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