The foreclosure beast has a steady grip on Cook County homeowners. From January 1 to May 31 this year, 17,508 mortgage foreclosure cases were filed in the county. In the same period last year, 11,293 were filed, according to the Cook County Circuit Court
“We know there is a serious problem,” said Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, after a nine-month investigation led to the state filing suit against Countrywide Financial, the country’s largest mortgage financier, for deceptive and unfair lending practices. Madigan said in May that 9,670 foreclosures were filed in Illinois, and an estimated one million homes in the country are currently in foreclosure.
“There was clearly a pattern of unfairness, a pattern of deception,” Madigan said. She wants a 90-day freeze on foreclosures so her office can review suspect home loans and try to modify them. The goal she said, is to keep homeowners in their homes.
“Three million in the United States are at least one payment behind in their mortgages, and an estimated 2.5 million will lose their homes during this foreclosure crisis,” Madigan said Saturday at a news conference at the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition. Roseland resident Elmira Hunter hopes she won’t fall into the foreclosed category. Hunter, who is recovering from a kidney transplant, is having a difficult time keeping up with her adjustable rate mortgage that is in her late husband’s name. “Our mortgage started out at $1,600. Then it went up to $1,900. Now it’s going up to $2,400. I’m now behind with my mortgage and haven’t been able to catch up,” Hunter said, standing next to Madigan and Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Hunter is one of too many that have fallen prey to subprime loans, Jackson said, and asked for U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to support a proposal that halt a half-million foreclosures in the United States. Frank, who attended PUSH’s annual conference, said a foreclosure affects more than just the subjected homeowner.
It affects all the homes on the block and subsequently the neighborhood. “These are hardworking, decent people who made a mistake. They listened to deceptive advice,” Frank said, of the many homeowners victimized by unscrupulous lenders. Frank is lobbying for a bill that would stop 500,000 foreclosures by helping homeowners get lower rates on refinanced mortgages.
Madigan suggested that homeowners call her office or the city’s Dept. of Housing at 311, when they have problems with their mortgage. “There is no embarrassment in this. You have to speak up,” Madigan said.
______ Copyright 2008 Chicago Defender. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
About Post Author
