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| My Vote | All Votes |
 | Ayes:7 |
 | Nays:7 |
Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008.
A bill to provide needed housing reform.
This is the original Democratic proposal for addressing the housing crisis. It's main provision would allow bankruptcy judges to renegotiate the terms of home mortgages. This bill would also increase the number of tax-exempt mortgage revenue bonds available for refinancing subprime mortgages, provide community development money for fixing up foreclosed homes, tax breaks for businesses, and more. A new, bipartisan version of this bill has been drafted and considered by the Senate as an amendment to H.R.3221.
2/13/2008--Introduced.
Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to: (1) authorize use of the proceeds of a qualified mortgage bond issue to refinance a mortgage on a residence originally financed through a qualified subprime loan; (2) raise the ceiling and more...
Amendments
This bill has no amendments.
Bill Status
| Introduced |  | Voted on by Senate | | Voted on by House | | Considered By President | | Bill Becomes Law |
| February 13, 2008 |
In the News
May 06, 2008 The Foreclosure Tax Credit: Blessing or Curse?
In early 2008 the bill was amended by S. 2636 to become The Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, sponsored by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT). ...
April 22, 2008 Changing Housing Law
has introduced a sweeping bill (S. 2636) that includes billions of dollars in direct federal funding, bankruptcy law changes, and expanded taxexempt bond ...
April 08, 2008 Senate Payout Plan for Builders Lobby
“Thank you for your support of housing and for including the Net Operating Losses and tax-exempt provision in S. 2636,” Stanton wrote. ...
Blog Coverage
April 24, 2008 600000 Foreclosures are Preventable
By lifting the ban on court-supervised load modifications for qualified homeowners, Congress can help communities retain an estimated $89 million in tax revenues. View state-by-state analyses of the impact of Senate bill S. 2636. ...
Source: Cards on the Table
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April 21, 2008 Bankruptcy Cramdown Back in Senate..Take Action Now
Bankruptcy âCramdownâ Legislation Is Back in the SenateThe Mortgage Action Alliance expects that upon its return from recess next week, the US Senate will again consider S. 2636, the Forecl...
April 17, 2008 The government should provide financial assistance to homeowners facing foreclosure. (Lending)
Reid sponsors S.2636
Source: Harry Reid
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While I understand foreclosed properties hurt housing and our economy in general, I am not happy to see that the proposed tax credits for purchasing a home will only be for those homes in foreclosure or near it.
I purchased a home I could afford and pay my monthly payments on time. My home is now valued at more than $100K less then I paid for it. By offering credits for potential buyers to purchase foreclosed home that puts me at a greater disadvantage if I need to sell my home by traditional and respectable means. Why not offer a housing purchase credit regardless of what is purchased? Give me an equal chance at selling my house.
Also, I don’t understand why there is a change to the property tax deduction only for those who do not itemize. Why not offer a tax incentive that helps all home owners?
It seems like we are paying to bail out the builders and homeowners that took big risks at the expense of those of us who are buying what we can (could) afford and working to make our payments.
It does not surprise me that legislation which was drafted with good measures gets muddied into something that has no relation to the original title of the legislation. Giving tax breaks to buyers of foreclosed properties still does not do what the title suggests. It does not prevent foreclosures under its introduced and butchered state. It should prevent foreclosures, not do post foreclosure cleanup.
Is something seriously corrupted in the Senate? Yes! There are at least 10 bought and paid for, yes 10% bought by banks Democrats and mostly every Republican and Independent Senator. It is no wonder that this country is in such a mess.
Regarding the idea to give incentives to people who have houses that they cannot sell without considerable financial losses, it is a good proposal and may be in line with foreclosure prevention. If a home cannot be sold because the mortgage is now higher than the market value of the property, foreclosure would be prevented since one could rationally move onward without being denied by existing higher mortgage to property value situations.
