Foreclosure, New Jersey, Irvington, and What to Do about It

by: David Hungerford

Tue Oct 18, 2011 at 04:41:42 PM EDT

New Jersey is one of the states hardest hit by foreclosure in the country. Irvington is as hard hit as any municipality in the state. We want to do something about it. Let's start with the big picture.

The collapse of the housing bubble began in 2005. First to go was the subprime mortgage market. It all led up to the great financial crisis of 2008.

After that home prices dropped drastically. Now more than ten million mortgages are much higher than current prices, i.e., "underwater." That's because the houses were never really worth what they were sold for.  

The U.S. economy is severely depressed. Don't let them kid you. This is no recession. There has been no recovery. There is no reason to think the consequences of predatory lending are at an end.

Irvington is dead center on all counts. It is a 95% black African American/Haitian/Latino community. Two years ago 9% of all its homes had been foreclosed since 2005. That is more than four times the rate in mostly white census tracts. Linda E. Fisher of Seton Hall Law School says that in black neighborhoods with high subprime lending rates, fraud "was near universal." ("In New Jersey, Dreams of a Better Life Dashed by Foreclosure Crisis," NY Times, 17 MaY 2009)

Banks got bailed out because they are too politically connected to fail. They didn't get all that money because anybody loves them, and it didn't lead to recovery. By the same token home buyers must gain economic justice by their own efforts, i.e., by people power. There will be no recovery until home buyers gain economic justice.

The Coalition to Save Our Homes (C2SOH) says: the financial system created the mortgage mess and it has to take the weight. The mortgage market was rigged, and that happens to be illegal. If a buyer was misled into paying $300,000 for a house that was worth only $180,000, the mortgage must be reduced by $120,000. Sorry, bank, you just got no right to that dough. You have to give the difference back. We are heartily sure Adam Smith would agree. We want NJ Attorney General Paula Dow to agree also and take action to compel a fair market write down of mortgage principals. We are gathering a petition to her.

On Saturday, October 29, 2011 a March and Rally against Foreclosure will be held in Irvington. We want the banks to give the overpricing money back. No principal reduction, no recovery. It's that simple. Join us! Come to the Irvington Bus Terminal at noon for the rally.

The list of speakers and performers is being drawn up. If your organization would like to sponsor and participate contact us at 973-854-7216.

Coalition to Save Our Homes: People's Organization for Progress; NAACP, Irvington Branch; Newark Teachers' Association (NJEA); Residents for a Better Community of Irvington