Desolation on Liberty St. in Trenton
Trenton. She first hesitates to give her name. In the darkness of Conte’s Saloon, a bar on Liberty Street in Trenton, Marcia (Photo Andy Kropa) finally agrees to share the story of her struggle to avoid a foreclosure, in order to help her “fellow Americans in a similar situation”. “They have to know, that they can get help”, she says staring at her glass of cranberry juice. Next to her, her boyfriend Harold nods. Marcia almost lost her house she bought for $60,000 fifteen years ago, because she could not pay her mortgage. “My husband got hurt in 1999, she says. He lost his foot and we fell behind. We could not catch up”. Ten years ago, she struck a forbearance agreement with her mortgage company. That is when the trap snapped closed. Marcia’s husband since died and last year her problem grew worse. “The mortgage company told me they wanted $850 per month but suddenly raised my payment to $1400 per month”, she adds. “In November, they put up my house for sale as if it was in foreclosure. I was almost at a point, where I was ready to let it go”. A phone call to Trenton City Hall, saved her in mid-January. In the predominantly black city of 85,000 people, which has struggled with drugs, crime and unemployment, mayor Douglas Palmer has set up a task force to help people like Marcia. This coalition of nonprofit organizations such as the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA), of faith-based organizations and mortgage lenders, works with homeowners hit hard by the subprime crisis in the U.S. “NACA helped restructure my mortgage”, says Marcia, an employee at the New Jersey Department of Treasury for the past 20 years. “They gave me a fixed 5,5% rate. Mine used to be 9,85%. That is a big difference”. Marcia was lucky. Outside Conte’s Saloon, many houses on Liberty Street are vacant. Sales signs try to lure improbable buyers, while locks have been placed on the doors to try to scare off vandals. Trenton Police has reported a rise in copper pipe thefts around the city. “It used to be a good neighborhood”, says Sherry on the steps of her mother’s home on Liberty St. “I used to go to school here but this place is not safe any more”, she adds. Sherry is now trying to sell her mother’s house. “But with all these foreclosed and empty homes, it is difficult to find a buyer”. In the last two years, the number of foreclosures has doubled in Trenton. In 2007, more than 600 properties in the New Jersey capital were in pre-foreclosure or in foreclosure. In the comfortable living room of his home, mayor Douglas Palmer sighs. “We have not fully realized the economic impact of the mortgage crisis on our budget, he says. We want to be proactive and show people there is no shame in trying to save your home. Losing your house is the worst thing you can ever lose. And this foreclosure crisis is devastating the whole country”. Many U.S. cities have been hit hard. The cities of Baltimore and Cleveland have sued banks, seeking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars for lost property tax revenue. “Mayors are going to do whatever they can do, but a lawsuit is not something I am contemplating for Trenton right now”, Palmer adds. Foreclosure has become a priority for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, of which Douglas Palmer is president and which is holding a meeting in Washington on January 23-25. The first black mayor of Trenton want his colleagues to help him put pressure on the mortgage companies and make them stop what he calls their “predatorial lending activities.” He also wants the Bush administration to step up its efforts to help homeowners. “Right now, the Bush only offers help to people, who have met their mortgage payments, Douglas Palmer adds. But people needing urgent help, are the ones who have fallen behind”. Meanwhile, the mortgage crisis keeps taking its toll on Americans. On Saturday January 19, the Trentonian reported that Walter Buczynski allegedly killed his wife on January 18 before committing suicide. The 59-year old man from Evesham, New Jersey, was a top executive at a recently bankrupted subprime mortgage company. A French version of this story was published on January 21 2008 in 24heures and Tribune de Genève in Switzerland. CommentsYou must be logged in to post a comment. |
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