Affordable Housing
Legislation to Stem Foreclosures in Illinois

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More than 3 million people are expected to lose their homes as a result of the mortgage crisis – more than at any time since the Great Depression.  The personal and economic devastation on families and neighborhoods is unparalleled.  Based on my prosecution of hundreds of predatory mortgage cases and my review of hundreds more of these transactions, I understand that the vast majority who now find themselves in subprime loans whose terms they cannot afford are responsible, honest, hardworking people who were victims of predatory lending practices and had no idea, at the time, that they were being put into unaffordable loans; rather, it was the lenders and brokers - not the borrowers - that usually perpetrated fraud, deception, discrimination and/or other illegal acts practices.  While the housing crisis has affected people of every race and class, it has affected families of color disproportionately; for years subprime lenders have specially targeted them with more costly loans. 

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of homeowners are getting relief under the President’s Home Affordability Modification Program (HAMP).  Because the bankruptcy “cram down” provision failed in the U.S. Senate earlier this year – had it passed, it would have allowed bankruptcy courts to reduce loan principal, which in turn would have would have pressured loan servicers and holders to give much deeper loan modifications under HAMP - there is now no government program under which the majority of borrowers can get substantial relief.  Recent changes to predatory lending laws will not help people whose loans predated the changes in the law.

The quality of justice currently available to pro se borrowers in Illinois is poor.   Judges are overwhelmed with mortgage foreclosure cases; their main concern is docket control.  When the homeowner does not have a lawyer to defend or prosecute her side of the case, there is little or nothing that even a sympathetic judge can do.  Most people cannot afford to hire a private lawyer, federally-funded legal assistance serves only a small percentage of homeowners, and few private attorneys are trained and knowledgeable in predatory lending laws.  Nevertheless, the courts can still provide a forum in which the homeowner can get justice, save the family home, and wind up with a significantly smaller new loan or a loan modification on affordable terms - if she/he has a lawyer who is affordable and trained in predatory mortgage lending law.  In fact, the court system is now homeowners’ best hope.   

With that reailty in mind, I will soon unveil legislation that I would introduce as State Senator to address the foreclosure crisis. My proposed program is modeled, in part, on my successful private law practice, which focuses exclusively on predatory mortgage lending cases.

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