Homeowners Join Officials at Forum On Foreclosures

State and city officials, including Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, left, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman testify before a House committee. They are seeking federal aid for strapped homeowners and funds to buy up properties already lost. (By Brendan Hoffman -- Associated Press)

As he did on Capitol Hill, O'Malley used last night's forum to highlight reform legislation recently adopted by the Maryland General Assembly providing new oversight of the home-loan industry and designed to help people prevent foreclosure. In testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, O'Malley said the state's "Achilles' heel" has been the inability to collect a pool of dollars that can be used to entice loan providers to allow homeowners holding subprime mortgages to renegotiate their loan terms.

He praised a feature of the proposed congressional legislation that would provide cities and states with $10 billion to purchase vacant properties, which bring down neighborhood property values, and put them back into productive use, calling it a "critical tool to curtail the negative impacts foreclosures have on our neighborhoods and communities."

"To lose even one home is a tragedy," he told the committee. "To lose thousands is a threat to the growth and vitality of the American middle class."

Last week, O'Malley signed into law one of the country's most comprehensive packages to help homeowners facing foreclosure. One of the laws provides immediate assistance by extending the timetable of a foreclosure from 15 days to 150.

Another law toughens the criminal penalties for mortgage fraud. The package also includes a provision that bans prepayment penalties and "foreclosure rescue transactions" in which homeowners facing foreclosure are duped into signing over their homes to third parties.

O'Malley plans to lead a statewide campaign to inform troubled homeowners about options available to them.

Fenty said the District has been hit less hard by foreclosures, but he noted that the economic ripples of the mortgage crisis have been far-reaching.

"We really do need this [relief] right way," he said in an interview. "A sense of urgency would be great."

The two local leaders joined Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman in pushing for the legislation.