Ohio hearing to highlight foreclosures

House Democrats are planning to highlight the mortgage crisis with a field hearing in Ohio, the presidential battleground state hit hardest by foreclosures.

{mosads}A House Financial Services subcommittee is holding a hearing June 16 in Cleveland to focus on the mortgage crisis, according to a “Dear Colleague” letter sent this week by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio).

“This hearing … will bring national attention to the barriers that homeowners and their advocates face when seeking loan modifications,” said Kaptur, who is not on the committee. “To date, we know that one of the main barriers to making loan modifications is the refusal of some mortgage loan servicers to come to the table to negotiate.”

Ohio is a key battleground state in presidential politics, and Democrats could use the hearing to highlight President Bush’s hands-off regulatory policies, which they argue helped cause the financial crisis.