BILL NUMBER: AJR 20	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Caballero

                        MAY 28, 2009

   Relative to the federal Housing Opportunity and Mortgage Equity
Act.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AJR 20, as introduced, Caballero. The federal Housing Opportunity
and Mortgage Equity Act.
   This measure would urge the Congress to enact H.R. 230 to provide
all homeowners, including those in California, the opportunity to
refinance their current home loans with a lower interest rate and to
assist qualified home buyers with mortgage financing.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Increasingly difficult economic conditions in California
are putting enormous pressure on housing markets, and particularly,
on individual households; and
   WHEREAS, Many working families find that serious declines in real
estate markets have left them owing more on their homes than the
homes are worth; and
   WHEREAS, Many of these same families face additional economic
pressure as the interest rates on their mortgages are scheduled to
rise; and
   WHEREAS, These conditions, coupled with rising unemployment in
California, which now stands at over 11 percent, have contributed to
the high number of home foreclosures in the state; and
   WHEREAS, It is projected that nearly 350,000 homes will be lost to
foreclosure in California through the end of 2009; and
   WHEREAS, In addition to the destructive impacts on the state and
local economies and on individual neighborhoods, these foreclosures
shatter the lives of residents by uprooting families from their homes
and placing a lasting stain on their credit history; and
   WHEREAS, While steps have been taken to reduce the rate of
foreclosures, they cannot keep pace with a continuing rise in the
number of troubled loans and defaults; and
   WHEREAS, If this pace continues, the state and the nation could
likely face a collapse of the real estate market from which it may
take decades to recover; and
   WHEREAS, Legislation has been introduced in the United States
House of Representatives which is aimed at preventing families from
defaulting on their home mortgages and thereby arrest the growing
rate of destructive foreclosures; and
   WHEREAS, The proposed Housing Opportunity and Mortgage Equity Act
(H.R. 230), by Congressman Dennis Cardoza, would give Californians an
opportunity to refinance these troubled home loans to lower their
interest rates; and
   WHEREAS, Specifically, H.R. 230 would use a below-market interest
rate on fixed-term loans of up to 40 years to refinance these
troubled loans; and
   WHEREAS, Refinancing these troubled loans would not only serve to
prevent foreclosures, but would serve to help stabilize California's
real estate market and, particularly, home prices; and
   WHEREAS, The Legislature recognizes that Congress is now
considering a variety of approaches to dealing with the nation's
credit and real estate crises; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of
California, jointly, That the Legislature respectfully encourages the
Congress of the United States to enact H.R. 230 to provide all
homeowners, including those in California, the opportunity to
refinance their current home loans with a lower interest rate and to
assist qualified home buyers with mortgage financing; and be it
further
   Resolved, That the chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United
States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the
Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative
from California in the Congress of the United States.