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b I
Home Ownership Slipping Away
by J i n i.r
four year period, while
h o m e o w n e rsh ip fo r
n ativ e b o rn L atin o s
dropped nearly three
points. For whites, the
d e c lin e w as m u ch
smaller, around 1 per­
G reg M a i his
Maj/ 20.2009
O w ning a hom e is a
key part o f the “A m eri­
can D ream " and critical
step in creating wealth;
even low- and moderate-
incom e hom eow ners are
able to benefit from their invest­ cent.
W hy
is
m in o rity
ment.
U nfortunately, w ith the re­ hom eow nership dropping at a
cent crash of both the housing faster rate? M any experts be­
and financial m arkets, few er lieve it is because black and
A m erican s ow n hom es than Latinos were the recipients of
A
they did just a few years ago. s u b p rim e m o rtg a g e s .
T h e b ig g e s t d e c lin e s w ere subprime mortgage is designed
am ong m inorities, with blacks for borrow ers w ho have either
and L atinos honteo w n ersh ip missed paym ents on a debt or
rates fallin g at a rate m uch have been late with paym ents.
M ortgage lenders charge a
faster than w hites.'
A recent study by the Pew higher interest rate to make up
Hispanic Center shows that the for any potential losses from
rate o f hom eow nership for all custom ers w ho may run into
A m erican households dropped trouble with their loans. Many
from 69 percent to just under 68 o f the subprim e mortgages in­
percent over a four year period. c lu d e d in te r e s t o n ly lo a n s
H ow ever, A fric an -A m erica n where, for the first year or so o f
hom eow nership fell tw o per­ the m ortgage, the buyer paid
centage points during that same only the interest, resulting in a
m uch low er paym ent. Later,
w hen the paym ent w ent up and
buyers w eren’t able to m ake it,
they ran into trouble. A ddition­
ally, m any lenders, fueled by
g ree d , relax ed th e ir len d in g
Troubled loans need fixing
can D ream ” slip away. M ore
than 1.3 m illion hom es have
been lost to foreclosure since
the m arket m eltdow n began in
A ugust 2007. Last month, one
o f every 374 U.S. hom es re­
ceived a foreclosure filing.
Banks need to aggressively
w ork to keep buyers w ho have
defaulted on their loans in their
homes. The m edia has reported
on the efforts o f som e banks to
work w ith buyers by refinanc­
ing loans and negotiating pay­
cern ed w ith p ro fits th an the ments.
H ow ever, a u n iv ersal push,
b u y e r o r th e h e a lth o f th e
em b raced by the en tire in d u s­
economy.
Now, millions of Americas are try , m u st b e h a p p e n to n ot
w atching that elusive “A m eri­ o n ly sa v e th e fu tu re s o f so
financial industries were well
aware that these lending prac­
tices w ould result in an ec o ­
nomic dow nturn. D espite this
knowledge, they continued with
business as u su al...m o re con­
Banks need to aggressively work
to keep buyers who have defaulted
on their loans in their homes.
standards, allow ing buyers to
purchase far more hom e than
they could actually afford.
Long before the market melt­
dow ns, both the m ortgage and
m a n y f a m ilie s b u t to a ls o
stren g th en o u r econ o m y and
to k eep c o m m u n itie s fin a n ­
cially stable. Since m inorities
are the h ard est hits, b anking
i n s t itu ti o n s m u s t in c r e a s e
th e ir p resen ce in those c o m ­
m unities, offering financial lit­
eracy classe s to h om eow ners,
sittin g dow n w ith b u y ers b e ­
fore they get into tro u b le w ith
th e ir loan.
I t’s going to take time to fix
the housing market and to re­
build the financial sector. But
both industries can work to­
gether on behalf o f all o f those
homeowners who fell victim to
their greed-driven practices.
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VACÄTTOH OVTÍ o MS MAUROS föR BUSH'ERfc 'I öf CWRH AöNOCATeS.
Jo in the H ealth
C h a lle n ge !
For a complete class listing &
schedule, or to register call
503-281-8596 or visit our
website at
www.thehealthchallenge.org
Deceptive Credit Card Tactics
th ro u g h w hich credit
card com panies can al­
ter your interest rates
riety of financial factors
by S en . J eff M erki . ey
at an y tim e, fo r any
As a young man w orking for to low er th eir risk and
reason. If your credit
the S ecre tary o f D efen se in e n s u re th a t p e o p le
score ch an g es at all,
W ashington D C., 1 applied for w e r e n ’t a p p ro v e d fo r
w hich happens to all
a M asterCard and w as declined loans that they couldn’t
o
f
us
for
a variety o f reason,
because 1 d idn’t have enough afford to pay back.
they
can
hike
up your interest
Now
the
credit
card
industry
c re d it h isto ry . So, 1 g o t an
rate
to
29
percent
or more, even
seems
to
be
aimed
at
taking
ad­
American Express card, paid off
if
you
are
current
on
your credit
vantage
o
f
w
orking
fam
ilies.
my balance every m onth as re­
card.
