The Responsible Homeowners Act

The Republican leader’s words were not met with any noticeable follow through until 2009 – when Dodd-Frank was being shaped into its future form – when Boehner leveraged his role as minority leader to introduce the Responsible Homeowners Act.

The bill didn’t gain any serious support in Congress at the time, but Boehner did pen a letter to the Washington, D.C.-based The Hill in which he celebrated the legislation’s proposed $5,000 refinancing tax credit and $15,000 homebuyers credit to, as he claimed, spur investment.

In his letter, Boehner also took a jab at distressed homeowners, which, at the time, represented a large portion of the market – one in every 45 housing units received at least one foreclosures filing in 2009, according to RealtyTrac. He wrote: “Helping distressed homeowners should not come at the expense of the 90 percent of homeowners who are paying their mortgages on time. Government policies should not reward irresponsible behavior.”