April 24 , 2008

Congressman Barney Frank Discussed Legislation to Ease the Subprime Crisis During a Visit to Portland Housing Center

Congressman Barney Frank and Portland Housing Center Director Peg Malloy

Portland, Oregon —House Financial Services Committee chairman, Congressman Barney Frank (MA), visited NeighborWorks network member organization Portland Housing Center, on April 18 and spoke to an audience of housing advocates about his committee's work to ease the subprime crisis. Congressman Frank's bill, the FHA Housing Stabilization and Homeownership Retention Act (H.R. 5830) would revise the Federal Housing Administration's underwriting standards to allow the hardest-pressed homeowners to qualify for government-backed loans. This voluntary program would permit FHA to provide up to $300 billion in new guarantees to help refinance at-risk borrowers into viable mortgages. For those communities hard hit by foreclosures, the Committee approved a $15 billion loan and grant program for local governments to purchase foreclosed homes.