Politicians Making Foreclosure A Primary Issue

January 29th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure

The Rev. Jesse Jackson was joined by congressional candidate Donna F. Edwards in a strident call for more action in favour of house owners facing foreclosures. He is also actively supported by Rep. Albert R. Wynn (Maryland, D). Wynn has been a congressman for 8 times and is being challenged by Edwards in the 12^th February primary.

According to official figures Prince George ranks first in foreclosures in Maryland. Montgomery County is not far behind. Thus the real estate market has become a prime issue amongst politicians in Maryland.

Wynn is facing a stiff challenge from lawyer Edwards. In 2006 the latter came to within 3% points to defeating Wynn. In 2006 Edwards had been critical about Wynn supporting force against Iraq.

Political Science professor Ron Walters from Maryland University opines that the previous presidential election centred on war but today the main point is economy. Whoever has a good suggestion to stem the tide of foreclosures has a better chance to win.

Wynn is pressing for legislation that would prevent foreclosures from staining the credit history of the victims. He also wants tax relief for those whose houses are being seized and increase in the powers of the Federal Housing Administration to be able to give loans to those who want to buy houses.

Edwards has called for a ban on foreclosure of houses for some years. This would provide time for the borrowers to modify the mortgage for more affordable terms. She also stresses that the government should have more control over the lenders. Her contention is that this point Wynn is avoiding. She argues that from the very start Congress should not have allowed the peddling of such disastrous loans. In 2005 Wynn had cast a vote in favour of a legislation that has made it more difficult to file bankruptcy. This has adversely affected the foreclosure victims who could have benefited by taking the help of bankruptcy laws. Edwards repeated mentions this point about the bill and also accuses Edwards of having accepted contributions for campaign from credit card companies as well as banks – groups that were very much interested in the passage of the bill. She squarely blames Wynn for the increasing number of foreclosures. There should have been a clause in the bill allowing for modification for those filing for bankruptcy, she further argued. Other candidates are also making foreclosures an issue.