Hodes today voted for the most innovative and comprehensive legislative package to address the growing mortgage and foreclosure crisis. The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, and the Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008 were approved today by the House with bipartisan support.

Congressman Hodes has conducted mortgage roundtables around New Hampshire with industry leaders and consumer advocates and serves on the Financial Services Committee that helped construct this package.

Nearly 4300 New Hampshire families will have their home foreclosed by 2009 and foreclosure rates have increased 96% in New Hampshire in just the last year.

“Owning a home is the American Dream, but thousands of Granite Staters are on the brink of losing their homes and becoming the next victims of the housing crisis,” said Congressman Paul Hodes. “I am proud to have supported a plan to provide comprehensive relief to families struggling to pay their mortgage with the rising cost of gas and food.”

The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 will provide mortgage refinancing assistance, which will help keep families from losing their homes and protect neighboring home values. The plan also expands 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. 

The plan is not a bailout and requires both homeowners and lenders to take responsibility. In order to qualify for refinancing and a new government backed mortgages, lenders and mortgage investors will be required to take a loss and borrowers must share any profit from the resale of a refinanced home with the government. Additionally, the new plan is open only to owner-occupied homes. Speculators, investors and vacation/second-home owners are not eligible.

The House also passed the Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008, which provides $15 billion in loans and grants to states to acquire vacant, foreclosed homes. The legislation will allow local communities to rehabilitate foreclosed properties, which currently drive down surrounding home properties, and place these homes back on the market.

“The housing crisis is impacting all of us,” added Congressman Hodes. “Families who lose their homes are directly impacted, but their former neighbors have also seen their homes lose value. Our comprehensive approach will help end this crisis and get our economy back on track.”