Portland observer., November 22, 2000, Page 6, Image 6

November 22, 2000
Page A6
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— ¿Ütie ^lortlanò (Oh si*ruer
Business
HNMMOMI
M aria Rojo de Steffey Nam ed
E nvironm ental Services D irector
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty c h a ir
B e v e rly S te in h a s n a m e d M aria
R o jo de S te ffe y th e n ew d ire c to r
o f th e D e p a rtm e n t o f E n v iro n ­
m e n ta l S e rv ic e s.
R o jo d e S te ffe y w as fo rm a lly
C h ie f o f S ta f f fo r P o rtla n d C ity
C o m m issio n e r D an S altzm an .
“ I ’m th r ille d to h a v e M a ria fo r
th is e x tre m e ly im p o rta n t p o s i­
tio n ,” s a id C h a ir S te in . “ S h e has
sk ills an d e x p e rie n c e w h ich m ake
h e r u n iq u e ly w e ll p o s itio n e d to
le a d D E S in to th e f u tu r e .”
R o jo d e S te ffe y sa id h e r new
jo b sh o u ld b e a te rrific c h a lle n g e .
“ I p la n to re c o m m it th e o rg a n i­
z a tio n to a stro n g fo c u s o n e n v i­
ro n m e n ta l s u s ta in a b ility and
M aria Rojo de Steffey
c o m m u n ity d e v e lo p m e n t,” sh e
sa id .R o jo de S te ffe y p re v io u sly
w as e m p lo y e d on S te in 's s ta ff,
w h e re sh e g a in e d e x p e r ie n c e
w o rk in g w ith a ll c o u n ty d e p a r t­
m e n ts. S h e has w o rk e d e x te n ­
siv e ly on su sta in a b ility an d h o u s­
ing issu e s.
H er m an ag em en t ex p erien ce in ­
c lu d es ru n n in g th e P o rtla n d E xpo
C e n te r an d M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty
Fair.
“ M a r ia ’s e x p e rie n c e an d g o o d
w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s w ith
e le c te d o ffic ia ls in all o f the c itie s
o f M u ltn o m q h C o u n ty w ill p ro v e
in v a lu a b le as th e D E S is r e o r g a ­
n iz e d to fa c e th e c h a lle n g e s o f
th e n ew c e n tu r y .” S te in said .
Predatory Lending Documented in Study
Reform group says evidence shows two separate and very
unequal financial systems, one for the rich and one for the poor
T h e O re g o n A s s o c ia tio n o f
C o m m u n ity O r g a n iz a tio n s fo r
R e fo rm is n o w r e le a s in g a n ew
s tu d y sh o w in g th a t m in o r ity an d
lo w er-in co m e b o rro w e rs are m uch
m o re lik e ly to re c e iv e a h ig h e r-
c o s t s u b p rim e m o rtg a g e w h en r e ­
fin a n c in g o r b u y in g a h o u se .
S u b p rim e b o rro w ers p ay h ig h er
ra te s a n d fee s, a n d a re m u c h m ore
lik e ly to b e v ic tim s o f p re d a to ry
le n d in g p r a c tic e s th a t s trip them
o f th e e q u ity in th e ir h o m e s an d
c a n e v e n le a d to fo re c lo s u re .
In 1999, in th e P o rtla n d m e tro ­
p o lita n a re a , su b p rim e le n d ers a c ­
c o u n te d fo r 4 1 .6 p e rc e n t a ll th e
re f in a n c e lo a n s m a d e to A fric a n -
A m e ric a n h o m e o w n e rs an d 15.3
p erc en t o f all refin an c e loans m ade
to L a tin o h o m e o w n e rs, b u t ju s t
12.3 p erc en t o f the refin an ce loans
m a d e to w h ite h o m e o w n e rs.
S u b p rim e len d ers ta rg e t low er-
in c o m e w h ite h o m e o w n e rs, to o .
S u b p rim e le n d e rs m ad e 18.6 p e r­
c e n t o f a ll re fin a n c e lo a n s re ­
ce iv e d by lo w -in co m e w h ites, and
15.2 p e rc e n t o f all refin an c e loans
r e c e iv e d b y m o d e ra te - in c o m e
w h ite h o m e o w n e rs.
In c o n tra s t, s u b p rim e le n d e rs
m a d e ju s t 8.8 p e rc e n t o f th e r e f i­
n a n c e lo a n s to u p p e r - in c o m e
w h ite h o m e o w n e rs.
