In a vote that supports responsible homeowners and rejects rewarding poor choices made by some borrowers and lenders, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today voted against a bill that could make it more costly for Americans to purchase a home. Instead, Luetkemeyer supported an alternative plan to help at-risk homeowners that ultimately was rejected by the majority.

“I simply refuse to reward the kind of reckless behavior that created this housing crisis in the first place, including irresponsible mortgage practices and the bad choices made by some individuals to live beyond their means,” Luetkemeyer said. “It makes me and thousands of responsible homeowners angry to think that the choices made by a few put the future of so many of our families at risk.”

The legislation, misleadingly called the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act, would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite mortgage contracts for some homeowners facing foreclosure. The effect of this will be increased interest rates and further restrictions of credit. It also sets a precedent of allowing contracts to be thrown out and rewritten by judges -- in essence, rewriting the contract law of this country.    

 The alternative plan supported by Luetkemeyer protected responsible homeowners by prohibiting: taxpayer assistance to any borrower that misrepresented or lied about his or her income on the mortgage application; taxpayer assistance to any lender that failed to follow proper underwriting standards; taxpayer funds from being used as incentives to lenders to rework loans for irresponsible borrowers.