May 8, 2008 miguel.ayala@mail.house.gov

CHC Praises Steps To Preserve American Dream of Homeownership

Legislation Passes that Address Housing Crisis, Which Disproportionately Affects Latino Homeowners

(Washington D.C.)-As 20,000 families continue to lose their homes each week, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) was pleased that H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 included several provisions that address the current crisis and help reduce the number of people affected. With 42 percent of home loans made in 2006 going to Latinos, the CHC is particularly interested in finding relief for the Latino community and for all those affected.

While the Hispanic community has made gains in homeownership, with 49.3 percent of Latinos being homeowners, it has also been targeted in the predatory and deceptive lending practices that have helped lead to this current situation. Of the high-interest loans made in 2005--375,500 of these were made to Latinos. Now many of them are struggling to make their payments, have already fallen behind, or have lost their homes altogether.

“The President has threatened to veto a bill that will keep many Americans, including Latino families, in their homes,â€