Acting amid more bad news about the pace of home mortgage foreclosures in the United States, the U.S. House of Representatives approved by a vote of 234 to 191 legislation that would allow judges to order changes in mortgage terms to help more Americans facing job losses financial troubles to stay in their homes.
美国房贷市场传出更多房屋由于主人无法偿还贷款而被借贷机构没收的坏消息，美国众议院以234票对191票表决通过，允许法官下令改变贷款条件，以帮助更多面临失业与财务危机的美国人保住他们的住房。
Congressional approval of the legislation, if the Senate also acts on its own version, is a key part of President Barack Obama's effort to help prevent further economic damage resulting from more families losing their homes in the midst of the recession.
众议院通过的这项法案，如果参议院也能采取同样行动，对奥巴马政府防止更多美国家庭失去住房而进一步冲击经济的努力，将是一个重要的措施。
The measure approved late Thursday by the House would allow bankruptcy judges to alter the terms of mortgages to give homeowners a better chance of avoiding foreclosure.
星期四众议院通过的立法版本将允许裁决破产的法官更改贷款条件，给住房拥有者更好的机会避免其住房被没收。
A vote was set for last week, but was delayed as some moderate Democrats, along with the home lending industry, demanded changes to prevent abuse by people who might seek reductions while still being able to make mortgage payments under their existing terms.
这项表决原本安排在上星期，之所以延期是因为部分温和派民主党议员以及房贷业者要求修改法案内容，以防止一些有能力支付房贷的人滥用这项法律，减少自己的房贷金额。
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said approval of the measure is but one component of President Obama's program announced last month to refinance and modify mortgages to help as many as nine million homeowners.
众议院议长佩洛西说，这项法案是奥巴马总统上个月宣布要以重新贷款和修改贷款条件，帮助900万美国房主计划的重要部分。
"There are several components to the economic turnaround that need to be addressed. Certainly, the housing crisis [and] facing the mortgage foreclosure crisis, changing that is good for the economy," she said.
她说，“要扭转经济颓势我们必须关注几个方面，当然，其中包括房市危机以及房贷市场的没收房产危机，如果我们能改变现状，对美国经济是有好处的。”
Under the legislation, judges could reduce the principal owed, interest rates or extend the length of loans on existing mortgages - something Democrats and the president hope could reduce foreclosures by 20 percent.
根据这项新法案，法官有权减低房主所欠的贷款额，改变利率，和延长贷款的年限，民主党议员和奥巴马总统希望能借此减少20%的房产被没收。
Democrats pointed to changes they said substantially improved the bill, including stricter conditions for homeowners who are bankrupt and seeking mortgage modifications, and requiring homeowners to share with a lender profit from any sale of a home whose principal was reduced by a bankruptcy judge.
民主党人表示，修正案改善了法案的内容，其中包括对要求更改房贷条件的房主采取更严格的规定，要求那些得到法官帮助减少贷款金额的房主，必须将房屋出售所得利润与房贷公司共享。
Democrat Zoe Lofgren called the measure a balanced reform that will bring meaningful help to families in genuine need.
民主党议员洛夫格伦称这项法案是平衡的改革，将给真正有需要的家庭带来实质的帮助。
"By setting up a homeowner-lender negotiating process that begins well before bankruptcy, it is designed to keep more families out of bankruptcy and out of foreclosure. The number of new Chapter 13 [i.e., bankruptcy] mortgage modifications that may result will be far less than the number of foreclosures that will be prevented," Lofgran said.
她说，“这项法案让房主与贷款公司在房主宣告破产前就展开协商，该法案能帮助更多美国家庭免于破产和被没收房产的命运。通过第13章破产法进行的修改贷款条件数目将远远低于房产没收案的数目。”
Republican Representative Lamar Smith said that the changes in bankruptcy provisions failed to sufficiently narrow the scope of mortgage situations eligible for modification and will not solve the foreclosure crisis.
共和党众议员史密斯认为，有关破产法条款的修订，并不能缩小符合房贷修改条件的范围，更不能解决没收房产的危机。
"The manager's amendment [to the bill] continues the majority's policy of punishing the successful, taxing the responsible and holding no one accountable. It is unfair for Congress to bail out mortgage lenders and borrowers on the backs of responsible homeowners who continue to pay their mortgages, even in these troubled times. Clearly, the American people are not willing to pay for their neighbor's irresponsible actions," he said.
他说，“民主党的修正案仍然是一个惩罚成功人士，对按时纳税的人课税，却没有人负责任的政策。国会帮助那些房贷公司以及借贷人脱困，对那些在财务困难时期还是按时缴交贷款的人并不公平。很明显，美国人不愿意为其他人不负责任的行为付出代价。”
After lawmakers turned back a Republican attempt to kill the bill, House approval came as the nation absorbed more bad news on home foreclosures.
Mortgage Banking Association figures show that more than 11 percent of all mortgages were delinquent or in foreclosure during the last three months of 2008.
美国抵押贷款银行家协会的数据显示，2008年第四季度，超过11%的房贷出现违约或者房产被没收。
The growing unemployment situation was also identified as an increasingly significant factor in mortgage delinquencies, with worsening problems involving fixed prime and sub-prime rate loans affected the most by job and income loss.
不断升高的失业率也是房贷违约率升高的一个重要因素，这些工作和收入的流失也使得有关固定优惠贷款利率和次级抵押贷款的问题持续恶化。 |