[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 69 (Wednesday, May 6, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5173-S5175]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             HELPING FAMILIES SAVE THEIR HOMES ACT OF 2009

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of S. 896, which the clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 896) to prevent mortgage foreclosures and 
     enhance mortgage credit availability.

  Pending:

       Dodd/Shelby amendment No. 1018, in the nature of a 
     substitute.
       Dodd (for Grassley/Baucus) modified amendment No. 1020 (to 
     amendment No. 1018), to enhance the oversight authority of 
     the Comptroller General of the United States with respect to 
     expenditures under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
       Dodd (for Grassley/Baucus) modified amendment No. 1021 (to 
     amendment No. 1018), to amend chapter 7 of title 31, United 
     States Code, to provide the Comptroller General additional 
     audit authorities relating to the Board of Governors of the 
     Federal Reserve System.
       Dodd (for Kerry) modified amendment No. 1036 (to amendment 
     No. 1018), to protect the interests of bona fide tenants in 
     the case of any foreclosure on any dwelling or residential 
     real property.
       Reed/Bond amendment No.1040 (to amendment No. 1018), to 
     amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to 
     reauthorize the act.
       Casey amendment No. 1033 (to amendment No. 1018), to 
     enhance State and local neighborhood stabilization efforts by 
     providing foreclosure prevention assistance to families 
     threatened with foreclosure and permitting statewide funding 
     competition in minimum allocation States.
       Coburn amendment No. 1042 (to amendment No. 1040), to 
     establish a pilot program for the expedited disposal of 
     Federal real property.
       Dodd (for Reed) modified amendment No. 1039 (to amendment 
     No. 1018), to address impediments to liquidating warrants.
       Dodd (for Boxer) amendment No. 1035 (to amendment No. 
     1018), to require notice to consumers when a mortgage loan 
     has been sold, transferred, or assigned to a third party.
       Dodd (for Schumer) modified amendment No. 1031 (to 
     amendment No. 1018), to establish a multifamily mortgage 
     resolution program.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am going to read a unanimous consent 
request which will list a lot of numbers, but these numbers relate to 
Members and the various amendments being offered and the sequencing of 
them. I say to my colleagues, Senator Reed from Rhode Island, Senator 
Boxer, Senator Casey, and Senator Grassley, that if they would like a 
minute to be heard, this consent request includes giving them a minute 
to address their amendment. That order is: Senator Reed, Senator Boxer, 
Senator Casey, and Senator Grassley.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for votes be 
changed as follows and that votes occur in relation to the amendments 
covered under the previous agreement; that it be in order to consider 
and agree to the following amendments, en bloc, and that the motions to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc: amendment No. 1039, as 
modified, amendment No. 1035, amendment No. 1033, and amendment No. 
1020; that a Member with an amendment being accepted be accorded a 
minute; further, that the vote sequence now be amendment No. 1036, as 
modified, amendment No. 1031, as modified, amendment No. 1042, 
amendment No. 1040, and amendment No. 1021, as modified; further, that 
the remaining provisions of the previous order remain in effect.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The four amendments are agreed to en bloc.
  The amendments (Nos. 1039, as modified, 1035, 1033, and 1020) were 
agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is entitled to 1 
minute.


                    Amendment No. 1039, as Modified

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I thank the chairman.
  My amendment makes it very clear that when financial institutions 
repay their TARP funds, the Secretary of the Treasury is not required 
to liquidate or surrender the warrants. Warrants were issued to the 
Department of Treasury in conjunction with the capital injections under 
TARP. They are valuable financial instruments. They are separate from 
the TARP funds. I think it is the responsibility of the Secretary of 
the Treasury to balance many factors, but one factor they must consider 
is obtaining a substantial return for the taxpayers because of their 
investment of funds. This will allow him the discretion to do that. It 
will be an important way in which the Treasury Department can recoup 
some of the investments of the taxpayers in this program.
  I thank the chairman.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I strongly endorse the Reed amendment. It is 
a very strong contribution to the bill. I commend him for it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.


