WASHINGTON, July 30 /EMWNews/ -- Today President Bush

signed into law a housing bill passed by Congress aimed at stabilizing the

shaky housing market.



    A key part of the housing bill will permit struggling homeowners to

refinance their mortgages through the Federal Housing Administration -- if

their lenders and loan servicers agree. The Congressional Budget Office

says this program could possibly help 400,000 homeowners, but because the

program is voluntary for the loan servicers and lenders, the number of

people that would actually avoid foreclosure is largely unknown. The new

FHA program should be carefully monitored to see how many homeowners are

actually served. Unfortunately, Wall Street analysts expect up to 6.5

million foreclosures over the next few years.



    "By providing a chance to prevent more foreclosures, the housing bill

provides an additional tool to help us move toward a more stable housing

market and a recovering economy," said CRL President Michael Calhoun. "But

the subprime crisis is a result of years of reckless lending, and it will

take more time and effort to address it effectively."



    Underscoring that it will take more than just voluntary efforts on the

part of lenders and servicers, data released today from Hope Now showed

that foreclosures sales hit an all-time high, and that there were 20,000

more foreclosures than modifications last month.



    In addition to the helpful components of the housing bill, The Center

for Responsible Lending supports additional common-sense solutions, such

as:



    -- requiring better reporting from mortgage servicers about loan

modifications;



    -- allowing bankruptcy courts to supervise the modification of

mortgages on the primary residences of financially distressed families;



    -- providing temporary deferment of foreclosures until housing markets

stabilize; and



    -- establishing programs like the FDIC's home ownership preservation

loan proposal, which would facilitate additional modifications.