Civil and Human Rights Coalition: Obama Showing “Sustained, Substantive, and Thoughtful Leadership to Stabilize Neighborhoods”

WASHINGTON, DC –Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration’s announcement of a broad range of initiatives to help homeowners struggling with unmanageable housing debt:

“Today’s announcement is another example of the president showing sustained, substantive, and thoughtful leadership to stabilize neighborhoods and stem foreclosures. The administration is clearly committed to using the executive branch to bypass obstruction in Congress to help underwater homeowners in danger of foreclosure by expanding eligibility for the Homeowners Assistance Mortgage Program.

President Obama is providing banks with greater incentives to help homeowners stave off foreclosures by modifying their loans. We hope that the major banks, along with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will follow the administration’s lead as they have on providing 12 months of forbearance for unemployed homeowners.

The neighborhood stabilization programs will help put families in foreclosed and otherwise vacant properties. These programs will also prevent more of the foreclosures that have already gutted low-income communities and decimated the wealth of African-Americans and Hispanics.

We commend the president for once again siding with American families today. We hope that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Acting Director Edward Demarco will stop obstructing this effort by allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to provide real help for underwater homeowners.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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