Mortgage reform

House committee passes affordable housing actMortgagePress.comNational Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 Another critical step toward the establishment of a national housing trust fund was achieved on July 31, when the House Financial Services Committee approved HR 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007. The committee approved the bill by a vote of 45-23. If passed by Congress, the bill would provide dedicated sources of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75 percent of the funds would go toward housing for households that were extremely low income (earning less than 30 percent of an area's median income). Nationwide, there are currently only 6.2 million homes renting at prices affordable to the 9 million extremely low-income renter households—a shortage of 2.8 million homes. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30 percent of household income. "Today marks another critical milestone for the millions of low-income households for whom decent housing they can afford does not exist," said Sheila Crowley, president of the National Housing Trust Funding Campaign. "Today, the Financial Services Committee voted to preserve dedicated funding sources and deep income targeting, to help communities around the country address their most pressing affordable housing needs. We look forward to this bill's swift passage by the full House of Representatives." On June 28, HR 2895 was introduced by Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, with strong bipartisan support from 16 original cosponsors. As of the committee's passage of the bill, HR 2895 had 38 cosponsors. For more information, visit www.house.gov.