Issue Position: Jack's Subprime Mortgage and Affordable Housing Plan
Jack Markell's Plan to Protect Homeownership, Stop Mortgage Fraud and Increase Delaware's Supply of Affordable Housing
Delaware families are getting squeezed every day. We're all paying more for our health care, college tuition and for gas and electricity. Yet, at the same time, wages and employer-sponsored benefits aren't keeping pace. Recently, another problem has been squeezing working families, and that is the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Just as I created the Delaware Money School as state treasurer to provide Delawareans with the opportunity for financial education, when elected governor, I will work to protect homeowners falling victim to the sub-prime mortgage crisis by stopping mortgage fraud, creating more available affordable housing, helping residents weatherize their homes to save on energy, and by ending housing discrimination.
1.) Protect Homeowners, Stop Mortgage Fraud
Promote renting options:
- I will work with industry leaders and neighborhood organizations to develop a rental option for those facing foreclosure.
Encourage "Work Out" arrangements with lenders:
- I will explore creative ways to keep people in their homes through financing alternatives provided by lending institutions.
Require lenders to represent the best interest of the homebuyer:
- I will mandate mortgage brokers to place customers in loans that are affordable throughout the life of the loan. It makes no sense to offer homebuyers loans that will inevitably fail.
Helping hand for homeowners:
- I will propose putting Delaware's share of federal money mandated to help residents with exploding sub-prime mortgage payments into the Delaware Emergency Assistance Program (DEMAP). Currently, DEMAP can only provide loans to homeowners experiencing hardships through "no fault of their own." Additional federal dollars in this pool would be available to help qualified sub-prime mortgage victims facing eviction receive state loans.
Exclude pre-payment penalties:
- Delaware law already forbids prepayment penalties, which are designed to prevent a consumer from paying off a loan early, for all loans except mortgages; I will push to exclude pre-payment penalties for residential mortgage loans up to a specific amount.
Full disclosure of loan terms:
- I will ensure mortgage brokers provide the terms of a borrower's loan in simple language.
Establish a code of conduct:
- The State Banking Commissioner will certify lenders that agree to abide by a code of conduct and make this list public.
Develop a Right to Know Scorecard:
- I will work with consumers to develop a guide for borrowers to compare and individualize loan options.
2.) Increasing the Availability of Affordable Housing
Revitalizing older neighborhoods through renovation:
- I will encourage all Delaware cities to adopt rehabilitation codes to enable small rehabilitation projects.
Encouraging the development of Community Land Trusts (CLT's):
- As governor, I will make it a priority to remove barriers blocking land trusts' progress. Community based non-profit CLT's have proven to be successful in purchasing land for the purpose of providing affordable housing in perpetuity.
Providing homeowner workshops
- I will provide workshops focusing on financial management, predatory lending and foreclosure prevention in neighborhoods hit hard by the fallout of sub-prime loans.
Manufactured homes are not cars:
- As governor, I will eliminate the requirement that non-mobile manufactured homes be registered and titled with the DMV.
3.) Energy efficiency - helping the environment, helping homeowners
I will work with banks and lending institutions to develop "Green Car" and "Green Mortgage" lending programs offering discounted rates for "Energy Star" ratings.
I will adopt appliance efficiency standards to ensure products sold in Delaware meet higher levels of energy efficiency.
I will expand low-income home weatherization funding to make energy assistance dollars go farther.
4.) Closing the door on housing discrimination
In addition to enforcing existing laws, I will make a bill banning discrimination based on sexual orientation a top priority on my legislative agenda. I will also support legislation prohibiting landlords from evicting tenants because they call the police during a domestic dispute - victims of domestic violence shouldn't fear losing their homes.
Full Version: http://www.markell.org/pdf/Markell_Mortgage_Plan.pdf