[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book I)]
[March 28, 2008]
[Pages 438-440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks Following a Tour of Novadebt in Freehold, New Jersey
March 28, 2008

    The President. Thank you very much. I really want to thank 
Congressman Chris Smith and Vito 
Fossella for joining me here in Freehold, 
New Jersey. I'm here at a company called Novadebt. And I really 
appreciate Joel Greenberg and Jill 
Feldman for giving me an opportunity to come to 
this center, this company, and talk with people whose lives are being 
positively affected as a result of a significant counseling effort to 
help people stay in their homes. And I really do want to thank you all 
for your hospitality.
    During my tour, I have met with skilled professionals who provide 
free mortgage counseling for struggling homeowners. And the reason why 
I'm here is because we have got a issue in housing in America. The value 
of the houses have gone down in some areas, and people's mortgages are 
resetting; in other words, the interest rates are going up. And that has 
caused a consternation and concern and care. A lot of families are 
facing the frightening prospect of foreclosures. Foreclosures obviously 
place a terrible burden on a family, as well as they lead to losses for 
lenders and investors. And this affects our entire economy.
    We have a role to play at the Government level, and that is to help 
lenders and borrowers work together to avoid foreclosure. There's some 
homeowners who have made responsible buying decisions and who could keep 
their homes with just a little help--some information and some help. And 
so to help them, in October, my administration helped bring together a 
private sector group of lenders, loan servicers, investors, mortgage 
counselors, which is called the HOPE NOW Alliance. And the members of 
this group have made some progress. First of all, they agreed to 
industry-wide standards to streamline the process for refinancing and 
modifying certain mortgages. HOPE NOW also runs a national hotline to 
connect struggling homeowners with mortgage counselors just like the 
folks here at Novadebt.

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    I also have been--met with some homeowners who've got help. Danny 
Cerchiaro is with us from Iselin, New 
Jersey. Thank you for being here, Danny. He owns a home that also serves 
as a studio for his movie production business. Danny and his wife 
learned their adjustable-rate mortgage was resetting to a higher rate 
this past summer, and he became concerned about financial stability. He 
was worried about staying in his home. He needed a place for his 
business, and he needed a place to sleep. And he became concerned about 
whether or not he could afford it.
    He got--he called HOPE NOW, and he 
became working with a mortgage counselor named Penny Meredith. Penny is here. Appreciate you coming, Penny. And in 
less than 2 months later, Penny helped Danny get a more affordable 
fixed-rate mortgage. Danny calls Penny, and I quote, the ``magic lady.'' 
She helped him a lot.
    And there's a lot of other Americans who can get the same kind of 
help. One of the reasons I've come today is to say to people who are 
worried about staying in their home: There is help available.
    I also want to thank Theresa Torres from 
Kansas City who is with us. She got really worried. She's a mom of 
three, her husband is a subcontractor, and she was very worried about 
staying in her home. And the family fell behind on their mortgage 
payments in December. But fortunately, she knew to call and to get help, 
and in this case, from Novadebt. They helped her modify her mortgage. 
And today, as a result of the help she received, she no longer worries 
about losing her home. And I thought her statement was pretty 
interesting. She said, ``I see my role today to serve as an example for 
people in a similar situation.'' So, Theresa, we're glad you're here.
    There are hundreds of thousands of homeowners like Theresa and Danny who can benefit 
from calling HOPE NOW. And so one of my purposes is to make it clear 
there is a place where you can get counseling. And I want my fellow 
citizens, if you're worried about your home, to call this number: 1-88-
995-HOPE. Let me repeat that again: 1-88-995-HOPE.
    HOPE NOW can help homeowners find the right solution. By the way, 
we've got more work to do in Washington, and one of the things we can do 
is make sure the Federal Housing Administration gets the reforms it 
needs. And there's a program called FHASecure, which has given FHA 
greater flexibility to offer struggling homeowners with otherwise good 
credit histories a chance to refinance. This program is very helpful. 
It's, so far, helped 130,000 families refinance their mortgages. And by 
the end of the year, we expect the program to have reached 300,000 
families.
    And this is a good start. We want to help people. We're committed to 
helping our fellow citizens. And I fully understand, as do most 
Americans, that the housing market problems are complicated, and there's 
no easy solutions. But in the stories I've heard today, I've seen how 
Americans are responding with compassion and determination. We will 
support them with good policies. We will help responsible homeowners 
weather a difficult period. And in so doing, we will strengthen the 
dream of homeownership.
    Thank you all very much.
    Danny Cerchiaro. [Inaudible]
    The President. One-eight-eight-eight. Good. Is it two eights or 
three eights? Okay.
    Danny just told me I got to get the number right: 1-888-995-HOPE.

Note: The President spoke at 3:30 p.m. In his remarks, he referred to 
Joel Greenberg, president and chief executive officer, and Jill Feldman, 
vice president, Novadebt. The Office of the Press Secretary also 
released a Spanish language transcript of these remarks.

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