Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Cynthia Lummis Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Protect Prospective Homebuyers from Predatory Financing Agreements
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) introduced the Preserving Pathways to Homeownership Act, bipartisan legislation to establish basic protections for consumers who seek to purchase a home using a land contract, or contract for deed. Land contracts are an alternative form of seller financing for real estate transactions, often marketed as a way for people who can’t get a conventional mortgage to realize the dream of owning a home. However, land contracts can lack many of the consumer protections available in mortgage lending: full disclosure of costs and fees, protections if a homeowner misses payments or falls on hard times, and protections in the case of fraud. Unscrupulous sellers have used these arrangements to take advantage of unsuspecting buyers. They design the land contract to fail and move to evict when the buyer inevitably breaches it. Buyers typically lose their home and everything they’ve invested in it, and the seller can repeat this process with other buyers. It is estimated that across the country, more than 8 million homes have been sold with land contracts, underscoring the widespread nature of this issue. “Without a safe, decent place to call home, nothing in your life works – not your job, your health, your education, or your family. It is appalling that some Minnesota families trying to pursue the dream of home ownership, who are struggling to receive traditional mortgages, whether due to their credit rating, or because the tenets of their faith preclude them from paying and profiting off
The Affordable Housing and Homeownership Protection Act Would Tackle Housing Crisis by Creating Millions More Homes and Helping Main Street Compete with Wall Street
WASHINGTON, DC – As the nation’s housing shortage pushes home prices and rents to historic levels, a new Senate bill would provide tens of billions of dollars to help create millions of new homes for low-income Americans. U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI)and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) are teaming up with several colleagues to introduce the Affordable Housing and Homeownership Protection Act (S. 3673). This bill would generate up to $50 billion over ten years to help build and preserve approximately 3 million affordable housing units nationwide. The bill would be fully paid for through a transfer tax on large investors who profit by purchasing sixteen single-family homes or more. Driven by a shortage of as many as 6.8 million homes nationwide, homes prices have surged 39% and rents 31% over the last four years, according to the National Association of Realtors and Zillow. Higher rents and fewer opportunities for homeownership are devastating for millions of families. As housing costs skyrocket, more households are priced out of homeownership, while renters have less to spend on food, clothing, and other everyday necessities. Low-income Americans are particularly strained – the National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates 73% of extremely low-income households spend more than half their income on housing. Unsurprisingly, homelessness has risen in line with housing prices and is up 15% since 2019. Unfortunately, federal investments in low-income housing are insufficient to solve this affordability crisis. Indeed, researchers at Harvard University found that the three largest federal housing programs serve nearly
Klobuchar and Smith Announce Establishment of Domestic Hemp Production Program
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) – both members of the Senate Agriculture Committee – announced the establishment of a domestic hemp production program. The program, as required by the 2018 Farm Bill, creates a consistent regulatory framework for hemp production across the United States. Hemp pilot projects under the 2014 farm bill will continue until the new regulations go into effect for the 2020 planting season. The Domestic Hemp Production Program will help expand production and sales of domestic hemp, benefitting both U.S. producers and consumers. “A consistent regulatory framework for domestic hemp production will help
Bill to Help Prevent Drug Shortages Introduced by Senators Collins, Smith
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), the Chairman of the Aging Committee, and Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced the Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, legislation that would help increase the supplies of vital drugs needed to treat or prevent a wide variety of diseases, illnesses, and conditions. Drug shortages can have severe health consequences for patients by delaying or even cancelling procedures until medication becomes available. They also add $230 million a year to U.S. drug costs and $216 million a year in increased labor costs since medical professionals must spend time identifying an alternative source of medication. “I often
Klobuchar, Smith Urge Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to Address Understaffing at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) sent a letter to Acting Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Deputy Administrator Patricia Cogswell asking her to meet with Brian Ryks, Chief Executive Officer of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, about understaffing at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport (MSP). Last week, Ryks sent a letter to TSA expressing concern about TSA’s decision to cease staffing at the security checkpoint directly linking the Intercontinental Hotel to Terminal 1 at MSP. In the letter, Klobuchar and Smith reiterated the need to address the continued inadequate staffing levels at MSP and urged TSA to maintain staff at the checkpoint linking the
Rounds, Smith Lead Bipartisan Effort to Improve Native American Lending Services at HUD, Help More Native Families Become Homeowners
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sens. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, today introduced the Native American Housing Affordability Act of 2019. The bipartisan legislation reforms the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program, which provides mortgage loans to Native Americans and Alaska Natives, by speeding up the loan processing time. Additional original cosponsors include U.S. Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.), John Tester (D-Mont.), Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.). “Established in 1992, HUD’s Loan Guarantee Program has helped countless Native Americans in South Dakota and across the country realize
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