Schumer, Klein call for crackdown on
`unethical' lenders
3:06 PM EDT, August 26, 2007
NEW YORK - State and federal lawmakers are
calling for a crackdown on unscrupulous
mortgage firms, saying that "predatory"
lending practices have fed a growing national
wave of foreclosures affecting millions of
people with subprime home mortgages.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., issued a study
showing foreclosures in New York City's five
boroughs are up by 80 percent since February,
indicating, he said, that the city "is now in
the full throes of the subprime foreclosure
meltdown."
Despite that credit crisis, some mortgage
companies continue advertising that entices
homebuyers with misleading loan offers,
Schumer told a news conference on Sunday.
Banks should not be offering these loans and
sucking more New York homebuyers and
homeowners into taking on more debt attached
to a sky high interest rate," Schumer told a
news conference. "But judging by the way
lenders are still pushing misleading,
deceptive and expensive mortgages, you'd
never know there is a crisis."
Schumer also said some lenders apparently are
using accounting standards that lock
borrowers into agreements without opportunity
to refinance, despite a recent Securities and
Exchange Commission directive against the
practice.
Separately, State Sen. Jeff Klein, a Democrat
whose district includes parts of the Bronx
and Westchester, issued a detailed survey
that showed foreclosures "rising at an
alarming rate" indicating that statewide
foreclosures in 2007 will be 60 percent
higher than a year ago....
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