shaun donovan is that 15 secretary of the department of housing and urban development. secretary donovan has served in this capacity since january 2009. secretary donovan, you may proceed with your testimony. >> thank you, chairman johnson ranking member shelby, members of the committee. thank you for the opportunity to testify that the administration's initiatives to help american homeowners to refinance and rebuild equity in their homes. mr. chairman, this comes at a moment in which our housing market appears to have turned a corner, following the best winter of home sales since the crisis began. indeed, with interest rates at historic lows, more than 14 million homeowners to refinance their mortgages, putting nearly $27 billion a year into the hands of american families and into our economy. because we have provided responsible opportunities for families to stay in their homes, more than 5.9 my vacations have been started in the last three years, and the number of families falling into foreclosure is half of what it was in 2009. because we helped struggling concentrated foreclosures, places with targeted investments have seen vacancies fall in home prices rise. most important of all, our economy has added private sec