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States Act to Limit Home Foreclosures
As the U.S. Congress continues to make headway in enacting housing legislation aimed at stabilizing the housing market and restoring the health of the nation’s economy, states have been busy approving legislation to help limit foreclosures.
Maryland lawmakers passed some of the nation's most ambitious legislation to control the housing crisis by toughening oversight of the mortgage-lending industry and establishing pre-emptive measures to help people at risk of foreclosure.
Other states have proposed their own solutions, including:
- Ohio — Gov. Ted Strickland and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer last month announced the addition of a legal component to the state’s “Save the Dream” initiative that will enable home owners needing foreclosure assistance to work with attorneys pro bono to help resolve their problems.
- Michigan — Gov. Jennifer Granholm has signed into law several bills aimed at making state housing loan programs available to more state residents. Some home owners struggling with rising interest rates on adjustable rate mortgages will be able to get lower fixed-rate loans through the Michigan Housing Development Authority. Another program helps people who have been delinquent on payments and are at risk of losing their homes. The programs will be paid for by taxable bonds. Home owners will be responsible for the full value of their refinanced mortgages.
- Minnesota — Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced a significant $4.3 million expansion of his state’s foreclosure prevention counseling under a federal grant.
- Washington — Gov. Chris Gregoire signed into law a bill that will protect those at risk of foreclosure from being duped into signing their homes over to third parties. The law cracks down on so-called “foreclosure rescue scams” in which a third party claiming to act in the home owner’s best interest offers to buy the home before it is foreclosed on and then allows the owner to lease the property back until their financial situation improves. The lease terms are often as far out of reach as the mortgage payments, and the home owner ends up defaulting on them and losing the home.
- Illinois — Gov. Rod Blagojevich is pushing legislation to give home owners behind on their payments a grace period of up to 60 days before lenders can foreclose. The measure would require lenders to notify home owners who are a month behind on payments that they have 30 days to enter mortgage counseling and get back on track. Once counseling begins, the home owner would have another 30 days to refinance or establish a new payment plan.
For more information, e-mail Elizabeth Ambrose at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8253.
 Mark Your Calendar for the 2008 NAHB Legislative Conference
The 2008 NAHB Legislative Conference provides a unique opportunity for builders to meet with their members of Congress, discuss the issues that affect their business and bottom line and establish a lasting relationship with their elected federal officials.
The day-long conference on Wednesday, April 30 coincides with the NAHB spring board meeting in Washington, D.C.
Builders are encouraged to travel to the nation’s capital to urge their representatives and senators to support policies that stabilize housing, restore confidence in the credit markets and bolster the nation’s economy.
Members of Congress are being urged to:
- Support a temporary home buyer tax credit to boost sales, reduce excess inventory in housing markets and halt the dangerous erosion of house prices
- Enact Federal Housing Administration modernization to assist first-time and moderate-income home buyers and alleviate the mortgage credit crunch
- Adopt comprehensive reform legislation for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to enable these financial institutions to provide badly needed liquidity to the mortgage market
- Expand the mortgage revenue bond program to help strapped borrowers refinance existing loans
- Allow businesses to carry back net operating losses for five years to save jobs and help them weather the economic storm
For more information and to register for NAHB’s 2008 Legislative Conference, click here; or e-mail Molly Murray at NAHB, or call her at 800-368-5242 x8282.
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