Sylvester Turner: “my amendment, coauthored by Representative Biggert of Illinois and Mr. Gillmor of Ohio, seeks to help families who are…”

“my amendment, coauthored by Representative Biggert of Illinois and Mr. Gillmor of Ohio, seeks to help families who are potential victims of lending practices that could lead to foreclosure. The amendment increases the amount of funds available for housing counseling under section 106 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968. The amendment would increase the program's funding by $6.7 million. The increase is offset by reducing the Office of Inspector General account by $6.7 million. The CBO has scored this amendment as budget-neutral. Funding for housing counseling has increased by only $2 million since fiscal year 2003. Mr. Chairman, as a former mayor of the city of Dayton, Ohio, I have seen directly the detrimental impact that predatory lending and the practice of unwarranted subprime loans have had on urban families and communities. In 2001, the University of Dayton released a study of how mortgage foreclosures were affecting urban areas in Ohio. My community of Dayton had 1 foreclosure for every 43 households. Similar findings were seen in Cleveland, Akron, Columbus, and Cincinnati. The problem of home foreclosures isn't limited to Ohio and the Midwest. According to a June 12, 2007, Bloomberg article, national home foreclosure rates in May soared 90 percent from last year. Many of these are tied to the subprime loan industry. Many foreclosed homes sit vacant and boarded up for long periods of time.”