New York Victims Of Foreclosures Crying Out For Help

Posted in Foreclosures, November 6th, 2007 |

A group of civic and community workers are pressurizing New York State authorities to create a $100 million fund to help those facing evictions from foreclosures.

On Thursday 1st November, Andrew Cuomo the Attorney General said that a legal suit had been brought against a giant appraisal company. The charges are that this firm had joined hands with Washington Mutual to falsely raise the value of houses so as to get bigger loans sanctioned in the sub-prime category. Washington Mutual’s response was to cut off all connections with the firm.

New York and other states have begun a process of cracking down legally on marked offenders.

New Yorkers for Responsible Lending group met Governor Eliot Spitzer asking him to include in his 2008/2009 budget a fund which will offer loans to those who are unable to get it in any other way. This group comprises of 132 agencies. The State is also being asked to sanction $5 million for the cause of foreclosure counseling and other proactive services related to this crisis. Citations were made from a renowned firm that kept records of foreclosures. 49,000 foreclosures have been recorded in the state during the first six months of 2007. It is approximately the same as it was in 2006.

The online tracking firm announced on Thursday 1st November that in the country during the third quarter foreclosures had doubled since the same time in the previous year. New York recorded 14,272 foreclosure listings during the third quarter of this year. Everybody is aghast at this unprecedented scale of foreclosures affecting millions. It is creating history. Horrendous stories are pouring in. At a news meet in Albany one octogenarian widow said that she will be moving out of the house in which she has been residing since 1964 because of a sub-prime mortgage taken. Currently 50% of her income goes in repayments making it impossible for her to survive.

The New York group is mulling over the administration of the $100 million fund. There is another programme called ‘Keep the Dream’ by which house owners will be helped to refinance. New York State has also made a grant of $400,000 for the purpose of counseling and guidance in this foreclosure matter. Some are of the opinion that the help should primarily target certain communities in distress. But not everybody can be bailed out.