Housing

Congressman Carson has been working to help hardworking American families avoid losing their homes through default or foreclosure. Representative Carson has also made expanding homeownership opportunities an integral part of his legislative agenda.

ENDING THE MORTGAGE CRISIS >> Over one million Americans have recently lost their homes due to foreclosure. An additional two million people are at risk of losing their homes within the next two years.

In order to help those Americans struggling to make ends meet in our turbulent housing market, Congressman Carson co-authored and aggressively pushed for the passage of the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act. This $300 billion housing aid package will ensure the availability of more affordable home loans and drastically increase the number of affordable rental units. This landmark bill will also allow homeowners to escape dangerous subprime, adjustable rate mortgages by refinancing with low fixed-rate loans, which are provided at no cost to the American taxpayer.

Congressman Carson inserted language into this bill which ensures that individuals in danger of foreclosure are identified and notified if they are eligible for refinancing to more stable loans.

IMPROVING URBAN COMMUNITIES >> There has been a dramatic spike in the number of vacant, foreclosed homes that have depreciated property values and compromised the safety of our communities. In response, Congressman Carson drafted legislation that provides grants and loans to states to purchase and rehabilitate vacant, foreclosed homes and convert them into affordable rental units. Because of Congressman Carson’s efforts, the Seventh Congressional District of Indiana will receive $20.9 million dollars in assistance to rebuild dilapidated vacant homes and revitalize our neighborhoods.

PREVENTING HOMELESSNESS >> In a given year, 3.5 million people are likely to experience homelessness; 1.35 million of them are children. Concerned about these staggering figures, Representative Carson has taken a lead on homeless issues since coming to Congress. He was instrumental in pushing Congresswoman Julia Carson’s Homeless Emergency and Rapid Transition to Housing Act through the House Financial Services Committee. This bill represents significant changes to the HUD homeless programs through increased funding and expanding the definition of who is homeless to ensure more children and families have access to critical resources within the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Programs.