Engel Supports Housing Rescue Bill

Press Release

ENGEL SUPPORTS HOUSING RESCUE BILL

Congressman Eliot Engel voted to pass legislation that will help families facing foreclosure keep their homes, help other families avoid foreclosures in the future, and help the recovery of communities harmed by empty homes caught in the foreclosure process.

The legislation, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, passed Wednesday by a vote of 272-152 and now goes to the Senate where it is expected to pass. The President has said he would sign the bill.

Rep. Engel said, "This bill will go a long way toward addressing the shortage of affordable housing options in our nation."

The legislation will:

* Shore up the housing market and ensure the availability of affordable home loans;
* Strengthen neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis by providing resources to cities and states to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed properties;
* Expand homeownership opportunities for veterans and help returning soldiers avoid foreclosure and stay in their home;
* Provide tax breaks to spur home buying, and;
* Create an Affordable Housing Trust Fund to boost the nation's affordable rental housing in rural and urban areas for low- and very low-income individuals and families.

Rep. Engel said, "This vital legislation will help us to keep the collapsing housing market from dragging down the rest of the economy. It will also help those people with delinquent mortgages save their homes from foreclosure."

The legislation also gave the Treasury Department the authority to increase the already existing lines of credit to the two national mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together own or guarantee almost half of the nation's $12 trillion in mortgages.

The legislation provides a $7,500 tax credit for first time home buyers. It also grants authority to state and local housing agencies to issue up to $11 billion in tax exempt bonds to refinance bad mortgages while calling for stricter oversight of mortgage brokers.

Rep. Engel said, "America is facing a number of economic hardships, including the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the skyrocketing price of oil. The federal government is taking steps to put our economy back on an even keel. We cannot abandon people who are in danger of losing their homes - especially when their numbers are so great. It threatens the whole economy."

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