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Take Action to Support a National Affordable Housing Trust Fund
You can take action on this alert by reading the information below and following the
directions at the bottom.
Contact your Representative and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act
H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, was introduced on June 28, 2007 by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) and 16 bipartisan original co-sponsors (8 Democrats and 8 Republicans).
None of the original co-sponsors were from Illinois, although Illinois House members have an excellent history of supporting this legislation when it has been introduced in the past.
The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 will establish a National Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated source of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area's median income.
The trust fund would be allocated to cities (60%) and states (40%) through a formula to be developed by HUD, using criteria detailed in the bill. Provisions are included to ensure rural areas get their share of funding and that the program works well in these areas.
The trust fund would be funded by various sources. The first two sources identified by Mr. Frank are funds from the Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and from expansion of the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) home equity conversion mortgage (HECM) product. In the first year, these two sources would funnel about $800 million to $1 billion into the trust fund.
The GSE reform bill, H.R. 1427, has passed the House. The FHA bill, H.R. 1852, has been reported from the Financial Services Committee. The introduction of the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act provides clarity about the planned use for the GSE and HECM funds and is expected to lead smooth passage of the bills.
Please contact your Member of Congress immediately to ask him or her to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 2895 today. A strong showing of bipartisan co-sponsorship will help move the bill through the House quickly.
Your message will be sent to each of the following targets:
Your U.S. Representative
A sample message appears below, which you may edit before sending.
Please co-sponsor H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act
Dear Representative,
H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007, was introduced on June 28, 2007 by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) and 16 bipartisan original co-sponsors (8 Democrats and 8 Republicans).
The National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act of 2007 will establish a National Housing Trust Fund, a dedicated source of funding for the production, preservation and rehabilitation of 1.5 million affordable homes in 10 years. At least 75% of the funds will be for housing for households that are extremely low income, earning less than 30% of an area's median income.
There is an acute lack of affordable housing and the need for a National Housing Trust Fund is well documented. Nationwide, there are only 6,187,000 homes renting at prices affordable to the 9,022,000 extremely low income renter households - a shortage of 2,835,000 homes.
Not a single Congressional district has enough rental housing affordable and available to extremely low income families. Housing is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income.
Please co-sponsor H.R. 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act.
Sincerely, Your name and address here
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This Action Alert Campaign is Closed.
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