Congressional Testimonies

Federal Housing Finance GSE Rental REO Program Information Sheila Crowley.
On March 5, 2009 the federal Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced programs to allow bona fide tenants in place at the time of a foreclosure to lease their homes. These “REO rental” programs seek to avoid the immediate eviction of tenants who wish to stay at market rents.  The Freddie Mac program also extends the offer to owners.
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President and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition, Before the House of Representatives, Financial Services Committee. (2008, Apr. 10). Available at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/Testimony-Sheila-Crowley-april-10-2008.pdf . This testimony presents evidence that multi-unit properties, and thus renters, are significantly impacted in the foreclosure crisis. Data also indicate that many of those losing their homes to foreclosure are low-income families. In the testimony, Ms. Crowley argues that renters should be protected from displacement and that low-income families who are evicted require emergency financial assistance to prevent them from becoming homeless.

Judith Liben, Housing Attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, Before the House of Representatives, Committee on Financial Services (Homeowners Are Not the Only Victims of the Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis). (2007, Sept. 20).
Available at http://www.nlihc.org/doc/Liben-Congressional-Testimony.pdf
The findings of this testimony show how renters in foreclosed properties are forced to quickly move out of their homes, how banks often refuse to maintain rental properties after foreclosure, and how the foreclosure crisis has presented other significant problems for rental properties and markets nationwide. The testimony calls for legislative and regulatory options to better protect and assist renters threatened with displacement along with maintaining and developing affordable rental housing.