Barbara Flynn Currie.

2 January 2009

News from Springfield..................by State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie (D-25)

It isn’t news that home foreclosures are on the upswing.  Families of every economic description are at risk, and boarded up homes blot the landscape.

At the urging of state Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the state Senate has passed a bill that would give homeowners a chance to take a breath before they’re tossed out of their homes.

The idea is to provide a 90-day moratorium for owners that work with counselors to propose an acceptable payment plan.  The legislation would require mortgage holders to notify homeowners who are 30 days delinquent; give them an additional 30 days to work with reputable counseling services to find a way out; and give them an additional 30 days to figure out whether they can find a reasonable payment plan.

Even with this grace period, there will be some homeowners who won’t be able to make the grade.  But many will.  And to encourage lenders to work with mortgage holders has to be a plus:

How does it benefit the mortgage holder to add one more empty home, with declining resale value, to its portfolio?

How does it benefit the neighborhood to have one more dilapidated house on the block?

And how does it help the hapless homeowner, who might have been able to make it, to cut him or her off too soon?

The House will have an opportunity to vote on this important legislation when we return to Springfield in the early part of January.

I know that state legislation will not be enough, on its own, to fix the problems of the sub-prime housing market.  For one thing, our measures apply only to state-chartered financial institutions.  We are hopeful that new federal leadership will deal with the housing crisis as part of a comprehensive approach to the extreme financial difficulties wracking the nation. 

But we in Illinois can do our part. And we must.  I hope the members of the House agree with the Senate and vote to support the measure. 

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