                           Amendment No. 1035

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I say thank you, particularly to Chairman 
Dodd but also to Senator Shelby, with whom I have discussed this 
amendment. It is very simple. It just says that if you have a mortgage 
on your home, you ought to know who holds that mortgage note. We say 
that if your mortgage is sold to someone else, the new party has to let 
you know who they are and how they can be contacted. This is very 
important. We have read stories where people cannot find out who holds 
their mortgage. Frankly, if you are in trouble and you want to 
renegotiate your mortgage, you need to sit down with the company that 
holds your note. That is all we do in this amendment.
  I am very pleased. It seems like a no-brainer to me. Clearly, the law 
needs to be made explicit because, frankly, the people who hold the 
mortgages seem to go into hiding and you cannot find them when you want 
to find them.
  Again, my deepest thanks. I appreciate it.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I thank Senator Boxer of California for this 
amendment. It is so reasonable, and yet so many people have had 
difficulty. Today, with the securitization of mortgages, that mortgage 
no longer stays at your bank for the length of that mortgage. Today, it 
is sold off very quickly. When homeowners want to

[[Page S5174]]

find out who actually has that mortgage, it is almost impossible to 
discover that. Senator Boxer's amendment makes that possible once 
again, and it is a very valuable contribution to the bill.
  Mrs. BOXER. Will the Senator yield?
  Mr. DODD. Yes.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in 
the Record a letter signed by several consumer organizations supporting 
this amendment.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                      May 4, 2009.
     Chairman Christopher Dodd,
     Senate Banking Committee, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Dodd: The undersigned representatives of 
     homeowners strongly urge you to support the amendment offered 
     by Senator Boxer which would only require that homeowners be 
     informed of who owns their mortgage loans. This simple 
     disclosure bill mandates that when a mortgage loan is 
     transferred, the homeowner be informed of how to reach an 
     agent of the new owner with the authority to act on its 
     behalf.
       There are many examples of homeowners who were unable to 
     exercise their federal rights, unable to work out a 
     reasonable solution to all parties, unable to avoid a 
     foreclosure, even when the foreclosure will cost the investor 
     money, just because the homeowner did not know, and could not 
     find out the identity of the owner of their home mortgage.
       A recent reported case in Pennsylvania illustrates the need 
     for this straightforward amendment (Meyer v. Argent Mortgage 
     Co. (In re Meyer), 379 B.R. 529 (Bankr. E.D. Pa. 2007).) 
     James and Mary Meyer took out a high-rate home loan with 
     Argent Mortgage in 2004. However, when they later attempted 
     to exercise their rights under TILA to rescind that loan, 
     their servicer, Countrywide, refused to identify the current 
     holder. By the time the Meyers discovered that the current 
     holder was Deutsche Bank, the deadline for rescinding the 
     loan had passed. As a result, the court dismissed their 
     claim, even though it found that there were grounds to 
     rescind the loan. Had the Meyers known who their note holder 
     was, they could have exercised their rights under TILA to 
     rescind the loan and cancel the lien against their home.
       Current law does require that homeowners be informed when 
     the servicer is changed. Yet, servicers too often refuse to 
     modify loans, because their remuneration will be greater if 
     there is a foreclosure. And, federal law requires that 
     servicers tell the homeowner the identity of the note holder. 
     Yet this provision--15 U.S.C. 1641(f)(2)--has completely 
     failed to protect homeowners because there is no private 
     right of action, and no specific requirement to name a 
     particular party with authority to act on behalf of the 
     owner.
       Senator Boxer's simple amendment provides borrowers with 
     the basic right to know who owns their loan by requiring that 
     within 30 days after a mortgage loan is transferred, the new 
     owner would be required to provide the following information: 
     the identity, address, and telephone number of the new 
     creditor; the date of transfer; how to reach an agent or 
     party having authority to act on behalf of the new creditor; 
     the location of the place where the transfer is recorded; and 
     any other relevant information regarding the new creditor.
       This is merely a disclosure requirement--to bring a bit of 
     clarity and transparency to the opaque mortgage market. The 
     cost to the industry is small. The benefit to homeowners and 
     communities would be tremendous.
       Thank you for your consideration. Please contact Margot 
     Saunders at the National Consumer Law Center with any 
     questions--(202) 452 6252, ext. 104.
           Sincerely,
     Consumer Action.
     Consumer Federation of America.
     Consumers Union.
     National Association of Consumer Advocates.
     National Association of Neighborhoods.
     National Consumer Law Center.
     National Council of La Raza.
     National Fair Housing Alliance.

  Mrs. BOXER. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Pennsylvania has 1 minute.


