With Interest Rates at an All-Time Low, Bipartisan Group of 16 Senators Urges Immediate Help for Responsible Borrowers

 
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today joined 13 of their colleagues in urging the Obama administration to quickly implement administrative reforms to help millions of responsible homeowners refinance and take advantage of today’s record low interest rates.
 
With interest rates at an all-time low of 3.94 percent, the Senators encouraged federal housing regulators to take immediate steps to lower the barriers that have kept borrowers trapped in higher interest loans as well as to address other hurdles that have limited the success of current refinance programs.
 
In a bipartisan letter to top administration officials, the Senators wrote, “Time is of the essence and we urge you to act quickly and aggressively to ensure that responsible homeowners receive the full benefit of these lower rates.”
 
In addition to Senators Boxer, Isakson and Menendez, the letter is signed by Senators Mark Begich (D-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Scott Brown (R-MA), Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Richard Burr (R-NC), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), John Kerry (D-MA), Mark Warner (D-VA), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
 
October 11, 2011
 
Honorable Shaun Donovan                                                    
Secretary                                                                                
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development                                          
451 7th Street, SW                                                                  
Washington, DC 20410
 
Honorable Timothy Geithner
Secretary                                            
United States Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220
 
Mr. Gene Sperling                                                                  
Director                                                                                  
National Economic Council                                                   
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW                                           
Washington, DC 20502         
 
Mr. Edward DeMarco
Acting Director
Federal Housing Finance Agency
1700 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20552
 
Dear Secretaries Geithner and Donovan, Director Sperling, and Acting Director DeMarco:
 
In President Obama’s speech to the Congress last month, he committed his Administration to working with federal housing agencies to help more homeowners refinance their mortgages at historically low interest rates.  As he noted, this step could “put more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket, and give a lift to an economy still burdened by the drop in housing prices.”
 
We are encouraged by the efforts that have taken place since then to lower the barriers that have kept responsible borrowers trapped in higher interest loans and urge a speedy and comprehensive conclusion to this process.  Bipartisan legislation currently before the Senate would address many of these barriers by:
 

• Removing loan-to-value limits, which would provide the most at-risk borrowers an alternative to simply walking away from their mortgage.
• Eliminating loan level price adjustments.  These up-front, risk-based fees make a refinance less affordable, reduce the benefit to the borrower, and cannot be justified on loans on which Fannie and Freddie already bear the risk.
• Ensuring that second lien holders do not stand in the way of a refinance.

 
All of these changes can be accomplished administratively and we urge that you take immediate steps to do so.  We also support efforts to address other hurdles that have limited the success of current refinance programs, including representations and warranties, mortgage insurance, and high lender origination fees.
 
It is equally important that in reducing these barriers, the benefits of today’s low rates are not lost to borrowers. With interest rates having hit an all-time low of 3.94 percent, there are nearly 19 million loans guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paying interest above 5.0 percent that could benefit from a refinance.  Any changes to existing programs must enable as many of these borrowers as possible to refinance and to do so at rates comparable to those received by any other current borrower who has not suffered a drop in home value.
 
As was heard in recent testimony before the Senate Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Subcommittee, there is broad consensus among economists and housing experts that this is something we need to do.  Interest rates, however, will not remain low forever.  Time is of the essence and we urge you to act quickly and aggressively to ensure that responsible homeowners receive the full benefit of these lower rates.
 
Sincerely,
 
Barbara Boxer
United States Senator
 
Johnny Isakson
United States Senator
 
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
 
Mark Begich
United States Senator
 
Jeff Merkley
United States Senator
 
Sheldon Whitehouse
United States Senator
 
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
 
Scott Brown
United States Senator
 
Robert P. Casey, Jr.
United States Senator
 
Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator
 
Richard Burr
United States Senator
 
Frank Lautenberg
United States Senator
 
John Kerry
United States Senator
 
Mark Warner
United States Senator
 
Saxby Chambliss
United States Senator
 
Ron Wyden
United States Senator