skektary donovan has served in this capacity since january 2009. secretary donovan you may proceed with your testimony. >> thank you, chairman johnson. ranking smeb shelby. members of the committee. thank you for this opportunity to testify about the administration's initiatives to help american homeowners rebuild equity in their homes. mr. chairman, this hearing comes at a moment in which our housing market appears to have turned a corner following the best winner of home sales since the crisis began. with interest rates at historic lows more than 4 million homeowners have refinanced their mortgages pulling $27 billion a year in real savings into the hands of american families and into our economy. because we provided responsible families opportunities to stay in their homes more than 5.9 million modifications have been started many the last three years and the number of families falling into foreclosure is half of what it was in early 2009. because we helped communities struggling with concentrated foreclosures placed with targeted stablsization i