Gottheimer touts bill designed to make buying homes easier

New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer wants to make it easier to buy a home in New Jersey.
Moving companies have reported that many New Jersey residents are moving out of the state for other locations. Gottheimer says that he wants to find a way to fight the mass exodus.
Many New Jersey families are struggling with foreclosure at high rates. Statistics show that 1 out of every 32 homes in Sussex County is in foreclosure.
“If you drive down a subdivision block, you’ll see unfortunately a family losing their home,” Gottheimer says.
The congressman has introduced the Fixing Homeownership Access act in an effort to help. He says that part of the state’s problem is that mortgage credit remains tight for average Americans.
He says that after the recession lenders began requiring higher credit scores for home loans, and he says that this weakens the economy.
Gottheimer says that he wants to ease some of the post-recession liability conditions to allow banks and credit unions to return to the mortgage market and give out more loans.
“Those are a lot more homes that we could be selling. The tight credit requirements are boxing borrowers out of the American dream,” the congressman says.
State Democrats also argue that tax reform recently approved by the Trump administration will hurt New Jersey home values. But supporters of the reform says that it will stimulate business and job growth.
Gov. Phil Murphy has also announced that New Jersey will sue the federal government over the law.