July 30, 2008
STATEMENT FROM GOVERNOR DAVID A. PATERSON
Governor David A. Paterson issued the following statement after President Bush signed the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008:
I want to congratulate the President and the Congress for taking this historic action to provide immediate help to homeowners at risk of foreclosure and to provide funds to help stabilize our hardest hit communities. Because of the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008, at-risk borrowers will be able to keep their homes by refinancing their mortgages into safe and more affordable government-insured mortgages. The measure also provides funds to New York State and its localities to purchase and renovate foreclosed properties in our most impacted areas. This initiative will help New York stabilize at-risk communities endangered by abandoned foreclosed homes.
In addition, this measure will:
- Help keep Brooklyn’s Starrett City, the largest housing complex in the country, affordable for the foreseeable future;
- Provide New York State with additional tax-exempt private-activity bond authority that will enable us to finance creation and preservation of more than 4,200 affordable housing units and low interest-rate mortgages for first-time homeowners; and
- Provide additional funds for pre-foreclosure counseling that will compliment the $25 million in counseling assistance included in the current New York State budget.
- Increase New York State’s allocation of federal housing tax credits over the next two years, which could stimulate nearly $66 million in additional investment in affordable housing in the state.
I want to thank Senator Charles Schumer and Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel and the entire New York delegation for their leadership on this issue and their hard work in making this bill a reality.
