Franken, Snowe Advocate For Homeowners In Wall Street Reform Bill
Press Release
Franken, Snowe Advocate For Homeowners In Wall Street Reform Bill
Joined by seven of their colleagues, U.S. Sens. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) filed a bipartisan amendment to the Wall Street Reform bill now on the Senate floor. The proposal would create an Office of the Homeowner Advocate, funded from existing sources, whose focus would be on assisting homeowners who believe their mortgage servicer is breaking the rules. Currently, these families have nowhere to turn when wrongly denied from the program, or encounter difficulties in navigating the already stressful system of avoiding foreclosure.
"Too many Minnesotans have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, and are now in danger of losing their homes," said Sen. Franken. "When they feel they're being treated unfairly, they need to know there's someone who has their back. My proposal creates an office dedicated to these families. They're doing their best with an incredibly stressful situation in a tough economy that they didn't create, and we ought to do what we can to help them."
"For far too many Mainers and Americans, these turbulent economic times, in which we have witnessed record high unemployment rates, are confounded by the housing market crisis and certain mortgage servicers who are, frankly, taking advantage of our nation's families," said Sen. Snowe. "By creating an Office of the Homeowner Advocate, these Americans will receive the vital assistance they require when they are faced with the daunting foreclosure system."
The Franken-Snowe proposal has the support of the Treasury Department and the White House, which placed it on its Top 10 list of amendments that improve the Wall Street Reform bill
The Office of the Homeowner Advocate is modeled after the successful Office of the Taxpayer Advocate at the Internal Revenue Service. It aims to help resolve problems with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), an entity developed by the U.S Treasury Department to help homeowners struggling to keep their homes. It would be funded from money that is available for the costs of administering the HAMP program, but is not otherwise committed.
18,800 Minnesotans currently participate in the HAMP program and stand to benefit immediately from the Franken-Snowe amendment. More could participate in HAMP if the proposal goes through, as the Office of the Homeowner Advocate would be tasked with correcting the mistakes currently denying them eligibility. As the foreclosure crisis goes on, many more people are expected to join the HAMP program, which was originally expected to help 3 to 4 million homeowners nationwide.
The Office of the Homeowner Advocate would have three primary functions: To assist homeowners, housing counselors, and housing lawyers in resolving problems with the HAMP program; to identify areas where homeowners are having problems in dealing with the HAMP program; and to identify possible administrative and legislative changes to HAMP.
In addition to gaining assistance in navigating the system, while a person is appealing a case through the Office of the Homeowner Advocate homes may not go to foreclosure sale until the process is finished or 60 days have passed.
The Office of the Homeowner Advocate would:
* Have an independent director, appointed by the Secretary of Treasury in consultation with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. This director would have a background as an advocate for homeowners and have experience dealing with mortgage servicers. The director cannot have worked for a servicer or for the Treasury Department within the past four years.
* Make the Director available to testify in front of the Senate Banking Committee and House Committee on Financial Services at least four times a year, or at any time at the request of the Chairs of either committee, and issue a formal report to Congress once a year.
* Have staff designated by the Director to have the authority, on a case-by-case basis, to implement servicer remedies, subject to the approval of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability. This will help to ensure that the staff of the Office of the Homeowner Advocate actually have the ability to make servicers follow the rules.
The Franken-Snowe amendment is supported by Catholic Charities of St. Paul & Minneapolis, Community Action Partnership of Ramsey & Washington Counties, Family & Children's Service, Family Housing Fund, Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, Housing Preservation Project of St. Paul, Jewish Community Action, Legal Services Advocacy Project, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, Minnesota Community Action Partnership, Minnesota Housing Partnership, Northside Resident Redevelopment Council, and Project for Pride in Living.
Nationally, Americans for Financial Reform, Center for Responsible Lending, National Consumer Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Consumers Union, Consumer Federation of America, and National Council of La Raza all support the Franken-Snowe amendment.
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