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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Alan Barber, (202) 293-5380 x 115

Right to Rent Plans Offers Simple Solution to Foreclosure Crisis

WASHINGTON

In the face of mounting frustration
over the nation's soaring foreclosure rate, the Obama administration
and Congress are exploring a handful of options to offer families
relief from the current housing crisis. Of these options, one policy
has emerged that offers an easy, straight-forward means of ensuring
housing security for millions, the Right to Rent Plan.

Acknowledged
as a means of keeping families in their home while helping to alleviate
the neighborhood blight of soaring foreclosures, this proposal has
already been endorsed by several members of Congress and enjoys support
from both the left and the right.

The Right to Rent Plan, first proposed two years ago by Dean Baker,
Co-Director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR),
would allow families facing foreclosure to rent their homes at the
market rate for a substantial period of time. The market rent would be
determined by an independent appraiser in the same way that homes are
appraised when banks issue a mortgage.

"The Right to Rent Plan is simple," says Baker. "It can take effect immediately, it requires no taxpayer dollars, and it creates no new bureaucracy."

Late in the last Congress, Rep. Raul Grijalva introduced the Saving Family Homes Act, based on the Right to Rent Plan. Other members of Congress have voiced support for the plan, including Sen. Charles Schumer and it is consistently mentioned as one of a few proposals currently being considered by the White House.

The full details of the plan can be found here.

The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) was established in 1999 to promote democratic debate on the most important economic and social issues that affect people's lives. In order for citizens to effectively exercise their voices in a democracy, they should be informed about the problems and choices that they face. CEPR is committed to presenting issues in an accurate and understandable manner, so that the public is better prepared to choose among the various policy options.

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