House Proceeding 03-16-09 on Mar 16th, 2009 :: 0:44:35 to 0:54:50
Total video length: 2 hours 35 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:150 Duration: 0:10:15 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

0:44:35 to 0:44:56( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: i would now like to yield to the gentlewoman from new york, ms. clarke. ms. clarke: mr. speaker, i first want to thank the gentlewoman from ohio for her leadership in organizing this congressional black caucus

0:44:35 to 0:54:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Yvette Clarke

0:44:57 to 0:45:18( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: special order this evening. i'd also like to thank representative fudge for her -- for yielding so that i may discuss how for closures are adversely affecting so many -- foreclosures are adversely affecting so many african-american communities, communities in my district and throughout the country. i also want to commend her for her leadership role in organizing us around the issues

0:45:19 to 0:45:39( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: that have been of such concern and are so critical to the strength and the underpinning of the communities that the members of the congressional black caucus represent. let me start by joining my chairwoman, congresswoman barbara lee of california, in calling for the moratorium or

0:45:40 to 0:46:01( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: mortgage foreclosures. tonight, i rise as a member of the 11th congressional district to state how foreclosures have d individuals that i represent. first, there's mr. ferguson. mr. ferguson is an 86-year-old

0:46:02 to 0:46:23( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: retiree from crown heights, brooklyn. he worked for more than 20 years as a chef at the long island college hospita in 1975 he bought a three story brownstone in my district. this man would grow tomatoes

0:46:24 to 0:46:44( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: and a sort of spinach, in his -- spinach in his garden, and according to his daughter, would love to give this -- give the excess to his neighbors and friends at no cost as he would cook the rest of it. around three years ago a mortgage broker told mr. ferguson at the age of 83 a new

0:46:45 to 0:47:07( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: $450,000 option adjustable rate mortgage that would almost certainly put his home into foreclosure. mr. ferguson had no attorney present at the time during the closing and believed he had made a good deal. to make matters worse, mr. ferguson had dimensionia, a condition he was diagnosed with

0:47:08 to 0:47:30( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: in 2005 and had only his socia security and a pension as sources of income. so this gentleman of jamaican descent could easily forget to make a mortgage payment that would balloon to such a frightening amount that it would be insurmountable to pay back. mr. ferguson is a victim of

0:47:31 to 0:47:51( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: predatory lending and now he may lose his home. low income, elderly people are experiencing widespread theft of their equity. elderly people are simply more susceptible to abusive

0:47:52 to 0:48:13( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: predatory lending practices. . the money has been easy to find and the elderly can be induced into losing equity in their homes and becoming homeless

0:48:14 to 0:48:37( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: through predatory lending, foreclosure rescue plans and estate planning. the mortgage foreclosure crisis has had a pro found impact on our seniors. this is the month of march and it's women's history month, i thought it would be good to share the impact of this crisis

0:48:38 to 0:48:58( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: on the women of our nation. by 2010, women will head almost 28% of all households in this nation. families living in poverty in 2001, 50.9% were women-headed

0:48:59 to 0:49:23( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: households, with no spouse present. but, in fact, thpremmed douse growth in the number of women still filing for bankruptcy shows that economic instability for women reaches also into the middle class. unmarried women accounted for 30% of the growth in homeowners

0:49:24 to 0:49:46( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: from 1994 to 2002. women account for a larger share of the subprime loans than of prime loans. women are particularly vulnerable to predatory lenders. women are particularly vulnerable to financial hardship.

0:49:47 to 0:50:07( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: ol older women are at greater risk. older women may be open to promises of ready cash if they live on modest fixed incomes that do not cover property tax increases, necessary home repairs and unanticipated medical expenses.

0:50:08 to 0:50:30( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: women are especially susceptible to financial hardship. i want to share with you now one of the stories of another one of my constituents. her name is ms. brickhouse.

0:50:31 to 0:50:52( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: she is a gray-haired, soviet-spoken women and is a victim of mortgage fraud and now may have to put her home and may now have her home put into foreclosure, too. she turned to what she believed to be a home rescue firm, who then secretly sold her home and

0:50:53 to 0:51:13( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: added $150,000 of fraudulent mortgage debt. this retired city parks department worker said in a recent "new york times" article, and i quote, i'm going to drown in debt. i feel like it's just a matter of time until i'm out on the street with my children.

0:51:14 to 0:51:34( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: however, these stories are not irregular in my district. african-american seniors in new york and all across this nation are at risk of losing mes they worked so hard for decades to someday acquire full equity of their property. but at this moment, some are

0:51:35 to 0:51:57( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: facing homelessness. mr. speaker, just listen to the alarming number. according to the federal reserve bank of new york, by the fall of 2007, one in four homeowners with subprime mortgages lived in neighborhoods in my district, such as crown heights, and these

0:51:58 to 0:52:22( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: mortgages were foreclosed. in 2008, federal data reported that there are 5,861 foreclosures in brooklyn alone. and the center for responsible lending projected in 2009, there will be 435 foreclosures in my district and within the next four years, that number will

0:52:23 to 0:52:43( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: rise to 1,448. communities as the ones i just mentioned as well as others throughout the nation collectively lost $92 billion in wealth over the last eight years resulting from predatory lending practices within the subprime mortgage crisis. for those reasons, mr. speaker,

0:52:44 to 0:53:06( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: i intend to introduce legislation. my bill is entitled the foreclosure prevention act of 2009. this bill will provide funding to the national neighborhood works association for mortgage foreclosure mitigation activities. neighbor works has been instrumental in partnering with

0:53:07 to 0:53:28( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: the state of new york agencies not only to provide partnerships , but they also provide foreclosure counseling that could somey help predatory victims like mr. furnishing uson and ms. brickhouse.

0:53:29 to 0:53:49( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: i recently voted for legislation to hell families save their homes that allows for mortgage modification and i supportf the model that has pioneered an approach that with some

0:53:50 to 0:54:11( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: limitations would strengthen incentives to prevent foreclosures and greatly the numbers of successful loan modification. i commend president obama and his administration for their going efforts to mitigate the damage and assist our families in staying in their homes.

0:54:12 to 0:54:33( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: but we must also look at ways to advocate for legal reform that would prevent the elderly from losing their homes. so i urge my colleagues tonight to work together with the c.b.c. to take the lead in addressing the foreclosure crisis and more important, mit get the racial disparities of predatory

0:54:34 to 0:54:50( Edit History Discussion )

Yvette Clarke: leapeding and its impact on african-american seniors. i want to thank you again, my colleague, and the leader of this special order, congresswoman fudge from the 11th congressional district of ohio for being a beacon of light