Brad Miller: “I wish to address specifically the amendment that Mr. LaTourette and I have offered. Mr. Speaker, the worst of the…”

“I wish to address specifically the amendment that Mr. LaTourette and I have offered. Mr. Speaker, the worst of the foreclosure crisis is yet to come. Mr. Frank just corrected incorrect factual assertions. Let me correct one as well. Mr. Feeney said a few minutes ago or gave the example of a 3 percent teaser rate. Mr. Speaker, the typical initial rate for the mortgages that are causing this problem was 8½ percent, which is already well above the conventional prime rate. According to The Wall Street Journal, 55 percent of the people who got those loans qualified for prime loans. Their trust was betrayed. And the typical adjustment after just 2 or 3 years was a 30 to 50 percent higher monthly mortgage payment. Seventy percent had prepayment penalties so people couldn't get out and would have to pay when they got out, when they refinanced out of a loan they could not possibly afford and the lender never intended they would afford because they required they come back and refinance again. It's not surprising that 3 million homeowners with subprime loans are expected to enter foreclosure proceedings in the next couple of years and 2 million of them will likely lose their homes. Another 40 million homeowners will see the value of their homes decline when other homes in their neighborhood are foreclosed, and they will lose $200 billion in their home property values.”