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e e , t Opinion $8.5 Billion Mortgage Agreement “Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now” B ERNIE F OSTER Founder/Publisher B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER Executive Editor T ED B ANKS Advertising Manager J ERRY F OSTER Account Executive L ISA L OVING News Editor H ELEN S ILVIS Multimedia Editor B RUCE P OINSETTE Reporter D AVID K IDD Graphic Designer M ONICA J. F OSTER Seattle Office Coordinator J ULIE K EEFE S USAN F RIED Photographers The Skanner Newspaper, established in October 1975, is a weekly publica- T he recent joint announce- ment by two key federal regulators believed a negoti- ated agreement with 10 mortgage servicing firms would help more than 3.8 million consumers who were wrongfully foreclosed during 2009 and 2010. Brokered by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), mortgage servicing firms agreed to jointly pay foreclosed consumers $3.3 billion, and allot another $5.2 billion for loan mod- ifications and other services. Yet as news of the settlement spread, a range of opinions emerged. From a prominent Capi- tol Hill legislator to consumer advocates, varying views spoke about the harm wrought by wrong- ful foreclosures and how far $3.3 billion split amount nearly 4 mil- lion consumers would really go. Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Gov- ernment Reform, said: “I do not know what the rush was to make this settlement without answering key questions, and although I look forward to obtaining information about how this deal may assist homeowners, I have serious con- cerns that this settlement may allow banks to skirt what they owe and sweep past abuses under the rug without determining the full harm borrowers have suffered.” Speaking for the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Paul Leonard said, “We are deeply con- R ESPONSIBLE L ENDING Charlene Crowell cerned that there be adequate safe- guards in the settlement to ensure that borrowers and communities hit hardest by the foreclosure crisis will receive their fair share of both the cash payments and mortgage relief that will keep as many peo- ple as possible in their homes and have equal access to the help it provides.” Even if public debate of this development continues, how much financial loss America’s homeowners and communities have already suffered has been researched and revealed the facts of who has lost homes, wealth, and quality of life. CRL’s most recent research, “The State of Lending in America and is Impact on U.S. House- holds,” (http://www.responsible lending.org/state-of-lending/) updated earlier foreclosure research, finding that the nation has a still-troubled housing mar- From a prominent Capitol Hill legislator to consumer advocates, varying views spoke about the harm wrought by wrongful foreclosures and how far $3.3 billion split amount nearly 4 million consumers would really go out of foreclosure.” Debby Goldberg of the National Fair Housing Alliance was even more direct. “Communities of color were particularly hard hit by abusive mortgage practices. In order for the public to have any confidence in the fairness of this settlement, the OCC and the Fed- eral Reserve must ensure that borrowers in these communities ket. CRL also developed a new state-by-state analysis of foreclo- sures and lost wealth. According to the report, since February 2012, 11 percent of African-American borrowers and 14 percent of Latino borrowers have already lost their homes to foreclosures. By comparison and during the same years, foreclosure rates for non-Hispanic Whites amounted to 6 percent and among Asian-American borrowers, 8 per- cent. Even worse, African-American and Latino borrowers were respec- tively 2.8 and 2.3 times as likely to have received a mortgage loan with a prepayment penalty even though many of these borrowers could have qualified for more affordable and sustainable loans. Across the country, more than half (52 percent) of the lost wealth resulting from living in close proximity to foreclosures was borne by minority census tract homeowners. In the District of Columbia and seven states –Cali- fornia, Florida, Illinois, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey and New York – an even greater share of lost wealth occurred in minority communities. Additionally, African-Ameri- cans remain at a higher imminent risk of more foreclosures in Flori- da, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Illinois. For example, Black Floridians risk of imminent fore- closures is doubled that projected for the entire state. As the nation prepares for the 2013 observance of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, the mar- tyred leader’s historic call for economic justice has yet to be ful- filled. Charlene Crowell is a communi- cations manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. tion, published each Wednesday by IMM Publications Inc., 415 N. Killingsworth St., P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228. Telephone (503) 285-5555. E-mail: info@theskanner.com World Wide Web site: http://www.theskanner.com Fax: (503) 285-2900 The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ- ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re - spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. © 2013 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED. To see The Skanner News on your smart phone go to theskannermobile.com or scan this QR code with your app. • • • • • • • • Local news Opinions Jobs, Bids Sports Entertainment Music reviews Bulletin board RSS feeds NRA Maintains Stranglehold on Congress I n the wake of the killing of 20 schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn. last month and just before Vice President Joe Biden presented a list of proposals to President Obama this week that includes banning assault weapons and limiting sales of high-capacity ammunition clips, the president of the National Rifle Association expressed confidence that new gun legislation will stall in Con- gress. In an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State Of The Union,” NRA President David Keene said, “I would say that the likelihood is that they are not going to be able to get assault weapons ban through this Congress.” When asked about placing limits on high-capacity ammunition clips, Keene replied, “I don’t think ultimately they are going to get that, either.” Senator Chris Murphy (D- Conn.), referring to Keene, said on CNN, “I think he’s wrong.” Mur- phy explained, “Newtown fundamentally changed things. The NRA doesn’t get this.” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) acknowledged that it will not be T HE C URRY R EPORT George E. Curry easy to get Congress to ban assault weapons. He told CNN, “I think we have assault weapons expired in 2004, largely as a result of pressure exerted by the NRA. The organi- zation has risen from being founded in 1871 to help improve marksmanship to a powerful 4 million-member lobbying organi- zation that takes in more than $200 million in annual revenue. According to Opensecrets.org, NRA spent $20 million in the last election cycle, all on friendly law- makers who score well on the NRA’s political scorecard. The NRA spent $20 million in the last election cycle, all on friendly lawmakers who score well on the NRA’s political scorecard the possibility, but it’s going to be difficult.” Cummings said the prospects are brighter for Con- gress to place restrictions on high-capacity magazines and require expanded background checks. A 10-year ban on the sale of Sign The Skanner News petition to President Obama, “A Marshall Plan for Black America,” at “We the People…” website: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov combination of big bucks and political pressure have made too many members of Congress fear- ful of bucking the powerful gun lobby, a group that doesn’t even want machine guns banned. But there are growing indica- tions that the NRA’s political clout might be vastly overrated. “The gun lobby had an abysmal 2012 election cycle. They spent more than $11 million to defeat President Obama, warning that on Election Day, “Americans will vote either to defend or surrender freedom in the most consequential national decision in U.S. history.” They also failed to elect their pre- ferred candidate in six of their seven top targets for the U.S. Sen- ate. And more than two-thirds of incumbents who lost their seats in the House of Representatives were backed by the NRA, including four Democrats,” noted Media Matters, the watchdog group. And the NRA got a poor return on its political investment. “According to open government group the Sunlight Foundation, the NRA Political Victory Fund, the NRA’s political action committee, received a less than one percent return on $10,536,106 spent on independent expenditures during the election cycle,” the media monitoring group also found. “The NRA spent 0.44 percent of its money supporting winning candi- dates and 0.39 percent opposing losing candidates. The NRA Insti- tute for Legislative Action, the organization’s lobbying arm, gar- nered a 10.25 percent return on $7,448,017 spent on the election. In seven Senate races where the NRA spent more than $100,000, six of the NRA-backed candidates lost.” Public opinion on gun control has moved, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. It showed that 38 percent of Americans favor stricter gun measures, a 13-point increase from last year and the highest it has been in more than a decade. Now is the time for Obama to make his move. If not, the NRA will do it for him. George E. Curry, former editor- in-chief of Emerge magazine, is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Page 4 The Portland Skanner January 16, 2012
