Rampant Fraud & Foreclosures Impacting Our Community
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| From the Village of Brooklyn | | VOL. 21 NO. 10 Since 1996 March 3 — 9, 2016 | Rampant Fraud A 250-Year Example of Strength & Foreclosures Impacting our Community "Over the next three to five years, close to $10 billion in community and family wealth could be trans- ferred out of Brooklyn as lenders continue to foreclose on homes and seize property." David Bryan, New York State Foreclosure Defense Bar p. 2 Photo: Courtesy of Bridge St. AWME Church Bridge Street Church Celebrates a Milestone. p.6 The Oscar That Truly Matters BEDFORD-STUYVESANT RESTORATION CORPORATION MAIN BUILDING – 1368 FULTON STREET Please register at: http://brownstonersofbedfordstuyvesantpropertyfraud.eventbrite.com INVITED PANELISTS INCLUDE: New York State Assembly Member Annette M. Robinson New York City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. and REPRESENTATIVES FROM: New York State Attorney General’s Office Office Of The Brooklyn Borough President Office Of The Brooklyn District Attorney Center For New York City Neighborhoods Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services ➔ P. 3 Bedford-Stuyvesant Real Estate Board Every day, hundreds of our neighbors’ homes are stolen due to deed theft and other forms of property fraud. We can slow this destructive tide by learning how these scams work, and how our elected officials, municipal agencies, and community organizations are fighting back. ☞ INSIDE BUT THE MOST EFFECTIVE WEAPON IS US! COME … LEARN… BE WARNED … TELL A NEIGHBOR Impact of The “Oscar” BRING ALONG AT LEAST ONE OTHER PERSON Foreclosure upon that Rocks .. THIS EVENT IS FREE! Communities of Color ➔ Page 3 Presented by ➔ Page 2 Brownstoners Of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Inc. Where Atlantic Yards In Partnership With New York State Assembly Member Annette M. Robinson Judiciary Changes Choke CBA New York City Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr. Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation Foreclosure System, Hurts Stands Now Bridge Street Development Corporation Homeowners ➔ Page 4 Bedford-Stuyvesant Community Legal Services And ➔ Page 2 Our Time Press Interfaith Medical Center Brooklyn's Best Salutes Honors Black History Kings County’s Finest Here & Now ➔ Page 7 ➔ Page 3 2 OUR TIME PRESS March 3 – 9, 2016 | VOL. 21 NO. 10 Homes Matter!”, which the room joined members of the Legislative Luncheon was in on, Bryan launched into a narrative of a very clear: the foreclosure crisis of the Great Impact of Foreclosures on recent case involving a lender discriminating Recession is not over. Over the next three to against clients in the provisions written into five years, close to $10 billion in commu- Communities of Color their mortgages. Historically, communities nity and family wealth could be transferred of color have been disproportionately im- out of Brooklyn as lenders continue to n Friday, February 19, 2016 the foreclosure crisis, specifically the impact pacted by unfavorable mortgage agreements foreclose on homes and seize property. New York State Foreclosure De- on Brooklyn communities over the past and predatory subprime lending practices, This leads to the threat of displacement for fense Bar (NYSFDB) co-spon- five years. It found that from 2009 to 2015, which have led to higher rates of foreclo- tens of thousands of Brooklynites, which Osored a Legislative Luncheon at Brooklyn nearly half of the TARP funding allocated sure, patterns that persist to the present day. will drastically change the landscape of Law School, led by Congresswoman to support HAMP remains unspent, funding The CEA Program team represents clients neighborhoods that have been predomi- Yvette Clarke (9th Congressional District). which is set to expire in 2016. In addition and helps fight against such discrimination, nantly minority and working class for many The topic of discussion, the “impact of to this, in April 2015 approximately three an increasingly important need given that the years. With the number of judges handling foreclosure upon communities of color”, out of four homeowners had their HAMP vast majority of homeowners facing foreclo- residential mortgage foreclosure cases in was buoyed by a recent report issued on applications denied, which totals to over sure do not have a lawyer. Bryan concluded Brooklyn recently reduced from 25 to 2, and January 27, 2016 by Special Inspector four million people nationwide. the discussion by reinforcing that in order the funding designed to support HAMP set General Christy Goldsmith Romero of the As a member of NYSFDB, David Bryan, to deter financial institutions from taking to expire in 2016, a joint effort among local Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) Director of the Consumer and Economic advantage of homeowners there must be a lawmakers and civil legal service organiza- [1]. The report details the impact that the Advocacy (CEA) Program, attended the clear threat of criminal prosecution in place tions is imperative to ensure that Brooklyn low rate of Home Affordable Modification luncheon and participated in a panel dis- for those that violate the law. homeowners are given a fighting chance to Program (HAMP) approvals has had on the cussion. Starting with a chant of “Black The general consensus from the remain in their homes. on their mortgages. 