Jason Doucette

The Banking Committee, co-chaired by State Representative Jason Doucette (D-Manchester, Glastonbury), will hold a public hearing to focus on help for homeowners on Tuesday, March 2^nd.

"From the financial distress and housing insecurity caused by the pandemic to access to affordable housing, the events of the last year have brought to light the many struggles Connecticut residents face with regard to housing." said Rep. Doucette.  "To that end, the Committee will discuss and hear testimony on a variety of bills which seek to provide much-needed assistance." Among the pieces of legislation on the agenda are:

• S.B. 891, AN ACT CONCERNING THE EZEQUIEL SANTIAGO FORECLOSURE MEDIATION PROGRAM AND OTHER ALTERNATIVES TO FORECLOSURE
  
  • Named after the late Banking Committee Chairman Rep. Ezequiel Santiago, this bill would make the successful judicial foreclosure mediation program first authorized in 2008 permanent.  In addition, it would require that state regulated banks and mortgage companies provide the same alternatives to foreclosure, such as forbearance and modification programs, currently being made available for those with federally insured mortgages.
• H.B. 6493, AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE EMERGENCY MORTGAGE ASSISTANCE LOAN PROGRAM.
  
  • Would create a state emergency mortgage assistance loan program through a public-private partnership with participating lenders to help homeowners in default on their mortgages, or behind on taxes or condominium fees.  This program will have guidelines similar to the existing state EMAP program but would be able to serve a larger pool of homeowners. It would also be available to take some pressure off of the state programs in the event of a high volume of foreclosures following the expiration of foreclosure moratoriums.
• H.B. 6494, AN ACT CONCERNING THE DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM AND AFFORDABILITY INCENTIVE ZONES.
  
  • This bill would, if passed, accomplish three things with regard to the popular CHFA down payment assistance loan program for low to moderate income borrowers: (1) Require CHFA to increase debt to income ratios in line with FHA loan programs and to consider non-traditional credit criteria; (2) Require that these loans include the reasonable closing costs of the purchase of a dwelling; and (3) Empower CHFA to establish "affordability incentive zones" to incentivize the use of CHFA mortgages in communities with a lack of affordable housing.  The goal of this bill is to create more opportunities for homeownership to a wider range of low to moderate income Connecticut residents and expand the map to more communities.
• H.B. 6495, AN ACT CONCERNING EQUITY AND FAIR LENDING.
  
  • If passed, this legislation would revise and improve existing law to (1) clearly prohibit financial institutions from engaging in "redlining", (2) require the Banking Commissioner to implement additional fair lending examination procedures, and (3) ensure that all mortgage lenders take reasonable measures to make all residential loan products available in all low to moderate income areas across Connecticut.

Tuesday’s public hearing will begin at 10 a.m. To view the full agenda, visit https://bit.ly/2MsWqAK. Registration for the general public to sign up to give testimony closes Monday at 3 p.m. Click HERE to register.