ASSEMBLYMEMBER TED LIEU
53RD ASSEMBLY DISTRICT
For Immediate Release: February 28, 2008
Contact: David Ford
Phone: (916) 319-2053

Statement of Assembly Banking Chair in Response to Announcement of Home Ownership Preservation Grants by Bank of America

Sacramento, CA – Assemblymember Ted Lieu, chair of the State Assembly Committee on Banking and Finance, released the following statement today in response to an announcement by Bank of America that they are granting $250,000 to local nonprofits in California to support home ownership preservation:

"The Mortgage Foreclosure Crisis is the largest threat to our economy and our State Budget right now, and it is expected to get worse as we move through 2008 and 2009. Business, industry, and nonprofits need to be working together to keep borrowers in their homes.

I applaud Bank of America for taking this proactive step to support homeowners in California's most distressed markets – Stockton, Kern and Sacramento Counties, and the Inland Empire. This money will support the work of these overburdened and underfunded organizations who are trying to hold back a tsunami.

I now call on all of the other banks and mortgage lenders to follow Bank of America's lead and work together to address this crisis."