Boro Pres Merkowitz Throws Support Behind Legislation Protecting Homeowners

BROOKLYN, NY — On March 7, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined Assemblymember Jim Brennan (D-Bklyn), Senator Frank Padavan (R-Queens), Queens Borough President Helen Marshall and Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of ACORN, at a Brooklyn Borough Hall press conference announcing foreclosure moratorium legislation. The bill would place a one-year moratorium on foreclosure and give at-risk homeowners a chance to work with lenders to find fair and equitable ways to restructure their loans and protect their homes.

According to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York report, one in four sub-prime borrowers in Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant/Crown Heights neighborhoods lost their homes after being lured into mortgages they couldn’t afford. Every week, 200 homeowners in Queens and 150 homeowners in Brooklyn are entering the foreclosure process, according to Profiles Publications, which tracks foreclosures in the five boroughs.

“Many of our residents worked hard to achieve the American Dream, only to have that dream turn to ruin because of predatory lending, mortgage fraud and re-set mortgage payments that double, triple, or even quadruple in value,” said Borough President Markowitz. “We must do everything in our power to help our constituents save their homes from foreclosure—and I believe that New York can lead the way.”

As of March 7, the bill had 71 Assembly sponsors and 19 Senate sponsors.