Senator Chuck Schumer loves to hold press conferences on Sundays, whereby he gets decent coverage in near all local newspapers the next day; it has been an effective media strategy. It sure helped him get to the US Senate. The question however is this: after the press leaves are the issues raised eventually resolved? What about the follow-up? Maybe a media outlet would apply some of its resources into researching Schumer’s success rate. And there is a reason why I say this.
I have lived in New York for the past 35 years, and it seems to me that every year or two, some politician, news outlet, university or think-tank, comes up with some study showing how blacks and Hispanics get screwed by mortgage brokers, real estate folks, insurers or banks. No kidding. And I recall Senator Schumer holding quite a few of his Sunday press conferences, to highlight this and other ancillary problems over the years.
Then yesterday it was announced that New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo had secured nine hundred thousand dollars in restitution, for 270 black and Hispanic homeowners, who were ripped off by higher charges, fees (some hidden) and rates, by Green Point Brokers -a subsidiary of Capital One Financial Corp.
Cuomo claims to have used information developed through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, in order to bring Green Point to the bargaining table. He says to expect more developments in this area. It is expected that Cuomo will go after other companies who practice this type of racial discrimination on a daily basis. Score one for Andrew Cuomo. This is long overdue.
Stay tuned-in folks.