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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Eugene DePasquale |
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DePasquale: House passes plan to address mortgage crisis
HARRISBURG, April 8 – As the national mortgage crisis continues to impact millions of Americans, state Rep. Eugene DePasquale, D-York, announced that the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed a package of bills that would address some of the root causes of the mortgage and foreclosure problems affecting Pennsylvania residents.
"Each and every day, it seems more and more people are losing their homes to foreclosure," DePasquale said. "Although this is a national issue impacting millions of Americans, Pennsylvania is seeing the negative impacts of this crisis. In February, the number of Pennsylvania foreclosures rose 22 percent from 2007, and 43 percent alone since January. And we have nearly 25,000 existing adjustable-rate mortgages scheduled to reset this year. Without some action on the state level to address this crisis, we could see thousands of Pennsylvanians become victims to the housing crisis.
"The bills that we passed today are a comprehensive approach to dealing with the crisis by helping consumers and borrowers adjust to the instability of the housing market, tightening regulatory procedures and strengthening the enforcement of existing rules," DePasquale said. "They would enable the state to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and not exposed to harmful lending practices, and seek to make the mortgage industry more stable and predictable.
"But most of all, we need to make sure that lenders do not take advantage of the economic situation to prey on homeowners and homebuyers who are nervous or worried about losing their homes," he added. "And we also need to make sure that we crack down on fraudulent activities, which have significantly contributed to the mortgage crisis, especially with regard to false and inflated appraisals."
DePasquale said the package of bills passed by the House, if approved by the Senate, would be augmented by a proposal currently being considered by the state’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission. That proposal would require plain-language disclosures for consumers to help them make the best decisions regarding their mortgage interest rate and repayment.
"Home values have plummeted over the last few years to the tune of almost $4 trillion nationwide," DePasquale said. "And most of the foreclosures are being felt by working-class homeowners who simply cannot afford the instability of the market. These proposals aim to help Pennsylvanians keep their homes and ride out this crisis."
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