S.Amdt. 5041

SA 5041. Mr. CASEY (for himself and Mr. Specter) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 4983 proposed by Mr.
Reid (for Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Shelby)) to the bill H.R. 3221,
moving the United States toward greater energy independence and
security, developing innovative new technologies, reducing carbon
emissions, creating green jobs, protecting consumers, increasing clean
renewable energy production, and modernizing our energy infrastructure,
and to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax
incentives for the production of renewable energy and energy
conservation; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

On page 455, between lines 14 and 15, insert the following:

SEC. 1606. SENSE OF THE SENATE ON THE JOINT EFFORTS OF THE
CITY OF PHILADELPHIA AND PHILADELPHIA COURT OF
COMMON PLEAS TO PREVENT HOME FORECLOSURES.

(a) Findings.--The Senate finds that--
(1) the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this month
that over 1,000,000 homes have entered foreclosure
proceedings, the highest rate of such proceedings ever
recorded;
(2) the Center for Responsible Lending reports that
7,200,000 families now hold a subprime loan;
(3) the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress estimates
that from the third quarter of 2007 through the fourth
quarter of 2009 there will be 45,470 subprime foreclosures in
Pennsylvania;
(4) the Joint Economic Committee further predicts that the
cumulative loss in property value resulting from these
foreclosures will exceed $2,400,000,000 and the estimated
loss in property taxes will be $34,000,000;
(5) the Pew Charitable Trusts reports that 1,684,475
Pennsylvania homeowners will experience home devaluation due
to subprime foreclosures in 2008 and 2009;
(6) a 2005 Freddie Mac/Roper poll of homeowners indicates
that more than 6 in 10 delinquent borrowers are not aware of
services that lenders offer to individuals having trouble
with their mortgage;
(7) the Department of Housing and Urban Development program
statistics show that 96 percent of the families that receive
housing counseling services avoid foreclosure;
(8) Philadelphia County reported 730 properties filed for
foreclosure in April 2008, more foreclosure filings than any
other county in Pennsylvania;
(9) the Center for Responsible Lending estimates that
Philadelphia County could lose up to 4,444 homes to
foreclosure; and
(10) it has been over 1 year since the first legislation
dealing with the subprime mortgage crisis was introduced in
the Senate to consider housing legislation that provides
homeowners with relief and that alleviates the foreclosure
crisis.
(b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate
that--
(1) the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Court of
Common Pleas should be commended for their efforts to
facilitate negotations between borrowers and lenders to
attempt to restructure loan terms and prevent foreclosures;
(2) the commitment of such entitites to their home
foreclosure prevention program, such program's requirement of
mandatory counseling for delinquent borrowers, and such
program's use of professional housing counselors to negotiate
between lenders and homeowners represent the best practices
in the industry; and
(3) the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development should,
to the extent possible, inform other cities about the
Philadelphia program and advise such other cities that the
funds provided under section 2401 may be used to defray the
cost of similar foreclosure prevention programs.
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