My Brooklyn Report

After discussing the market for 999 Gates Avenue, Mary Jones was concerned if she would ever be able to sell her house and get out from under her mortgage debt. She had no reason to believe anything discussed would be successful and didn’t have the luxury to test theories offered by another real estate broker. [...]

Desperate times call for desperate measures. With 25% of American homeowners with mortgages underwater, many are considering an option that in the past would have been financial suicide. But as home values continue their decline in New York City, families are seriously thinking about implementing a strategy thought exclusive to the rich and powerful.

In a study by the Pew Research Center, published May 12th 2009, from 1995 to 2008, Black and Hispanic families were more likely to borrow from the Sub Prime markets for a mortgage to finance the purchase of their home. Corresponding to that same period, from 1995 to 2007, was the explosive growth in the issuance [...]

Councilman Vann has served in office long enough to witness his constituents become the target of Ponzi schemes by unsophisticated operatives who have mastered the loopholes in New York City’s deed recording process. And having lived in Bedford Stuyvesant for many years, he’s seen Mortgage Discrimination occur in central Brooklyn in different forms: Redlining in the 70′s and Predatory Lending in the 90′s. Since his re-election, what should we expect from the incumbent?

While we continue to make every effort to bring you a view into the brazen, unapologetic, predatory lending practices that have caused the Foreclosure Crisis in our weekly series, Thursday Perp Walk: Lifestyles of the Charged, Tried and Convicted, your about to see the lengths that Mortgage Lenders and Wall Street went to in the name of GREED. View the video and see how it was done.

The investigative news report at the end of this post by Brian Ross, Chief Investigative Correspondent for ABC News, chronicles the experiences of elderly homeowners faced with the peril of losing their homes. In their attempts to stave off the threat of foreclosure, each homeowner makes earnest attempts to reach the appropriate staff within their [...]

NYC Department of Housing, Preservation and Development has begun implementing it’s plan to use the $24 million dollars received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of the the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. As indicated in the video, the city purchased 7 properties in neighborhoods hard hit by [...]

How much are you being charged for Property Taxes in New York City?

I’m sure the thought has crossed your mind. However, we understand why property tax is collected. It takes a lot of money to run a City that never sleeps.

Property Tax in New York City funds public school education, police and fire protection, emergency services, garbage pick up, public health care and hospital services, roadway and street maintenance, etc…

And while New York City has diverse sources of revenue (Sales Tax, Transfer Tax, Fees, Fines, etc…), its largest source is Property Taxes.

According to an article in the New York Times, Mayor Bloomberg and outgoing Housing and Urban Development Secretary Preston announced at a press conference held at City Hall on January 14th 2009, an initiative to save neighborhoods from the threat of urban blight from foreclosure. New York City will buy 115 homes with a $24 [...]

During 2007, New York City appeared resilient in the face of the national foreclosure crisis experienced in other states and major cities. In California, Nevada and Arizona, the number of homeowners defaulting on sub prime mortgage loans threatened the financial stability of each state.

However, 2009 finds New York City at the place that each of the states mentioned were, back in 2007. And each are in far worst shape than we are today. Which should cause great concern for the prophetic nature their misfortune bodes for New York City as we implement the same measures they attempted.