Spano calls for a 90-day freeze on foreclosures
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- November
- 26
Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano recently sent letters to 23 area banks asking them to voluntarily implement a 90-day freeze on future foreclosures as the housing slowdown worsens in the region.
Spano took the action with statistics showing that there were 2,431 foreclosure filings and judgments in Westchester during the last year, an increased of 58.7 percent over a year earlier.
In the letters, Spano said that the national housing crisis, the downturn on Wall Street and a troubled economy is hurting area families.
“I strongly urge your bank to take immediate action to help homeowners stay in their homes in Westchester County,” Spano said in his letter. “…Rising mortgage defaults only exacerbate the credit crisis and are in no one’s best interests, including the banking system.”
Spano said that sevearl banks on the national level, inlcuding Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup, have announced programs to try to help modify problem mortgages. Each of those three banks has branches in the region.
Spano called for banks “to the fullest extent possible, negotiate agreements that will keep people in their homes.”
The state also has tried to slow the pace of foreclosures. In August, New York Gov. David Paterson signed legislation aimed at heading off new foreclosures against subprime borrowers whose credit is less than perfect. Among other things, it required lenders to notify borrowers at least 90 days before starting a proceeding, so both sides have time to work out problems before the need for legal action.
Gary Brown, county director of consumer protection, said that the state law had its limitations because it only addressed high-cost loans and not the conventional loans that also are having problems.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 12:21 pm by Jay Loomis.
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