COLEMAN VOTES AGAINST HELP FOR HOMEOWNERS

02/28/2008

Votes against bill to stem falling home values


In the next two years, almost 39,000 Minnesota families are expected to lose their homes to the growing mortgage crisis, driving down home values even further for 545,000 additional families, yet today Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman voted to block the Foreclosure Prevention Act. Coleman followed the Republican party line, voting against the bill that would have worked to keep struggling families in their homes, assisted communities harmed by foreclosures recover, and helped families avoid foreclosures in the future.

“While Norm Coleman is busy carrying water for special interests that refuse to help struggling homeowners, Minnesota families are carrying the burden of the growing mortgage crisis,” DSCC spokesman Matthew Miller said. “Instead of listening to Minnesotans who needed his help, Coleman has proven again today how out of touch he is with his constituents and their needs.”

Minnesota homeowners are seeing their home equity vanish before their eyes. Home prices were down 8.9% in the fourth quarter from a year prior, more than at any time since records began being kept. Ten percent of all homeowners now have mortgages for more than their homes are worth. [Wall Street Journal, 2/27/08; New York Times, 2/22/08]

Accelerating foreclosures are driving home values down further. In the next two years, without intervention, 38,991 Minnesota homes are expected to go into foreclosure. Each foreclosure costs every home within 1/8 of a mile 0.9% of its value, meaning that the wave of foreclosures will cost 545,773 neighboring homeowners $2.3 billion in lost wealth. [Center for Responsible Lending, 2/22/08]

As the mortgage crisis costs Minnesota families, Coleman votes to do nothing. The Foreclosure Prevention Act would have directly prevented a quarter of the expected Minnesota foreclosures and the resulting lost value to surrounding homeowners. It would have also helped communities turn over foreclosed properties so that they don’t sit unoccupied, attracting crime and blight and further hurting homeowners. Coleman was not even willing to debate the merits of the bill or try to change the provisions he didn’t like – he voted to block the bill from being considered. [Senate Vote 35, 2/28/08]