Foreclosures Lose Colour And Turns White From Black In Kentucky

Posted in Foreclosures, October 10th, 2007 |

Eighty year Harry Young is the last black farmer in three counties of Kentucky – his family lived here for 100 years. Young lost the ground under his feet by a hotly contested foreclosure sale conducted by Farm Services Administration. Now Ku Klux Klan holds their all-white meetings on this black soil.

Young continues to plough through legalities and is ready to talk. He has hung up signs highlighting the foreclosure related offence – ‘How can this happen in America?’ The injustice seen is only the tip of the foreclosure iceberg. The authorities blatantly refuse to entertain Young’s righteous case. He wants to see documents of non-payment of fictitious foreclosure dues but the authorities remain silent.

Locks are being broken to hold KKK meetings on Young’s land. Young has submitted a report with the County Sheriff hoping that civil rights and human rights activists will take up the issue.

Recently the KKK has been making its presence felt in south Indiana and west Kentucky. It cannot be ignored that now what is going on is blatant theft of property via the foreclosure excuse based on colour. Black farmers continue to lose land to foreclosures at a higher pace than white counterparts. The strategy is delaying tactics making the victim run from pillar to post wasting time and money only to lose out in the end. Black farmers are being targeted and are run out of business by a nexus of officials and realtors together with bankers. Loan officers are being awarded bonuses for driving victims to bankruptcy.

Young’s case of foreclosure related fraud is one of the worst in line. Federal Arm Loan Agencies are riddled with accusations of fraud, crime and collusion in racketeering. Journalists have been documenting the illegalities going on for decades. Land has been ‘sold’ despite court orders. Since August 1981, 51 suits have been filed against FSA for legal failures in land matters. Their nefarious activities include disappearance of informers, overcharging interest on loans, forgery, illegal payment collection, forced selling of mortgaged cows, changing of loan terms etc but despite the time lapse no action has been taken.

Relevant questions arise when it is brought to light that the land in question is rich in coal. With the fraudulent foreclosure of land belonging to Young and many other like him their mineral rights also ceased to exist. Why?