Sen. Durbin to Offer Cramdown Amendment

Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said he will offer a bankruptcy cramdown amendment to a housing bill later this week, although he does not have the votes to pass the proposal which would allow judges to reduce the principal amount of delinquent mortgages that cannot be modified. "It's time for Congress to act and I hope we can muster the courage and find the votes, although I know it is going to be hard to image that today the mortgage bankers would have the clout in this Chamber, but they do," Sen. Durbin said. The assistant majority leader said he is disappointed that the American Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association and Financial Services Roundtable refused to work with him on a cramdown compromise. "I have worked with them on so many issues. I have never found them more unyielding and unreasonable than on this issue," Sen. Durbin said in addressing the Senate. Under Durbin's cramdown amendment, at-risk homeowners could not file for a bankruptcy cramdown if they qualify for relief under the President's loan modification program or the FHA Hope for Homeowners initiative.