Senate Proceeding on May 4th, 2009 :: 4:21:50 to 4:27:05
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4:21:45 to 4:22:05( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: quorum call: a senator: mr. president? th senator from new mr. schumer: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. . schumer: thank you, mr. president. i offer the amendment at the moment. we're still trying to negotiate it. but i want to discuss an amendment that i will offer

4:21:50 to 4:27:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles Schumer

4:22:06 to 4:22:28( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: hopefuy with agreement. and that is an amendment that would require the secretary of the treasury in consultation with the secretary of h.u.d. and other husbanding related federal agents -- h.u.d. and other related federal agencies to address the foreclosures multifamily properties.

4:22:29 to 4:22:49( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: it is necessary because the same excesses in the single-family mortgage market also occurred in the multifamily market. it led to rent rolls unable to support basic and maintenance. the tenants of these buildings are no input into the misguided decision of the owners and

4:22:50 to 4:23:11( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: lenders who mortgaged the property beyond supportable levels, but they will f consequences of disinvestment an foreclosure as owners are unable to meet monthly payments an maintain the properties. in new york city alone, it is estimated that 60,000 units of muifamily housing are at risk of disinvestment and foreclosure.

4:23:12 to 4:23:33( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: and we have similarrobl smaller ways in many of our upstate cities as well. we have seen buildings why new york -- in pork where in order to meet the underwrite, lenders had 10 turnover rates triple the neighborhood average. rate increases that were not

4:23:34 to 4:23:55( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: legal under local law and maintenance costs that were actually less than half of what the owners spent in previous years. this kind of basic underwriting malpractice has left tens of thousands of york state and in other states vulnerable. and we're not the only ones.

4:23:56 to 4:24:16( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: new york only has the 11th highest multifamily delinquency rate in the country according to a deutsche bank report. the 15 states with the highest multifamily delinquency rates are not concentrated in the northeast or west this is truly a national problem. and i would ask my colleagues to listen because their state may

4:24:17 to 4:24:37( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: be among them. one-third are, 15 out of 50. they are tennessee, georgia, florida, texas, illinois, ohio, indiana, kentucky, oklahoma, new york, kentucky, missouri and

4:24:38 to 4:24:59( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: mississippi. and while i'm strongly supportive of the admistration's efforts to help families across the country obtain loan modifications an refinancing options, a similar effort to protect tenants of multifamily properties must be made. it must be made in a way to protect the tenants first and foremost and not let the

4:25:00 to 4:25:20( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: developers and the investors who did all of the wrong here get away with things. housing experts in new york have begun to examine options to assist these buildings, and there are a number of different way that's might be effective in addressing this problem. so the bottom line is that we need federal leadership around

4:25:21 to 4:25:42( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: support to help determine the best course of action and implement a program across this country to ensure that innocent tenants do not have to pay the price for the poor decisions of landlords and lenders. this should be an easy amendment to support, mr. president. i'm not asking for any new money. we're not asking to bail out any

4:25:43 to 4:26:04( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: of the bad actors here or even give specific trekses to the treasury department to take this apprch or that one. although i have talked to the secretary of h.u.d. about this problem and we have worked on some problems related to this when he was the head of the h.p.d., the housing department in new york city. what we're doing in this amendment is simply asking this congress to direct treasury to

4:26:05 to 4:26:27( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: examine this problem and develop a program to address it in whatever way they determine best. my hope is that the treasury will consult with h.u.d. it is unfair that tenants of multifamily rental buildings are being left out in the cold while single-family homeowners receive focused attention from their agencies.

4:26:28 to 4:26:45( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: the should, but so should those in multiple division. i ask my colleagues to support this amendment. thank you, mr. president. i ask unanimous consent -- i note the absence of a the presiding officer:

4:26:56 to 4:27:01( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: complerk will call tclerkwill call the roll.