“ It lo o k s lik e w e s till h av e tw o
s e p a ra te an d v e ry u n e q u a l fin a n ­
c ia l sy ste m s. O n e fo r th e ric h an d
o n e fo r th e p o o r. T h e b a n k s c r e ­
a te d th is s itu a tio n w h e n th e y
a b a n d o n e d o u r n e ig h b o rh o o d s
an d o p e n e d th e d o o r fo r th e lo an
sh a rk s.
B e c a u se o f th e se p r e d a to rs ,
fo re c lo su re s are up, b a n k ru p tc ie s
are u p , an d n o w , w e ’re fin d in g
th a t th e b an k s a re p ro filin g from
us th ro u g h th e ir fin an c in g o r ev en
o w n e r s h ip o f th e s e p r e d a to ry
le n d e rs,” said A C O R N le ad e r Jo y
S im berg.
“ W e k n o w n th a t m a n y o f th e
fo lk s w h o g o t su b p rim e lo a n s
q u a lifie d fo r a lo w e r c o s t m o rt­
g a g e , b u t in s t e a d th e y w e r e
p u sh e d in to a h ig h e r c o s t lo a n
b e c a u s e th e m o rtg a g e c o m p a n y
saw an o p p o rtu n ity to m ak e m o re
m o n ey . A fte r a ll, n a tu re fills a
v a c u u m ,” S im b e rg ad d ed .
Help Goes to First-Time HomeBuyers
The Portland Housing Center re
cently received $24,500 in new funds
to support Home Purchase Partners, a
program which educates and prepares
first-time home buyers to become
"mortgage-ready" The center received
a $ 10.OOOcontnbution from Washing­
ton Mutual Bank, two $5,000 contribu­
tions - one from Portland Teachers
Credit Union, and another from Cen­
tennial Mortgage Bank and $4,500
contribution from State Farm Insur­
ance.
These funds will support Home
Purchase Partners, a program designed
to educate and assist people to pur-
chase their first home.
“1 applaud local lenders and State
Fami Insurance for financially sup­
porting the 1 Ionie Purchase program,”
says Peg Mallory, executive director
o f the Portland Housing Center. "This
support recognizes the important role
that Home Purchase Partners plays in
helping first time home buyers to un­
derstand the process ofbuying a home
through providing educational ser­
vices and demonstrates our partner­
ship to help more people achieve their
dream o f owning their own home and
protecting their investment.”
Home Purchase Partners provides
first time homebuyers with com pre­
hensive education, one-on-one coun­
seling and financial services to achieve
their goal o f ow ning their own home.
Ihe program is designed to help first­
time homebuyers understand the home
buying process and to individually de­
velop a plan to remove the many barriers
to homeownership through counseling
services and financial assistance. Orien­
tation sessions are offered on a regular
basis and serve as the first step in English
and Spanish. In the past year, Portland
H ousing C e n te r has help ed 196
homebuyers achieve their dream o f
homeowneiship.
Lighten up your winter.
Clip this.
yf
the 5 most excellent and important
things to do| if th e lights go o u t
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II
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W|
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Safe a t hom e. Hats on! During an extended
outage, stay warm w ith a cozy cap and loose
time. Make an outage kit—flashlight, battery
powered radio, non-electric alarm clock, candles layers of warm clothing. Check on elderly neigh­
______________
bors. During an outage your freezer w ill keep
(and
candle holders for safety), matches and
food frozen about tw o days—but keep the door
manual can opener. Did we mention batteries?
shut as much as possible.
Lots of fresh batteries. Also, rather than risk
G en erate w ith care. Got a portable genera­
losing the great American novel you've been
tor? Never plug it into a wall outlet. You
working on, make sure you have a good surge
could start a fire, ruin your wiring or even back­
protector for your computer.
feed power into the outside lines, endangering
- > "H ello PGE." M a k e th e call. In Portland,
repair personnel.
503-464-7777. O utside Portland, 1-800-
544-1795. Most folks call w ith tw o questions:
"Do you know I'm out o f power?!" and "When
PGE has plenty o f other inform ation to help
w ill it be fixed?!" PGE's EasyCall, our auto­
you get through pow er interruptions safely.
mated phone system, handles both: you can
For free brochures on preparedness and
report an outage or hear an estimated
electric safety, home generators and
repair time and get other details. It
other topics, call 1-800-542-8818.
helps to have your RGE account num­
ber ready.
/
X
D o n 't cross th e line. If you see
a downed line, get away. Warn
'
P
G
E/
others. And call PGE immediately.
X
Z
If you're driving and a line falls
on your car, stay put. Do NOT
get out of the vehicle until
Portland General Electric
help arrives. Bottom line:
Any line you see should be
considered "live" and
My PGE account number
dangerous.
I
G et ready. N ow . Outages can happen any
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