Consumer Law

Senate Negotiators and Banking Committee Agree on Aid for Those Facing Foreclosure

By Jeff Sovern

Today's Times has an article headlined "Senate Leaders Reach Deal on Housing Assistance."  Here's an excerpt:

Senate negotiators on Monday said they had reached a deal on legislation aimed at helping hundreds of thousands of homeowners in danger of foreclosure by expanding the availability of government-insured mortgages.

The Bush administration, which previously said it would oppose legislation to rescue troubled homeowners, suggested that it was willing to consider the Senate deal because lawmakers had found a way to eliminate any direct cost to taxpayers.

The Senate bill would create an affordable housing fund, financed by the government-sponsored mortgage-finance companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and that fund would be used in its first year to provide about $500 million for the foreclosure rescue effort.

The Times web site reports here that the Senate Banking Committee approved the resulting bill today by a vote of 19 to 2.

Full post as published by CL&P Blog on May 20, 2008 (boomark / email).