By Philip Newman
“We are going to fight back and demand restructuring loans,” said Jackson, who addressed a jammed City Council chamber at City Hall on the weekend.Jackson said he had called for a demonstration march on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Renewal in Washington Jan. 22.The occasion was a City Council Speak Out meeting where speakers and those in danger of losing their homes used words such as “conned,” “predatory,” “trickery” and “deceived.”City Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans) presided at the Speak Out and James Sanders (D-Laurelton) also took part in the proceedings.Several city homeowners threatened with eviction from their homes as the result of the foreclosures recounted their plights.Maggie Larkins, 51, of the East New York section of Brooklyn, broke down and wept as she told of her long struggle to avoid eviction.”My health has deteriorated, but I am still fighting to keep a roof over my children's heads,” said Larkins, who slowly walked into the Council chamber supported by women on both sides who held her arms.Larkins said she got a year's delay in her eviction date after a man sent to evict her was arrested. “He had to go to court, but I don't know what happened to him,” she said.When Ray Dawkins of the Canarsie section of Brooklyn mentioned that his monthly adjustable rate mortgage skyrocketed from $3,300 to $5,800 and gasps erupted from the audience. Dawkins said his lenders told him he needed no lawyer in applying for a loan, adding that if even he did, their lawyer would take over.”This is the most grave economic crisis of our time,” Jackson said of the subprime debacle.Subprime lending refers to loans given to borrowers who do not qualify for market interest rates because of poor credit or an inability to prove they have sufficient income to make monthly payments on a loan.U.S. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) sat with Council members at the forum.”This is the most critical financial crisis since the savings and loan collapse of the 1980s,” Conyers said. “We are going to do something about it. We are going to call in a few of these lenders and have a talk with them.”He also had words for the presidential candidates.”And to all these would-be presidents,” Conyers said, “you better start talking about how you are going to deal with one of the worst crises in our history.”John Taylor of the National Community Reinvestment Council said the subprime crisis already has caused the loss of 10 times the number of homes lost during Hurricane Katrina.”Greed and malfeasance are largely to blame,” Taylor said. “Twenty-four states have no laws against predatory lending and President Bush doesn't get it.”Terry Allen of Hollis, Queens said he managed to survive his own subprime with help from the association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, a housing advocacy agency.Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Sstirling@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 136
