Grijalva Hails Bank of America Program to Keep Families Facing Foreclosure in Homes as Renters – Similar to His Right-to-Rent Bill

-

Washington, D.C. – March 27, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva today hailed a new Bank of America pilot program that will offer a small number of customers facing foreclosure the option to remain in their homes as renters for up to three years. The program closely mirrors his Right-to-Rent Act, introduced last year and in previous Congresses, that would let families facing foreclosure rent their homes for up to five years at a fair market rate set by a judge.

Nearly half the homes in Arizona are underwater, meaning they are worth less than the owners are paying on the mortgage.

“The ongoing mortgage crisis – especially in communities like ours in Arizona that have been hit the hardest – has been a huge obstacle to a serious economic recovery, and I thank Bank of America for doing something right to help fix it,” Grijalva said.“I’m confident this program will succeed, and I hope to see it expanded all over the country.”

This benefits of Right-to-Rent include allowing children to continue attending the same school; maintaining property values in what could otherwise be high-foreclosure, high-vacancy neighborhoods; and providing families adequate time to transition to a more permanent situation or potentially repurchase the home when the economy improves.

Lenders like Bank of America have started to see the benefits of a Right-to-Rent approach because vacant properties are not usually well maintained, and incurring cleanup costs only to sell a home in a depressed market virtually ensures large losses for lenders. Keeping families in their homes ensures that lenders continue to receive regular rental payments and can often look to resell the home – to the current family or another buyer – at a significantly better price than what they could get for a long-vacant unit.

SHARE
Avatar

Arizona RealEstateRama is an Internet based Real Estate News and Press Release distributor chanel of RealEstateRama for Arizona Real Estate publishing community.

RealEstateRama staff editor manage to selection and verify the real estate news for State of Arizona.

Contact:

Previous articleRecent Transactions 03 23 2012
Next article“Angels Among Us”