<a href="http://news.bostonherald.com/localPolitics/view.bg?articleid=196834"
Gov. Deval Patrick, burned by an improper call he made on behalf of a predatory lender, yesterday used his clout to help the family of a terminally ill Wayland mother buy some time to stave off foreclosure by the mortgage company.
Phil McKenzie, 50, who is $25,000 behind on his family’s $5,000-per-month mortgage payments to Ameriquest, called the extension until the end of July a “relief.”
(You think the Governor’s press team has improved?)
Seriously, it’s a nice story. And it dovetails well with his new anti-predatory-lending initiatives.
(I changed the headline of this post, which was “An Ameriquest call I can get behind”, which was misleading; Patrick did not in fact call Ameriquest, saying it would have been inappropriate.)
Sorry, no unpaid link.
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Cape Couple Claim Mortgage Deception
March 8, 2007
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BOSTON – In a lawsuit alleging predatory lending, a judge has stopped Ameriquest Mortgage Co. from boosting a Harwich couple’s mortgage payment and prevented the company from foreclosing on their h…
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Others who could not afford court ARE being foreclosed on – a major chunk of the 22,000 foreclosures statewide belong to them.
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Must be nuce to live in the Herald’s coverage area, where Deval will find out about you.
Do you think it was wrong for Governor Patrick to intervene in this case or are you just upset that a Democrat is getting good press?
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Also, I assume that since Ameriquest is “his” company, referring to Deval Patrick, you won’t object again if someone calls Bain Capital Romney’s company.
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I just want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly.
Do you really think, as a matter of policy, it’s a good idea for the Governor to seek favors beyond what the rule-of-law otherwise provides for?
What exactly did the Governor do to break or circumvent the law in this case?
I can’t tell, from the article precisely what the Governor did to intervene. You?
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What I do know, is that Foreclosure is a very stautory and regimented procedure, like say, bankruptcy proceedings: required notices, wait times, means of public notification, etc.
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And, to interupt that statutory process would take the cooperation of the lien holder, who’d otherwise have the ability and own self-interest to proceed were it not for the Governor’s intervention.
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I don’t mean to infer that the Governor broke the law.
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I’m just not sure Governor intervention in a civil matter is such a good idea. For example, if the hospital or credit card companies or you (an unsecured creditor who happened to loan the couple money) are trying to sue the same couple to collect a judgement for the unpaid hospital bills, is it good policy for a Governor–of any state or political party–to intervene? I’m thinking no.
and not terrible policy at the margins.
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for years, menino has hit up CEOs to cough up summer jobs for kids. as a policy matter, those extra jobs aren’t a huge deal. sure, in theory, the extra “tax” when a mayor hits you up for a good cause isn’t textbook gov’t, and i suppose a CEO could try to get a $10 million tax break in return for 20 summer jobs a year. but in real life, not much has happened.
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if you handle politics well, you get a chance at a couple big policy changes, instead of marginal change.
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now menino has chosen to not spend any political capital, ever. bloomberg handles things differently, and pulled off some big reforms.
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i’d like to see the Gov do the politics well enough to be able to take a shot at a few big policy reforms.
Don’t know, just wondering.
between being hit up and then calling in a favor for a favorable zoning board ruling or building permit or making a health inspection report go away, etc. Don’t know, again, just wondering.
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Quick note about favors. I worked a major historic renovation project in Boston. (Let’s just say the name of the building is similar to Charlie’s profession) At one point we were having issues with permits and inspections. A call was made to get some help and the mayor’s office agreed to help if the mayor was honored at the opening night ceremony.
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On another project in Boston, permits were delayed because the condo development was in direct competition for buyers with another development next door. The owner of the development next door was a big donator to the mayor and called in a favor to delay the competing project.
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My point is that deals are struck all the time for “favors” with the mayors office.
of a phone call by the Governor? COr is he going to call for every citizen of the Commonwealth in that situation?
This is a systemic problem, due largely to Ameriquest’s predatory parctices, and if you call picking a Queen for a Day and hitting THEM with your magic money wand good press, well, there are 21,000 other families out there that might not feel so warm and fuzzy about this.
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And when did anyone ever STOP calling Bain ‘Romney’s’ company?
and what great sins has Bain commited to be compared to a predetory lender?
And that’s why he’s introduced a package of reforms to help address the problem.