Senate Proceeding 05-05-09 on May 5th, 2009 :: 3:40:45 to 3:47:35
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3:40:43 to 3:41:04( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: mr. kerry: mr. president, i call up amendment modified and i ask for its immediate the presiding officer: the amendment is pending, and without objectio pending amendment. mr. kerry: i thank the chair. mr. president, i'm offering this amendment to of renters in properties that

3:40:45 to 3:47:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Kerry

3:41:05 to 3:41:26( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: have been foreclosed. and this amendment is cosponsored by majority leader reid, senate banking committee chairman dodd, senators kennedy, boxer, gillibrand and merkley. let me just is that i congress has already taken extraordinary measures to help troubled borrowers in communities -- and communities where they have

3:41:27 to 3:41:47( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: abandoned and properties. but congress has done very little to help renters who have been paying their rent regularly on time, but are, unfortunately, they've got landlords who losing their property to foreclosure. so these renters are absolutely blameless victims in the foreclosure catastrophe that's hit the country.

3:41:48 to 3:42:08( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: it's estimated that as many as one in every six mortgages in america is going to be lost to foreclosure in the next four years. in massachusetts, we had more than 12,000 homeowners who lost their homes to foreclosure last just one year.

3:42:09 to 3:42:29( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: about 3,300 of those foreclosures involved homes two or three units, and most of those homes had tenants who were evicted. now, mr. president, these renters often have absolutely no idea that their home is about to be foreclosed. and depending on the state that

3:42:30 to 3:42:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: they evicted with absolutely no noti. obviously this can be particularly difficult for low-income renters who hav't got the resources to relocate or even to do so very quickly. under this amendment, tenants in any federally related mortgage loan or any dwelling or residential real property with a

3:42:52 to 3:43:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: lease have a right to remain in the unit until the end of the existing lease. if a new purchaser intends to use the property as a primary residence, then the lease may be terminated, but the tenant has to receive 90 days notice to vacate. so what we believe is that this provides an appropriate level of protection.

3:43:13 to 3:43:34( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: it doesn't t of someone who takes over the home in foreclosure to be able to then transition that property or it decides if person's going to keep the property as a rental property, the person already has a legitimate lease, has a right to be able to stay. the provisions of this amendme would sunset.

3:43:35 to 3:43:55( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: i want to make that clear. this sunsets that this is to deal with the current crisis. and it would sunset on december 31 of 2012. furthermore, it states specifically that none of the provisions here would affect any state and local law that provides a longer time period or

3:43:56 to 3:44:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: other additional protections to renters. so there's nothing here that reduces the protection that renters get. mr. president, let me give you a couple of graphic examples. a landlord should not be allowed to just come in, change the locks and force out

3:44:17 to 3:44:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: were there completely legitimately with an expectation that they were coming home to their same old home. a recent globe" shows just how devastating and, frankly, absurd this can be at times. a dorchester, massachusetts, man returned to the home he had been

3:44:38 to 3:44:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: renting for the past four years. he found the locks had been changed, a f had been placed on the door. with a neighbor's help, he managed to crawl through a second-floor window to get into his apartment. and when the police arrived, he had to arrested. fortunately he wasn't, but only because he was able to show proof that he rented the apartment.

3:44:59 to 3:45:21( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: then for the next four months he had to battle with the bank that then owned the building, enduring no heat, no electricity, and no water while he went through that four-month process. that's disgraceful. unfortunately, it's not an isolated incident. in early january, a 45-year-old former factory worker from china

3:45:22 to 3:45:42( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: came home to her third-floor walkup in east boston to find a crew of moving of her furniture. she thought she was being robbed. she didn't speak english. she pleaded with them in chinese she ended up on the street with all of her possessions until a city clerk noticed that the eviction paperwork which the rerpbt had never received -- which the renter never r

3:45:43 to 3:46:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: had expired. a judge issued an order to allow her to work back, but for how long? and under what these kinds of incidents show how cometely vulnerable renters are cycle we're witnessing. it is documented

3:46:04 to 3:46:25( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: is overpowering countless numbers of homeowners unable to pay their mortgages. but foreclosure is also causing a rampage of revisions of -- evictions of renters. my amendment from the foreclosure that they played absolutely no part in.

3:46:26 to 3:46:49( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: mr. president, i want to thank the senate banking committee chairman, senator dodd for his support of this amendment. it will very plainly help families stay in their homes. it is a way of preventing an already grave situation being turned into one that is even

3:46:50 to 3:47:10( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: more egregious an even more insulting. it will help -- senator dodd understands this, no one has fought harder than he has to fight against the level of foreclosures that have taken place. i preesh quit his leadership -- i appreciate his leadersp for families facing this kind of foreclosure problem. madam president, i think -- i yield the floor. a senator: madam president?

3:47:11 to 3:47:33( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: th senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: tnk you, madam president. i wish to call up amendment number 1033. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection --

3:47:34 to 3:47:35( Edit History Discussion )

John Kerry: mr. casey: colleague