House Judiciary Hearing: Mortgage Foreclosures, Identifying Solutions.

Formal title of this hearing was "Hearing on the Growing Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis: Identifying Solutions and Dispelling Myths."

Held Tuesday Jan 29th, witness testimony combined in one PDF file HERE.

Moodys Economy Now Mark Zandi testified that the estimated 250,000 families who may be helped by the voluntary Hope Now efforts would likely be insufficient to deal with the scope of the looming foreclosure problem:

"Thus, while the Hope Now effort is laudable, it should not forestall passage of legislation such as HR 3609 to provide hard-pressed homeowners facing foreclosure more protection in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If Hope Now is successful in helping many borrowers, then these borrowers would not avail themselves of the opportunity to avoid foreclosure in Chapter 13 provided by this legislation. However, if Hope Now is not sufficiently successful, which may very well be the case, then this legislation will prove invaluable." "...[HR 3609]", which would give bankruptcy judges the authority in a Chapter 13 to modify mortgages by treating them as secured only up to the market value of the property, will significantly reduce the number of foreclosures. An estimated over one fourth of homeowners likely to lose their homes between now and the end of the decade, equal to an estimated 570,000 homeowners, would benefit from this legislation."