In a videotaped interview with the Las Vegas Review-Journal this week, Mitt Romney criticized the Obama administration's handling of the foreclosure situation, saying the administration has ‘slow walked’ the foreclosure process, leading to an extended overhang of foreclosed properties.
Romney's comments came before Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate, which was held in Las Vegas. During the debate, Romney said that ‘the right course is to let markets work.’
In his interview with the Review-Journal, he said that the best action is to not try to stop the foreclosure process.
‘Let it run its course, and hit the bottom," Romney said. "Allow investors to buy homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up and let [the market] turn around and come back up."
Romney's comments prompted a response from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"Nevada has the highest foreclosure rate in America, and it has for almost three years," Reid said, according to a report Tuesday in the Review-Journal. "And here's what Mitt Romney said. He would just let them hit rock bottom. I don't know what's more graphic than that in how we have different views of what the world should be like than our Republican friends."
Romney also told the paper that the federal first-time home-buyer tax credit was an "ineffective idea," but that the idea of helping borrowers avoid foreclosure by refinancing their homes is "worth further consideration."