Under the Schumer proposal, 85 percent of the increase (approximately $125 billion) would be required to fund refinancing of subprime borrowers. The proposal is a targeted and scaled-back version of a similar bill that Schumer offered last month. Schumer said that he plans to attach his legislation to “the first available legislative vehicle.”

Schumer’s plan is similar to bipartisan legislation introduced on Oct. 10 by House Financial Services Committee members Melissa Bean (D-Ill.) and Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) that would allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to expand their mortgage portfolios by 10 percent for one year to help subprime borrowers refinance mortgages that could become burdensome when the interest rate is reset and monthly payments increase significantly. This bill, like the legislation outlined above, is one of the policy provisions approved at our Fall Board meeting in Seattle. For more information, contact Scott Meyer at 1-800-368-5242, x8144.

SSA had intended to mail out approximately 140,000 employer no-match letters in 2007 affecting more than 8 million workers. Many of these letters are the result of clerical and other errors, and involve the records of U.S. citizens and legal residents. The letters do not necessarily mean that the employee is an illegal alien. However, under the rule if the no-match situation is not resolved within 93 days, the employer must either fire the worker, or risk being charged with an illegal hiring violation if it is ultimately determined that the employee is in fact an illegal alien.

A coalition of civil rights, business and labor groups, and the U.S Chamber of Commerce sued to block the implementation of the rule because they said that SSA records were riddled with errors, and would ultimately result in the mass termination of legal workers.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer of San Francisco said that the coalition had demonstrated a high probability that the Department of Homeland Security had failed to follow proper administrative procedures in promulgating the rule, including a failure to assess the economic impact on small businesses required under the Regulatory Flexibility Act. Judge Breyer found that small businesses could expect to incur significant costs associated with complying with the rule, and, as asserted by the coalition, the “government’s proposal to disseminate no-match letters affecting more than eight million workers will, under the mandated time line, result in the termination of employment to lawfully employed workers.” Issuing the preliminary injunction would, according to Judge Breyer, cause far less harm to the federal government than would necessarily be caused to innocent employers and workers if the rule were permitted to go into effect.

Under the terms of the preliminary injunction, the Department of Homeland Security is barred from implementing the no-match rule pending the court's final decision on the rule's legality, a process which could take many months. For more information, contact David Crump at 1-800-368-5242, x8491. [return to top]

NAHB has strongly encouraged and supported recent efforts of the mortgage industry to provide foreclosure prevention counseling and assistance to borrowers who have encountered mortgage difficulties. A hotline established to assist borrowers facing foreclosure has been publicized through NAHB’s web site and in communications to our state and local HBAs. NAHB will continue to publicize foreclosure prevention resources in communities throughout the country and work with HOPE NOW to help expand its outreach efforts. For more information, contact Dave Ledford at 1-800-368-5242, x8265. [return to top]