Mark Winston Griffith

Foreclosure Prevention in NYC: Throw Money at It

As I was standing before an anxious audience of homeowners and homebuyers in Bedford-Stuyvesant last night, describing what resources are available to those saddled with predatory loans or facing foreclosure, a feeling of inadequacy swept over me. For all the people out there, hanging onto my every word about where to go and whom to talk to, it was obvious that I and my fearless colleagues - representatives from Pratt Area Community Council, South Brooklyn Legal Services, HPD, the Parodneck Foundation and NEDAP- were not equal to the task before us. As part of a city-wide effort to provide community education, homeowner counseling, legal assistance and loan remediation, we were simply out gunned. There were too many real estate scammers, bad loan products and people fighting too keep their homes. Meanwhile there are too few laws to reform the mortgage industry and too little will by district attornies to enforce the existing laws.

Each person facing foreclosure represents hours upon hours of intensive intervention. And those in the trenches doing foreclosure prevention work will end up turning away more people than we can help because there simply aren't enough staff people and training supports (Read "dollars") to handle the need. If those struggling to overcome real estate scams and grotesque "exotic" loan terms represent a forest fire, then the fire fighters have been equipped with cups of water to meet the blaze.

An estimated 15,000 foreclosure actions will be filed against New York City homeowners this year, overwhelmingly from areas like Central Brooklyn, Southeast Queens and the North Bronx.There are a lot of different responses required by government and civil society to stem this crisis in New York, and I will outline some of these needed responses in subsequent blogs. But the most immediate need is cash to build the capacity of foreclosure prevention specialists. For any city council person, state legislator or congress person within the sound of my "voice", I want you to do at least one thing: Show me the money.

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Posted at 6:33 AM, May 18, 2007 in
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