Washington, D.C. – Congressman Rubén Hinojosa recently voted in support of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act.

“I am very proud to support this legislation because it helps so many of those in our community that are in need of relief,” said Hinojosa.

This bipartisan legislation provides key tools and incentives for lenders, servicers and home-owners to modify loans and to avoid foreclosures by protecting lenders from frivolous lawsuits when they make loan modifications consistent with the Obama administration’s program or done through the Hope for Homeowners program; reducing the current fees for homeowners and lenders that have discouraged them from participating in the Hope for Homeowners program, offering new incentives for lenders to negotiate loan modifications with borrowers at risk of foreclosure under the Hope for Homeowners program; and expanding the president’s loan modification program to FHA and mortgages in rural areas (RHS).

To strengthen consumer rights to housing information and the community banks which are crucial to small businesses and families across this nation, the legislation makes other key changes, including:

· Establishing the right of a homeowner to know who owns their mortgage.

· Providing renters who live in foreclosed properties with at least a 90-day notice for eviction;

· Strengthening federal homeless programs;

· Protecting the bank deposits and savings of consumers with a four-year extension of the increase in deposit insurance to $250,000.

· Increasing the borrowing authority of the FDIC to reduce the financial burden on small community banks.