HR1276 LRB095 21030 AJO 50214 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, A growing home mortgage crisis with high rates of
3 late mortgage payments and home foreclosures is threatening the
4 housing industry, residential property values, the financial
5 markets, and the entire U.S. economy; and
 
6     WHEREAS, In recent years sub-prime adjustable rate home
7 loans were offered in unprecedented numbers to millions of
8 Americans who are now facing unmanageable mortgage payment
9 increases or the loss of their homes; and
 
10     WHEREAS, More than 1.5 million homes in the United States
11 were in foreclosure in 2007, an increase of 53% over 2006, and
12 the rate of foreclosures is predicted to be even higher in
13 2008; and
 
14     WHEREAS, The present crisis will worsen in 2008 and 2009 as
15 nearly 2 million homeowners with sub-prime adjustable rate
16 mortgages face higher mortgage payments when their loans reset
17 to higher interest rates; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Homeowners whose house payments will increase
19 under the terms of their sub-prime adjustable rate mortgages
20 need the protection that a 2-year moratorium on interest rate
21 reset increases would offer; and
 

 

 

HR1276 - 2 - LRB095 21030 AJO 50214 r

1     WHEREAS, On May 5, 2008, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
2 Bernake said "High rates of delinquency and foreclosure can
3 have substantial spillover effects on the housing market, the
4 financial markets and the broader economy. Therefore, doing
5 what we can to avoid preventable foreclosures is not just in
6 the interest of lenders and borrowers. It's in everybody's
7 interest."; and
 
8     WHEREAS, A 2-year moratorium on sub-prime mortgage reset
9 increases will lessen the further deterioration of the housing
10 sector of the U.S. economy; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13 strongly urge the United States Congress to enact legislation
14 that would establish a 2-year moratorium to prohibit sub-prime
15 adjustable rate mortgage loans on owner-occupied residential
16 real estate from resetting to higher interest rates; and be it
17 further
 
18     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
19 delivered to the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the
20 United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the
21 United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
22 the Illinois congressional delegation.