On the recordJune 10, 2010
I want to quickly recognize the significance of H.R. 5072. This bill will make essential reforms to strengthen the financial footing of the FHA, and it will enhance its authority to go after fraudulent lenders who have preyed on the most vulnerable of borrowers for far too long. Many people have blamed this foreclosure crisis on the borrowers while some individuals, desperate to achieve the American Dream, may have sought to cut corners in the process. Fraudulent and unscrupulous lenders ultimately held the purse strings. These lenders bear a great deal of the burden for the foreclosure crisis, which continues to impact Americans and to devastate communities from coast to coast. Last year, New York City saw a record 20,000 foreclosure filings. According to data compiled by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University, in the first quarter of 2010, there were 4,226 foreclosures across New York City, up 16.3 percent from 2008. Brooklyn alone experienced 1,546 foreclosures in the first quarter of 2010.
