WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today fulfilled her commitment to increase funding for legal aid to help families facing foreclosure, with the Senate’s passage of her amendment to the Foreclosure Prevention Act (H.R. 3221). Senator Mikulski’s proposal comes as a result of feedback from housing experts and homeowners at the mortgage crisis roundtables she held throughout Maryland in February. Despite the Senator’s disappointment that the compromise legislation, which she originally co-sponsored, became watered down and lacks some of the key provisions in the original bill, she pledged to work with congressional leaders to ease the burden on families struggling under the mortgage crisis nationwide.

“The last few weeks have been all about the bail-out, making sure Wall Street is OK. That’s the wrong priority. We need to put government on the side of kids, families and communities,” said Senator Mikulski. “The subprime housing crisis is a Code Red emergency. Thousands in my state got caught in the scams. They aren’t Wall Street speculators, they’re Main Street Americans. The mortgage companies have expensive lawyers on their side. Borrowers and homeowners are by themselves trying to do what’s right, but they do not understand the legal lingo. Legal advice can make all the difference. They do not need a bail-out, but they do need a helping hand.”

During the Senate’s February recess, Senator Mikulski brought together housing experts and homeowners for two mortgage crisis roundtables in Prince George’s and Baltimore Counties to brainstorm how Congress could help families. Senator Mikulski heard from housing experts at non-profit community groups, who are the first line of defense for homeowners in trouble and are overwhelmed by the size of the problem, that they don’t have the staff to handle the amount of people seeking assistance, and need more trained attorneys to deal with the complicated legal issues homeowners face as they try to avoid foreclosure. Unfortunately, there are few attorneys trained in foreclosure law that can help housing counselors, and represent families at risk of losing their homes.

Earlier this week, Senator Mikulski delivered a speech on the Senate floor, urging her colleagues to consider her amendment. Audio and text from the speech are available at: http://mikulski.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=295727.

Senator Mikulski’s amendment will provide $30 million in federal funding for housing legal services at NeighborWorks (also known as the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation). Grant funding will be distributed to organizations that can put the money to work right away, with areas struggling with the biggest foreclosure problems given priority, such as Maryland. Recipients of NeighborWorks grants will use the funds to represent and negotiate for homeowners facing foreclosure. Senator Mikulski intended to also increase funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to help seniors who were often targets of the worst foreclosure scams. However, Senate Republicans blocked the LSC funding using parliamentary rules.

The Foreclosure Prevention Act passed the Senate today with a 84-12 vote. The U.S. House of Representatives is working on a similar piece of legislation, to be considered in the coming weeks.