                           Amendment No. 1033

  Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I thank Chairman Dodd and Senator Shelby, 
as well, and so many others who made it possible for a lot of these 
amendments to come together.
  Our amendment is very simple. It sets aside up to 10 percent of the 
dollars allocated for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program, a very 
good program. We wanted to have some of those dollars used for 
counseling or for foreclosure prevention and mitigation. This allows 
that to happen. It is a very good result for people struggling with the 
terrible problem of foreclosure.
  I thank the chairman for his work.
  Mr. DODD. I thank the Senator. Having authored the neighborhood 
stabilization bill, those dollars going back to the communities have 
been a great asset in order to deal with foreclosed properties and to 
mitigate. Bridgeport, CT, in my State, is one example. I think all of 
our colleagues can cite examples. Allowing for the allocation of some 
of these resources along the lines the Senator from Pennsylvania 
suggests is a terrific contribution as well. I thank him for it.


                           Amendment No. 1020

  Senator Grassley was the other admendment. I commend Senator Grassley 
for his amendment. It is a good amendment, in my view, and one worthy 
of our support. I am not sure he is going to be able to be here to make 
a comment. It is a good amendment. I urge my colleagues to support it. 
We worked on it yesterday, and Senator Grassley is to be commended for 
his efforts.


                    Amendment No. 1036, as Modified

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to 
amendment No. 1036, as modified, offered by the Senator from 
Massachusetts, Mr. Kerry.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, we have taken a lot of effort to try to 
help troubled borrowers in communities that have foreclosed properties. 
Here is the problem that exists. If you are a renter and living in a 
property that has been foreclosed on, you have nothing to do with the 
foreclosure, you are paying rent, you have a lease, but a lot of these 
people are getting kicked out of their apartments, out of their homes.
  What we want to do is provide them with a provision where they will 
have 90 days--if the people who foreclosed are going to use that 
residence as a primary residence. If the residence is going to continue 
to be a multiple-party residence where they have a number of people 
renting and they will continue to use it as such, we want to leave 
those leases in effect until the end of the lease. We are protecting 
legitimate, low- to moderate-income folks in America who do not get 
protections otherwise from being just booted out on the street, which 
is literally what has happened in the absence of this protection.
  This provision will sunset in the year 2012 and only applies to 
properties with legitimate leases.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator's time has expired.
  Mr. KERRY. I know colleagues will support it.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama.
  Mr. SHELBY. Mr. President, I believe this is not a good proposal. 
This changes the law, as we understand it. It has been working a long 
time. It will cause all kinds of problems. Once a property is 
foreclosed, what do you do with it next? It delays it.
  I ask my colleagues to oppose the Kerry amendment.
  I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The question is on agreeing to the amendment. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. 
Johnson), the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy), and the Senator 
from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 57, nays 39, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 182 Leg.]

                                YEAS--57

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown
     Burris
     Byrd
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Kaufman
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester

[[Page S5175]]


     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--39

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennett
     Bond
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Graham
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Kyl
     Lugar
     Martinez
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Thune
     Vitter
     Voinovich
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Rockefeller
  The amendment (No. 1036), as modified, was agreed to.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. KERRY. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut is recognized.


                    Amendment No. 1039, As Modified

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, not withstanding its adoption, I ask 
unanimous consent the Reed amendment, No. 1039, be modified with the 
change at the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment, as modified, is as follows:

       At the appropriate place, insert the following:

     SEC. 126. REMOVAL OF REQUIREMENT TO LIQUIDATE WARRANTS UNDER 
                   THE TARP.

       Section 111(g) of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act 
     of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5221(g)) is amended by striking ``shall 
     liquidate warrants associated with such assistance at the 
     current market price'' and inserting ``, at the market price, 
     may liquidate warrants associated with such assistance''.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, let me notify my colleagues here, there will 
be no more votes at this moment. There will be some votes around 1:30. 
The pending matter is the Schumer amendment. There is some effort being 
made to see if some agreement can be reached on that. There is an 
outstanding issue. After that would be Senator Coburn, Senator Jack 
Reed, and Senator Grassley. I know we intended to have two or three 
votes but, because of these problems, we cannot at this moment, so I 
leave it to the leadership--1:45, I am now being told, is when the next 
vote will occur.
  With that, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________