On the recordMarch 10, 2011
I would like to assure you that the Members on this side of the aisle understand this legislation. I would like to assure you that those of us who work on the Financial Services Committee, who put these bills into operation, who organized these bills, who presented these bills, who got these bills passed into law to help homeowners, understand what is now happening to them. We understand that the bill before us would eliminate this program. This is an FHA program that's designed to provide refinance opportunities for those homes that are underwater. What do we mean when we say 'underwater'? We mean that when middle class homeowners, hardworking citizens went and signed for that mortgage where they were paying $250,000, $300,000, $400,000 for a home, they signed that mortgage, that was supposed to be the value of that home. That's what it was assessed at at the time. That was what it is supposed to be worth. Now, because of this crisis that we are in, the subprime meltdown that we are in, this economic difficulty, these homes have lost their value.