2013 were in Brooklyn. The percentage of The U.S. Treasury Department sub- Hispanic and black people living in those Judiciary Changes Choke sequently issued detailed guidelines to neighborhoods ranged from 85 percent determine who is eligible to receive a in the vicinity of Cypress Hills and East Foreclosure System, Hurts modification and, if so, in what form and New York to 96 percent in East Flatbush, what amount. Brownsville and nearby neighborhoods. Inspector General Romero also found Good NY Laws–Judicial Enforcement Homeowners that only 22 percent of more than 5 million Spotty ■ By Dan Wise During the course of the meeting at requests for HAMP loan modifications had The new pressure to extract the gold Brooklyn Law School, James rose on sev- been approved as of November 2015. (TARP now present in the distressed assets held by ew York City Public Advocate eral occasions to express dismay over the Report p.97) the likes of HUD, HFA, Fannie Mae and Letitia James cast a harsh spot- way foreclosure cases are being handled A study prepared by the New York State Freddy Mac comes against a backdrop of light on Justice Lawrence S. in Brooklyn and angrily vowed to seek a Foreclosure Defense Bar buttresses the no- bank indifference and intransigence which NKnipel, the administrative judge in charge meeting with him. tion that minority communities in Brooklyn has frustrated the operation of the HAMP of civil cases in Brooklyn Supreme Court, About 70 public officials, homeowners’ have been disproportionately impacted by program, said Jay Inwald, who oversees at a meeting convened Friday under the lawyers and their clients attended the ses- the gentrification process. The foreclosure the foreclosure prevention practice of Legal leadership of Brooklyn Congresswoman sion. The session was presented in conjunc- bar twinned data from the Federal Reserve Services NYC, which has aided 10,500 Yvette Clarke to examine the impact of tion with the New York State Foreclosure Board of New York examining the number limited-income New York City homeowners foreclosures upon communities of color. Defense Bar. of foreclosures in 2013 by zip code with since the HAMP program started in 2009. The message from about a dozen law- 2010 census data on the racial makeup of Inwald noted that New York has very yers and their clients, who were designated 171 zip codes within the state. strong laws designed to help homeowners DBG MEDIA Publishers of as presenters, was clear: the foreclosure The results of that analysis, which was “avoid losing their homes”. Specifically, the Our Time Press, Inc. crisis of the Great Recession is not over. To part of a Powerpoint presentation at the state adopted a law in 2009 which dovetailed 358 Classon Avenue the contrary, the crisis is greater than ever session, shows that four of the 10 zip codes Brooklyn, NY 11238 because government-related entities, such with the highest number of foreclosures in ➔ Continued on page 4 (718) 599-6828 Fax (718) 599-6825 as Fannie Mae, have been selling off huge Web site: www.ourtimepress.com amounts of troubled mortgages at bargain e-mail: [email protected] prices to investors, who, in Brooklyn, are pressing hard for foreclosures so they can Publisher take advantage of rising prices as gentrifi- DBG MEDIA cation in some of its poorer neighborhoods speeds ahead. Editors-in-Chief David J. Bryan, director of economic 432 Monroe Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221 David Mark Greaves advocacy at Brooklyn Legal Service Corp. Bernice Elizabeth Green A, said that Fannie Mae and other like en- Unity’s mission is to empower students as scholars and citizens so they may lead fulfilling tities “will accept the loss of a substantial academic, personal, and professional lives. Senior Reporters portion of the homeowners debt when the Akosua K. Albritton loans are sold to a hedge fund but not to help Apply today at www.unityprep.org for grades 6 - 8! Sports homeowners save their homes.” Eddie Castro “Hedge funds win and Jane Public los- Unity’s key features include: es,” Bryan explained, because, for example w A College Prep Course of Study Office Manager Fannie Mae has rulemaking authority to In 2014-15, Unity ranked #8 w Interventions that Promote Sound Literacy Skills Joanna Williams forgive principal on loans it owns but chose among NYC’s 1,200 w Additional Periods of Math