Chairman Dennis Kucinich to hold Domestic Policy Subcommittee Hearing

Oversight and Government Reform Committee

“Neighborhoods: the blameless victims of the subprime mortgage crisis.”

This hearing will be WEBCAST: http://domesticpolicy.oversight.house.gov

These hearings will serve to focus attention on the consequences to neighborhoods when foreclosed properties fail to sell, and when owners abandon them.

The collapse of the subprime mortgage market has caused millions of homeowners to lose their homes and ruin their credit, and many lenders and investors to lose significant amounts of money. Some of those foreclosed properties have been sold to new owners. But many have not. This hearing concerns the consequences to neighborhoods caused by concentrations of vacant and abandoned houses. It will examine differences between strong housing markets and weaker ones, as well as local strategies to mitigate the effects of and prevent vacancies, estimates of the size of the national problem, and new federal legislation aimed at addressing the problem: HR 5818.

Witnesses for the hearing include:

Panel 1.

• Mr. Daniel T. Kildee, Treasurer, Genesee County, Michigan
• TBA: Local elected official(s) testifying on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, National Community Development Association, Council of State Community Development Agencies, National Association for County, Community & Economic Development; National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies

  Panel 2.

• Mr. John Talmage, President and CEO, Social Compact
• Ms. Vicki Been, Elihu Root Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy; Co-Director, Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, New York University School of Law
• Ms. Phyllis G. Betts, Director, Center for Community Building and Neighborhood Action, School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, University of Memphis

  Panel 3.

• Mr. Alan Mallach, Senior Fellow, National Housing Institute
• Mr. Doug Leeper, Code Enforcement Manager, City of Chula Vista, California
• Mr. Dean Baker, Co-Director, Center for Economic Policy Research