My people we must continue to stand as one. For as you all know it is together that we are most powerful. It was together that our people fought, went to jail, and even died for our sake. So it is now more than ever that we must stand taller than ever, and keep the fight that they started alive." " THE POOR PEOPLE'S CAMPAIGN INC
Any housing bill with does nothing to reconcile the disparity between personal income and home prices only makes the current situation worse. I can not see supporting ANY politician who support S.2636.
As disparity do you mean the median income compared to the median home price as a ratio?
Do you find the bill having any redeeming qualities?
Title IV is the main item which I support. S.2136 as a standalone bill would go a long way in creating equilibrium and increase the likelihood that working individuals have a better chance to save their dwellings and recover from the insolvent conditions the bad mortgages are leading to.
In short, the banks did this to the people, and now they should get what they gave. You reap what you sow; sow a bad seed, you get bad meal. I do not feel a bit sorry for the banks this will affect. It may hurt the economy in the short run, but in the end, all will be better off for it.
I disagree with awilber625 - I was a mortgage loan officer for 17 years. My bank and the mortgage companies I worked for did not get involved in the subprime market; however, my competitiors that did could get anyone approved and that is what they did. With a combination of greedy Realtors, purchasers, and lenders, we now have this terrible situation that could have been avoided. No one forced these purchasers to accept the subprime loans - they signed pages of disclosures at closing and were well aware of what they were getting into. The lenders that bought these loans knew what they had and now, unfortunately, we are all paying in some way or another. If we are going to bail out these homeowners, which I do not agree with, then they should receive a 1099 and pay taxes on the bailout amount. If they get away with it this time, who is to say they won't do it again. Hopefully they have all learned a valuable (and costly) lesson. If you don't qualify for a mortgage, you have no business getting one!
This is nothing more than a bailout for builders and bankers, while the typical tax payer and homeowner foot the bill. If you're trying to sell your home the old fashioned way right now Congress just kicked out $7,000 dollars worth of your teeth. BS!
I have not seen hardly any public--i.e VOTER--support for this bill and it's no wonder. This was touted as being for homeowners and for the economy, and was never really even that, in the beginning. It has been corrupted by the industires that CAUSED the housing bubble in the first place, housing and finance, to be a bailout for irresponsible and in some cases criminal companies. It's obscene that congress is even considering it. Instead, there should be an investigation. The FBI and other agencies are trying to investigate, (so they claim), but so far I don't see any of the big players being indicted. We see some big builders being investigated, sort of, and fined amounts that do not matter to these corporations, and they admit no guilt or fault. I also didn't buy into the toxic loans, house-mania, artificially inflated "values" that were the result of appraisers being told to meet the number, etc. I don't think America is falling for this. Any politician who votes for this bill will never get my support either. We all know what caused any in congress to consier it; industry lobbying and big money. It's time for elected officials to remember WHO they work for and here's a tip; it's not the National Association of Home Builders.
Reading through this bill it is obvious that it does not deal with the problems that lead to foreclosure. It now only encourages foreclosure cleanup and does nothing to prevent foreclosures from happening in the first place. Also thee was an amendment to another resolution regarding energy. The bill was 3441 which I believe they tabled the portion resembling Title IV of this legislation.
I feel the most appropriate form of this legislation for preventing foreclosures is HR 3609. S.1236 and S.2636 are too dirty and encumbered to do any positive foreclosure prevention.
I am in the process of purchasing a REO home, I am ecstatic that this bill is going to go into law.
awilber625 - The banks did not do this to people. People did this to people. This simple equation is live within your means. If a person overextends themselves, they are responsible for the mess they are in. Yes, there are anecdotes of predators, or honest people in hard luck, but we are all the end result of our own decisions and actions. Blaming an institution that provided a service you asked for is a moral cop-out. I pay for my home, I pay extra priciple every month. I live within my paycheck, not within some TV-inspired vision of what I should have. My 15-year mortgage will be retired in 9 years. AND I bought 2 REO homes this year as investments. I pay them ahead of schedule. I hope this passes AND is retroactive to 1 Jan.
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