Senator Paul Sarbanes, the Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, has announced that the Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation will hold a hearing on the reauthorization of the "Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997," known as "Mark-to-Market." Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island will preside.

The Act, which expires on September 30, 2001, created a program that enables the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reduce rental assistance payments to market levels and restructure the underlying FHA-insured mortgages to levels that can be supported by lower rents. The legislation also established an independent office within HUD, called the "Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring (OMHAR)." Both programs expire at the end of the fiscal year.

The hearing will be held:

Scheduled to appear before the Subcommittee are:

• Ira Peppercorn, Director, Office of Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring;
  
  
• Peter Guerrero, Director, Physical Infrastructure, General Accounting Office;
  
  
• John Bentz, President, Property Advisory Group, Providence, Rhode Island;
  
  
• Geraldine Thomas, Board of Directors, National Association of HUD Tenants;
  
  
• Barbara J. Thompson, Director of Policy and Government Affairs, National Council of State Housing Agencies;
  
  
• Cathy Vann, President, Ontra, Inc., Austin, Texas; and
  
  
• Charles Wehrwein, Senior Vice President, Mercy Housing, Inc., Denver, Colorado