Chris Van Hollen: “Speaker, I rise in support of the second amendment to the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of…”

“Speaker, I rise in support of the second amendment to the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. Today, one quarter of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages are delinquent by 90 days or more. As a consequence, during 2007, foreclosure proceedings were initiated on about 1.5 million U.S. homes. The Federal Reserve has projected that the rate of foreclosures will grow even higher in 2008. We know that many of these foreclosures are unavoidable. There are cases where investors choose foreclosure because a property's value has depreciated significantly, or a borrower's personal circumstances have changed. And, many times, as has recently become alarmingly prevalent, a borrower was put into a loan inappropriate for their circumstances. But, if a foreclosure is preventable, and the borrower wants to stay in the home, the economic argument for trying to avoid foreclosure is strong. Foreclosures impose high legal and administrative costs. Foreclosures can destabilize communities, reduce area property values and lower municipal tax revenues. And, at the national level, foreclosures add to the stock of homes for sale, increasing downward pressure on home prices, which affects the broader economy.”