NEARLY 5,000 BROOKLYN HOMEOWNERS ARE FACING FORCLOSURE
Majority Are Of Color
by Sarah Ryley (sarah@brooklyneagle.net), published online 10-29-2007

Senator Chuck Schumer said the nation’s subprime mortgage crisis will lead to nearly 15,000 foreclosures in the city, and will cost the state $9.4 billion in lost property values and $102 million in lost property taxes, reported the Daily News. A report by the Joint Economic Committee released last week said 4,864 Brooklyn homeowners are facing foreclosure (the majority people of color in neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York). Schumer is calling for federal action against the lending practices of “really slimy mortgage brokers” who grant mortgages to people with credit histories that don’t rate high enough for a conventional mortgage, often with interest rates that skyrocket after two or three years.
Not only will the city take a financial hit because of subprime mortgages, but entire communities will be devastated as families are left in financial ruin, unable to invest in their futures or the upkeep of their neighborhoods.