Sarah Solon

Forclosures Hit Brooklyn Hard: “By the end of 2008, 6,100 families in Brooklyn could be at risk of losing their homes”

This estimate comes from a new report released by Senator Chuck Schumer, and appeared in the Brooklyn Courier-Life yesterday. The entire article is worth a read - showing the scary local consequences of a sub-prime mortgage industry that has trapped too many in impossible-to-pay-off borrowing agreements. Here's an upsetting excerpt:

The next two years could leave thousands of Brooklynites homeless, as the aftermath spawned by a "rogue" industry comes to light, a federal lawmaker recently warned. A rash of foreclosures fueled by subprime mortgages is the cause, according to Senator Charles Schumer.

And for many, the future could be grim.

Schumer's analysis showed that in the next two years, 91,000 families will be at risk of foreclosure because of these lending practices. In the New York Metropolitan area alone, an estimated 53,000 families will see their mortgages reset to onerous rates, he said.

"The bottom line here is that the subprime bust is leading us right into a foreclosure boom, and thousands of Brooklyn residents will be left in the lurch," Schumer said.

Click here for the rest of the article.

DMI Fellow Mark Winston Griffith has written widely about the dangers of a predatory sub-prime mortgage industry. For his analysis of how shady lending practices eventually damage the companies who concoct these loans, check out "Sub-Prime Mortgages Come Home to Roost. "

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Posted at 9:50 AM, Apr 09, 2007 in Community Development | Economic Opportunity | Financial Justice | Housing
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