Committee on Financial Services

United States House of Representatives

GOP Votes to End Foreclosure Aid

In the 112th Congress House Republicans have passed bills which terminate four programs that address the effects of the foreclosure crisis on American families and communities.

These bills include: The Emergency Mortgage Relief Program Termination Act (H.R. 836) which ends a program providing bridge loans to unemployed homeowners facing possible foreclosure, the FHA Refinance Program Termination Act (H.R. 830), which ends a foreclosure avoidance program that helps homeowners refinance, the NSP Termination Act, (H.R. 861) which eliminates funding to help communities deal with large numbers of foreclosures and abandoned properties, and the HAMP Termination Act of 2011 (H.R. 839), which ends a mortgage modification program to help homeowners avoid forclosure. Passage of these measures follow earlier Republican efforts to cut funding for government agencies, which will implement provisions of the Wall Street Reform Act, designed to reduce the risk of another financial crisis.

Ranking Member Barney Frank, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement in response to Republican’s push to terminate aid to financial crisis victims:

“I am very disappointed that the Republican House members who during the debate on government spending last week refused to limit agricultural subsidies to $250,000 per individual have announced that they will attempt to eliminate programs which help the victims of the financial crisis.”

“The Emergency Homeowner Relief Fund provides assistance to people who are unable to pay their mortgages not because they were imprudent or irresponsible but because they are unemployed. The program is modeled after a successful one in Pennsylvania and it is the single most effective anti-foreclosure program that has been put forward. It is substantially similar to a program that had been successfully implemented in seventeen states and the District of Columbia and that was successfully hailed by the Republican governor of Alabama. I find it therefore particularly troubling that Chairman Bachus is proposing to strike the additional $1 billion to allow other states to participate in the same program from which Alabama benefits.”

“The attack on the Neighborhood Stabilization Program is an attack on cities. This program provides important funding to cities that have already been hit by the foreclosure crisis and allows them to cope with the blight, expense and destabilization that come with the presence of large numbers of empty properties. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program allows cities to deal with this problem in a way that reduces municipal costs.”

“As we continue to respond to the victims of the foreclosure crisis in a responsible way, we will make the case that there are better ways for the federal government to cut spending than by attacking these programs.”

Information on each of the programs, as well as a list of organizations opposing the termination of these programs can be found below.