For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. House of Representatives today unanimously passed legislation introduced by U.S. Congressman Dan Boren to address the lack of mortgage lending in Indian Country.  H.R. 1676, the Native American Home Ownership Opportunity Act of 2007, reauthorizes the Section 184 loan guarantee program administered through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.  It provides loan guarantees to private-sector lenders who make mortgage loans to eligible borrowers for homes located in Indian Country.

 

“This program offers home ownership, property rehabilitation, new construction and refinance opportunities for Native Americans,” Boren said on the House floor in support of the legislation. “Without argument, this program has increased home ownership in Oklahoma and throughout Indian Country.”

 

Nationwide, 196 tribes participate in the program, including 24 in Oklahoma.  Since its inception in 1992, the program has guaranteed $517 million in loans, including $121.9 million in Oklahoma.  The state consistently represents 34 percent of the total loans guaranteed through the program.  Nationally, much of the land in Indian Country is held in trust by the federal government and therefore cannot be mortgaged.

 

“This program is vitally important for my district, the state of Oklahoma and all of Indian Country,” Boren said.  “Native Americans have a lower home ownership rate than any other group of Americans.  Because of the unique legal status of Indian lands across the country, this program is the only option many have for a shot at home ownership.”

 

H.R. 1676 reauthorizes the loan program through Fiscal Year 2012.  The bill passed the House Financial Services Committee, of which Boren is a member, on March 29.  The legislation now awaits action in the Senate.

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