In
a
bait
and
switch
move,
Banks
are
m
arketing
cards
on
quired, w aited a few years to
the
com
panies
offer
a
low
in­
college
campuses
in
an
effort
to
build up credit, applied again,
troductory
rate
they
can
-
and
hook
our
young
people
on
credit.
and w as approved.
T he w ay our credit system Instead of helping keep people d o - c h a n g e w h en e v er they
used to work, credit card com ­ out o f debt, they’ll approve al­ want.
To restore rights to A merican
panies took into account a va- most anyone for a card - even
small children or the family dog. consum ers and rein in these ir­
Extra charges for late p ay ­ responsible lending practices,
ments, ridiculous overdraft fees, I ’ve co -sp o n so red the C redit
and fees for paying your bill by Card Accountability, Responsi­
check or online are all tactics bility and Disclosure Act (Credit
that credit card com panies use C A R D Act). T his bill will end
to strip wealth from A m ericans these abusive practices, crack­
dow n on m arketing to young
in bits and pieces.
O ne o f the w o rst o f th ese p e o p le , an d en su re th a t the
schem es is “universal default,” term s o f credit card agreements
Restore consumer rights
ORIENTATION
Sunday, May 17, 2009 at
3:30pm
LOCATION
Com m unity Learning Center
4212 NE Prescott St ■ Portland
are fully disclosed instead of
hidden in fine print.
The C redit CA R D A ct is up
for debate on the Senate floor.
I’ll be working hard to generate
support for this im portant bill
and restore fairness for A m eri­
can consum ers.
If you have a credit card story
about o utrageous fees or d e ­
ceptive practices, please co n ­
sider sharing it. You can share
y o u r s to ry by v is itin g m y
w ebsite at m erkley.senate.gov
or calling my office in Portland
at 503 326-3386 or Washington,
D.C. at 202 224-3753.
I’m encouraged by President
O b am a’s strong statem ent o f
support for credit card reform
and it is m y hope that there will
be a bill on his desk in the com ­
ing weeks.
Jeff Me rkley was elected U.S.
Senator for Oregon in Novem­
ber. He is a former state sena­
tor from Portland.
THE
SPINAtCOLUMN
An ongoing senes of questions and answers about Americas natural healing profession
Dr. Billy R. Flowers
Part 20. It’s Just Your Nerves:
Chiropractic’s answer to an age old answer
/
Arthritis hurts. Physical activity can help. Studies show that 30 minutes of moderate
physical activity three or more days a week can help you move more easily. You can
break it up, too. Start with a walk. Later, rake leaves or wash the car. Keep it up, and
in four to six weeks you could be hurting less and enjoying life more.
Physical Activity. T h e Arthritis Pain Reliever.
I .'.ill the A rth ritis Foundation at 501-24li-5695 for
information about exercise and aquatics classes near you.
A m » m a (.» HOM T h » < iN im s hih D imas » C o n im m and P«»v»NnnN • T h » A k ih w iis F ounhaiio n •
T m D ip a r im in i < m H» a ij h & H oman S hoicka
4
CDC
T
A ARTHRITIS
• •FOUNDATION'
: I have been to see a
num ber o f doctors about
my headaches. The m ost re­
cent one said it w as, “ju st
nerves" Can Chiropractic help?
: Y our doctor w as prob
ably right. C hances
are it is your nerves. An in­
dependent research team re­
cently an-nounced that b e­
tween 90% and 95% o f all head­
aches were due to pressure on
the nerves. Your doctor was
probably talk ing about em o­
tional nerves. The research
team, of course, was talking
about the n erv o u s system .
I
W hen pressure or irritation gets
on nerves (scientifically known
as su b lu x a -tio n ), ten sio n in
muscles will result. In the neck,
this tension will w ork its way up
to the skull. N e st blood flow will
be altered. Before you know it,
you will have another throbbing
headache. In Chiropractic, we
w o rk
w ith
r e d u c in g
su b lu x atio n s, releasin g the
irrita tion from the nerve fibers.
M uscles can relax. The body
will no longer send a message
o f pain and your headaches
will be gone for good ! If you’ re
tired o f hearing that your prob­
lem is “ju st nerves,” call us
today. W e’ve got the answ er
to the “ju st nerves” answer.
Flowers* Chiropractic Office
2124 N.E. Hancock Street, Portland Oregon 97212
Phone: (5 0 3 ) 2 8 7 -5 3 0 4