Kagen Votes To Help Homeowners Prevent Foreclosure
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Acting to help homeowners avoid losing their homes, Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. today voted for the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act, saying that the bill will help families families facing foreclosure keep their homes while their communities recover from the recent lack of confidence in the marketplace.
“With a minimal cost to taxpayers, we can help families remain in their homes,” Kagen said. “This bipartisan bill offers a timely hand to homeowners without bailing out a single special interest.”
The American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act expands homeownership opportunities for veterans and helps returning soldiers avoid foreclosure. It also makes it possible for cities and states to purchase and restore foreclosed properties that are currently driving down home prices, reducing state and local revenues, and destabilizing neighborhoods.
“This housing collapse, along with impossible gas prices and skyrocketing costs for health care, is putting Wisconsin working families at risk,” Kagen said. “Bringing this crisis to an end will restore confidence in our economy and put us on the road to economic recovery.”
Kagen said the bill also provides tax breaks to spur home buying and creates a new fund to boost affordable rental housing in both rural and urban areas.
The bill assists veterans of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan by extending the time for commencement of foreclosure proceedings from three months to nine months after a soldier returns from service.
No taxpayer money will be going into restoring the security of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Kagen said.
