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Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

Date: July 23, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Housing and Property


HOUSING AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - July 23, 2008)

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Mrs. MALONEY of New York. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill which will restore some order to our Nation's housing market and will provide greater certainty to our economy. It was developed in a bipartisan way with the support of the administration.

Important aspects of this legislation include the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act, which provides mortgage refinancing assistance to keep at least 400,000 families from losing their homes and to help stabilize our housing market at no cost to the American taxpayer. This bill strengthens regulations of the GSEs by creating a strong independent regulator with real teeth, responsibility and power.

Very important for my district in New York and other high-cost areas, it raises the GSE loan limits. This bill creates a new permanent, affordable housing trust fund, a very creative effort led by our chairman, Barney Frank, financed by the GSEs and not by taxpayers, to fund the construction and maintenance of affordable rental housing for low and very low-income individuals and families nationwide in both rural and urban areas.

This bill includes important provisions that will provide for a backstop of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to shore up the housing market, a critical piece of restoring confidence in our economy. This is done by giving the Secretary of the Treasury the authority to increase the already existing line of credit to Freddie and Fannie for the next 18 months, as well as giving the Treasury Department stand-by authority to buy stock in these companies, to provide confidence in the GSEs and stabilize housing finance markets.

Not only are we addressing the current crisis but we are working to prevent future abuses and crises by establishing a nationwide loan originator licensing and registration system that will set minimum standards for loan originator licensing, substantially improving the oversight of the mortgage brokers and the whole industry.

It is a much-needed reform. I urge my colleagues to support it.

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