Torres, Waters Introduce Bill to Help Homeowners to Keep Their Homes

The KeepYour Home Act would strengthen investment in vital homeowner assistance program, the Hardest Hit Fund

To date, more than 80,000 homeowners in California alone, and hundreds of thousands in participating states have been assisted by the program

WASHINGTON, DC — Reps. Norma J. Torres (D-CA) and Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, introduced the Keep Your Home Act, a bill geared towards helping homeowners in participating states struggling to get out from underneath their mortgage payments. This bill would bolster the Hardest Hit Fund, a supplementary homeowner assistance program that was established by President Obama within the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to provide states with support to reinvest in impacted homeowner communities.

"One of the biggest concerns I hear from constituents is a lack of affordable housing for working families. My bill will help address this problem. When our region was fighting to come back from the Great Recession, the Hardest Hit Fund was there to prevent homeowners from losing their homes," said Torres. "Today, as incomes struggle to keep pace with costs, homeowners and middle class families are still struggling to remain afloat. The Keep Your Home Act would reinforce our investment in them to help ensure they can keep the homes they've worked so hard to earn."

In 2016, Congress extended authorization for the program and added $2 billion of TARP funds to assist additional homeowners. The program is now running low on funds, but a simple transfer of existing TARP funds would give the Hardest Hit Fund new life. The Keep Your Home Act would transfer up to $5.5 billion of TARP funds into the Hardest Hit Fund, extend the authorization of the program, and put in place safeguards to ensure that states assist homeowners in a timely fashion.

In California the program has been used to provide help for those experiencing unemployment, those who have fallen behind on payments, lowering outstanding principal on a mortgage, and help those undergoing a short sale. Other states have similar programs, which can be found here.

Torres has long been an advocate for affordable housing. During her time in the California State Legislature, she led efforts to provide financial assistance to millions of California families negatively impacted by the great recession, helped secure $2 billion in federal funds for the "Keep Your Home California" program, passed the Homeowner's Bill of Rights, and authored legislation to accelerate the construction of affordable housing, help delinquent homeowners refinance their second mortgages, and make it easier for returning veterans to purchase homes.

Torres is a member of the powerful Rules Committee, Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Budget Task Force, and a member of the Poverty, Income Inequality, and Opportunity Task Force. Last year, she introduced the HUD Manufactured Housing Modernization Act of 2017 to increase the availability of affordable housing by modernizing outdated regulations so they include new manufactured housing options.