The federal government gives the investment house Bear Stearns a bailout that’s starting at $30 billion, Chairman and Chief Executive James Cayne has been reduced to his last $64 million worth of stock and releases tens of billions in credit dollars to banks to help them through the housing catastrophe the country is sinking into.
Bedford-Stuyvesant is only two miles from Wall Street, but here homeowners cannot depend on the government to protect them from the risks they’ve been led into by the mortgage schemes put in place by the very system being bailed out. In Bed-Stuy there are no multibillion-dollar rescue packages and homeowners have to depend on their neighbors, walking door-to-door, to alert them to financial problems occurring in addition to subprime foreclosures: tax liens and water liens on property that will also lead down that foreclosure road.
“There are 1,317 names on the list of liens in Bedford-Stuyvesant,” said Renee Turner-Gregory, president of the Brownstoners of Bedford-Stuyvesant, and it was again time for the Brownstoners to knock on doors. Ms. Gregory was speaking at a meeting of Block Association presidents, pastors and Imams at a meeting called together by Community Board President Brenda Fryson and the Community Board Civic Committee, to spread the word on their blocks and in their congregations about help that’s available in the lien crisis. “Starting about six to seven years ago, the Brownstoners began going out and informing their neighbors that their names were on the list.” Ms. Gregory says the group fields some 200 volunteers in their now annual door-to-door effort.
Tammi Aikens, of Bridge Street Development Corporation, told the assembled community leaders that on April 23 the Departments of Finance and of Environmental Protection will be at Boys &Girls High School. This has also become a yearly event, resulting from the combined efforts of Councilman Al Vann, the Brownstoners, Bridge Street Development Corporation and others to help homeowners out of lien trouble. “It is the day to come and rectify your situation,” said Ms. Aiken. “They will have computers connected to the Department of Finance and the DEP (dept. of Environmental Protection), and they will be able to straighten out homeowner accounts.”
In answer to a question about foreclosures and city policy, Brenda Fryson said, “The City sells the debt you owe, not your property.” She said the new lien holder then, in effect, becomes a collection agency. The process starts off with a 5 percent fee and they add 18.5 percent interest after that. At the end of six months or a year, then the foreclosure process begins.
Patrick Giagnacova, director of Ombudsman Unit at DEP said that, “As long as you enter into an agreement, they cannot sell the lien, but April 22nd is the last day to make a payment arrangement. He said he can offer 10 percent down and a 60-month payment schedule.
Ms. Fryson said that seniors were exempt and disabled persons should file for a disabled or handicapped listing. Also, those on Social Security are eligible for special tax consideration. Mr. Giagnacova also noted that property tax exemption does not mean a water tax exemption. Storefront churches with rental units could find themselves with water tax bills they had not expected. He also cautioned that, “If you die without a will, the persons living in the house have no position to stand on without paperwork.”
This kind of information, as well access to the homeowners’ account, will be available on April 23, Boys and Girls High School, 1700 Fulton Street, 5-9 p.m.
