In an unexpected appearance before the White House Press Corps on Monday, ""President Barack Obama"":http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/20/remarks-president-white-house-press-corps called for Congress to pass a refinancing bill to benefit American homeowners.
[IMAGE]Obama remarked on his administration's plans for the economy and spoke briefly about the housing market, saying that it's ""beginning to tick back up, but it's still not at all where it needs to be.""
[COLUMN_BREAK]""There are a lot of families out there whose homes are underwater. They owe more than the house is worth because housing values dropped so precipitously, and they're having trouble refinancing,"" he said.
In order to boost the market and help families, Obama challenged Congress to pass a ""mortgage refinance bill"":http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s3085is/pdf/BILLS-112s3085is.pdf that has been in committee since May. Legislation tracking website ""GovTrack.us"":http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s3085 projects a 2 percent chance of the bill being enacted.
""We're going to be pushing Congress to see if they can pass a refinancing bill that puts $3,000 into the pockets of the average family who hasn't yet refinanced their mortgage. That's a big deal,"" Obama said.
""That $3,000 can be used to strengthen the equity in that person's home, which would raise home values. Alternatively, that's $3,000 in peoples' pockets that they can spend on a new computer for their kid going back to school, or new school clothes for their kids, and so that would strengthen the economy as well.""