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COLUMBUS, OH –United States Senator
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today joined the Columbus Housing
Partnership and homeowners facing foreclosure to discuss
federal legislation that would help homeowners avoid
foreclosure and revitalize struggling communities. Brown
toured a rehabbed home on North 21st St., a block that
has been particularly hard hit by the housing crisis.
“The American Dream is slipping away
from thousands of middle class Ohioans due to the rise
in foreclosures,” said Senator Brown. “We must act
swiftly to reverse this trend and invest in our
neighborhoods. This week, I’ll be fighting for
legislation that will help families hold onto their
homes and assist in the rebuilding of communities. We
will not be deterred by the president’s veto threat of
this effort to help Ohio neighborhoods.”
“In central Ohio, thousands of
homeowners are no longer able to pay the mortgage, have
been foreclosed and now the homes are vacant,” said
Columbus Housing Partnership President/CEO Amy Klaben.
“Without public investment, foreclosure’s effect on our
neighborhoods and the families that inhabit them will be
devastating.”
The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of
2008 will be voted on by the Senate this week. This
bipartisan legislation, which would provide $11 billion
in additional bonding authority and $3.9 billion in
grants to support community development projects like
North 21st Street in Columbus, faces a veto threat from
the White House.
According to Policy Matters Ohio, more
than 30,000 homes went into foreclosure in Franklin
County in the last four years. Of these, 9,145 occurred
in the last year. Throughout Ohio, new foreclosure
filings grew by 6.7 percent last year, to 84,751 cases
in 2007. Foreclosures have led to vacant homes and a
reduction in property values in surrounding areas.
Earlier this year, Brown helped secure
an additional $80 million in the foreclosure assistance
bill for housing counseling, bringing the total to $180
million. Brown also successfully fought to add $200
million in the final report for Transportation, Housing
and Urban Development Appropriations Act of 2008 for
HUD-certified nonprofit organizations to conduct
foreclosure prevention counseling. Additionally, the
Borrower’s Protection Act of 2007, legislation which
Brown co-authored, would upgrade standards by which
mortgage brokers and originators must abide when making
new loans to borrowers.
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