A few months back, when the Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act was passed and about to be signed by Corzine, some prominent NJ republicans didn?t hold back on their views that this won?t help NJ families, even taking a potshot at Governor Corzine in the process:One overall skeptical Republican was state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth).
?The governor and others will tout the bills as major reform efforts,? said Kyrillos, who resisted all but one of the stimulus bills.
The bottom line, in Kyrillos? view, is the bills won?t stimulate the economy, and his colleague, state Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen), agreed.
?I think the stimulus package is well-intentioned by people who don?t understand point one of economics,? Cardinale said. ?I will put Corzine in that category, unfortunately. I thought Corzine, being a successful person, on Wall Street business, would understand business. But, as we?ve now seen, Wall Street firms don?t understand business, and neither does the governor.?
Well, I wonder how they will react to this news that came out today (emphasis mine): Foreclosure filings fell about 40 percent last month in New Jersey, compared with February 2008, as lenders adjusted to a new state law aimed at helping homeowners in distress, RealtyTrac reported Wednesday.
At the same time, foreclosure filings were up 30 percent nationwide.
About one in every 1,067 Garden State households received some foreclosure filing last month, compared with one in every 440 nationwide. In Bergen County, one in every 1,596 households received a filing; in Passaic, the number was one in every 632 households; in Hudson, one in every 1,544; and Morris, one in every 1,884.
Daren Blomquist, an analyst with RealtyTrac, said that the drop in foreclosure activity in New Jersey may be a result of the Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act, which was signed by Governor Corzine in January.
Putting this in further perspective, as recent as last October, NJ home foreclosure rates were 1 out of every 410 households, and now the monthly totals are close to 1/3 of those from a few months ago. In fact, the foreclosure rates were 8,658 in September 2008, 8,473 in October 2008, 5,582 in November 2008, 3,865 in December 2008, 5,005 in January 2009 and 3,279 in February.
So, republicans were very quick to jump all over this, and now that NJ (which now has lower foreclosure rates than the rest of the country after being in the top 10 last year), and there was a 40% decrease from this time last year in NJ foreclosures at a time when the rest of the country saw an increase of 30%. The issue is really a basic one, and one that too many don?t seem to grasp ? if you stay in your home, that benefits you. That benefits the community as there are less houses sold (at lower prices) or foreclosed on, also dragging down the overall property values in their communities. Oh yeah, and more people out of their homes means more homelessness which means more crime.
As for the other ?don?t bite off more than you can chew? argument, which is nonsensical to begin with, it too shows a complete lack of understanding of (1) the foreclosure process, (2) the impact it has on lenders as well as homeowners and (3) is patently false when it comes to this particular Act. According to some basic information on the Act itself and the requirements: To qualify for assistance, a homeowner?s household income may not exceed 120 percent of the area median household income or the HMFA?s Mortgage Program income limits, which vary by County, but are as high as $135,380. The lender must agree to write the mortgage down to the current value of the home. Homeowners who accept program assistance are required to participate in agency approved household budget counseling sessions.
So basically, we are talking about many lower to middle income families in the first place ? the same ?middle class? that the republican party keeps throwing under the bus while saying is being squeezed by Corzine and NJ Democrats. Well, as usual, facts and reality don?t enter into play when it comes to a cheap shot or sound bite. I?m sure these same families would rather have been kicked out of their houses ? just as these republicans would have had it if they got their way on this Act. |
