Temporary Raising of GSE Conforming Loan Limits Should Remain Temporary (Rep. Scott Garrett)

The new program that the Treasury Department announced yesterday, Project Lifeline, is an agreement between the six largest servicers to provide homeowners, who are 90 or more days delinquent on their mortgage, a delay in the foreclosure process. Project Lifeline seeks to allow more time for the servicer and homeowner to work out a plan that could help the homeowner keep their home. Everyone can agree that no one benefits from a foreclosure and I am pleased that the Department is continuing to focus on ways to address the current housing problems our nation faces. However, I do have serious concerns about one recent action that was taken by the administration and Congress, the temporary raising of the GSE Conforming Loan Limits. Without passage of significant broader GSE reform, I believe that raising the GSE loan limits, even if it’s temporarily, will further exacerbate the risks posed to our nation’s economy by the housing market. I hope that the Treasury Department will work to ensure that these temporary raises in the CLL remain exactly that, temporary.