Ill. Housing Dev. Authority honors Collins as “Legislator of the Year”
Katharine Eastvold
Published: April 29, 2014
CHICAGO – State Senator Jacqueline Y. Collins (D-Chicago 16th) was honored last week as the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s “Legislator of the Year.”
The IHDA called her “a true champion and the housing expert in the Illinois Senate.”
The award recognizes her eleven years of work in the Senate for consumer protection, foreclosure assistance and renters’ right. As chairperson of the Senate Financial Institutions Committee, Collins has sponsored important legislation protecting the rights of consumers entering into subprime mortgages, refinancing agreements and loan modifications. Long before the national recession hit, she warned colleagues about the threat of predatory lending, and at the height of the housing bust, she worked to protect consumers from mortgage fraud and mortgage rescue fraud.
Collins has championed financial literacy – including a requirement that high school students be taught about household budgeting, rent and mortgages – and has made funding available to towns and cities to rehabilitate properties abandoned during the foreclosure crisis.
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