Mortgage Reform And Anti Predatory Lending Act

Floor Speech

MORTGAGE REFORM AND ANTI-PREDATORY LENDING ACT

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Mr. ELLISON. Let me first thank my friend from Colorado who has worked diligently. He is an excellent legislator and was a fine lawyer and I think still is licensed to practice law, and so it is a pleasure working with him. On this issue, unfortunately, we don't quite see it the same.

I think that the 90-day provision is fine and should remain in the bill as it exists now. To cut down by 60 days the opportunity for a renter to find a new place to live after they may have done nothing wrong, made every payment, paid every penny on time, really is not fair and is not good for public policy.

The fact is that, when a house goes into foreclosure, that neighborhood and that home are best preserved by keeping that occupant in there. If they are required to leave just after 30 days, which is very, very fast, that means that we could end up with an empty building where it is subject to copper strippers. It will be an attractive nuisance for people who want to commit, perhaps, crime. It will be a very difficult and bad situation. And we know that once a house goes into foreclosure and then is not occupied, that is a direct blow to the property values of people who live everywhere in the neighborhood.

So this provision, this 90 days actually makes a lot of sense. It should stay in harmony with the bill as it exists and not be reduced. I will acknowledge appreciation that the author of this amendment does allow for 30 days. I appreciate that, but I think it should be more. It should be the 90 days that is already there.

This amendment, if adopted, would work to penalize the one person who has not had anything to do with the foreclosure crisis. They were not party to the foreclosure. They were not party to the mortgage in the beginning. They weren't party to the securitization, nor did they engage in any derivatives or anything like that which have brought us to this very difficult point.

The fact is that the tenant who may have been paying every rent every month, month after month, has no control or responsibility over the owner who may have violated certain conditions of the mortgage agreement, and this extra 60 days that the existing bill provides is not a major detriment to the lender.

Let me just also say, the fact is this is not just an individual problem. To take a very legalistic view of this problem and say they are not in the chain of title, therefore, they are out, ignores the fact that this problem of foreclosures has spread across the Nation, is a community problem, is a problem of everyone, not just a narrow, fixed party-to-party agreement. Therefore, there needs to be a solution that takes into consideration the broader interests as well.

Again, I thank the gentleman from Colorado for his diligent work on this issue.

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Mr. ELLISON. Let me just point out that tenants are hard hit by this foreclosure crisis even though the mortgage is not their responsibility.

As of February 2009, at least 20 percent of the properties in foreclosure were rental properties, and roughly 40 percent of the families facing eviction due to foreclosure are tenants. Only seven States and the District of Columbia provide clear protection for tenants.

The fact is that, if this amendment is adopted, it will add to the pain of some tenants when we don't have to do it. The 90 days in the bill is more than adequate, and 30 days is too short. We will put pressure on our homeless shelters if we adopt this amendment. We will put pressure on families who really had no part in making this foreclosure crisis occur.

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