Obama shields ACORN from Criminal Prosecution in the Economic Crisis

[darrels joy]

Not only did Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign pay more than U.S. $800,000 to a front of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, Now, ACORN, currently under investigation in a dozen States for voter registration fraud and bribery schemes, for “get-out-the-vote-efforts”; Obama co-sponsored legislation called the “Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2007”-- that was supported by ACORN and protects them.

Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act, S.2136, was introduced in the Senate by Illinois Senator Richard Durbin over a year ago, on October 3, 2007. It was co-sponsored, by Obama and 12 other Democrats, including Vice Presidential hopeful, Joe Biden, and Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd.

According to a Senate transcript, Durbin stated: “It is true that some families knowingly stretched a bit to buy more house than they should have. But many families were sold mortgages they couldn’t afford by unscrupulous brokers... This bill is supported by the AARP, ACORN, AFL-CIO and SEIU, the Center for Responsible Lending, the Consumer Federation of America, NAACP and La Raza, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition…”

Why would groups like ACORN, who according to Stanley Kurtz’s “O Dangerous Pals” undermined “the US economy by pushing the banking system into a sinkhole of bad loans…. by forcing banks to make hundreds of millions of dollars in “subprime” loans to often un-creditworthy poor and minority customers…” support this legislation? Perhaps because it provides Chapter 13 Bankruptcy protections to homeowners who didn’t have the means to buy homes, and it protects people who put those borrowers into these high-risk mortgages.

Durbin’s bill, co-sponsored by Obama, “amends federal bankruptcy law to permit a bankruptcy plan to: modify a [mortgage] secured by the principal residence of a chapter 13 debtor...” It “exempts” them “from the requirement for credit counseling if… that debtor…has been scheduled” for foreclosure. The credit counseling typically distinguishes debtors who, for instance, because of unforeseen medical bills have no alternatives but bankruptcy, from debtors who’ve recklessly or ruthlessly bought homes they couldn’t afford because, according to the Federal Trade Commission, it evaluates a person’s financial situation and discusses alternatives to avoid filing bankruptcy. If this bill becomes law, the “certificate of completion” a debtor receives after the credit counseling process would be waived. Anyone, with a single home, could file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

One benefit for filing Chapter 13 is a person is protected from creditors and allowed to keep their real estate and personal property. Another advantage is some debts are discharged that otherwise wouldn’t be under other Bankruptcy Chapters, such as fraud judgments.

Under Chapter 13, the monthly payments are determined by the amount a debtor can afford after paying normal living expenses. That amount is dispersed among their creditors typically “over 3-years” but no more than “5-years.” At the end, the debtor is discharged from their debts, regardless of how much their creditors were paid and the remaining debt is sloughed off eventually underwritten by taxpayers.

This bill goes further than what Obama or Sen. John McCain have proposed to keep homeowners in their homes because it also protects the middle men.

Notice now, another key reason why groups like ACORN support this legislation because it: “Prohibits the court from allowing a claim that is subject to any remedy for damages or rescission due to failure to comply with the Truth in Lending Act or any other state or federal consumer protection law.”

The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) was designed to create “economic stabilization and competition by informed use of credit by consumers (emphasis added).” Under TILA the law also applies “to persons who are not creditors but who provide applications for home equity plans to consumers.” This bill absolves organizations of any guilt or culpability under TILA; perhaps the same organizations who intimidated and bullied banks into providing risky loans to unqualified borrowers like ACORN.

If this legislation does not pass, then these “persons who are not creditors,” could face “criminal penalties” for “willful and knowing violations of TILA,” which could result in a “fine of $5,000, imprisonment for up to one year, or both.”

But there’s more. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reportedly found that “five million illegal aliens hold illegal mortgages.” Who arranged these illegal mortgages?

The Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act is not unique legislation that helps community organizers, and other special interest outreach groups, like ACORN. As reported here Obama’s Citizenship Promotion Act “organizes the immigrant community” by using U.S. $80 million taxpayer dollars for outreach programs targeted at immigrants and future voters.

No wonder ACORN has close ties and endorses some politicians. Durbin’s “Helping Families Save their Homes in Bankruptcy Act,” co-sponsored by Obama, was referred to the Senate Judiciary.
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/5548
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S. 2136: Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2008
A bill to address the treatment of primary mortgages in bankruptcy, and for other purposes.



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Overview
Sponsor: Sen. Richard Durbin [D-IL]show cosponsors (13)
Cosponsors [as of 2008-09-27]
Sen. Joseph Biden [D-DE]
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D-CA]
Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-OH]
Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-NY]
Sen. Christopher Dodd [D-CT]
Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
Sen. Thomas Harkin [D-IA]
Sen. John Kerry [D-MA]
Sen. Robert Menéndez [D-NJ]
Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]
Sen. John Reed [D-RI]
Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse [D-RI]
Cosponsorship information sometimes is out of date. Why?
Bill Text: Summary | Full Text
Status: Introduced Oct 3, 2007
Reported by Committee Jul 29, 2008
Voted on in Senate -
Voted on in House -
Signed by President -

This bill was considered in committee which has recommended it be considered by the Senate as a whole. Although it has been placed on a calendar of business, the order in which bills are considered and voted on is determined by the majority party leadership. Keep in mind that sometimes the text of one bill is incorporated into another bill, and in those cases the original bill, as it would appear here, would seem to be abandoned. [Last Updated: Sep 26, 2008]
Last Action: Sep 26, 2008: By Senator Leahy from Committee on the Judiciary filed written report. Report No. 110-514. Minority views filed.
…………………
SEC. 205. DISALLOWING CLAIMS FROM VIOLATIONS OF CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS.
Section 502(b) of title 11, United States Code, is amended--
(1) in paragraph (8), by striking `or'‘or’ at the end;
(2) in paragraph (9), by striking the period at the end and inserting `; or'‘; or’; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
`‘(10) the claim is subject to any remedy for damages or rescission due to failure to comply with any applicable requirement under the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), or any other provision of applicable State or Federal consumer protection law that was in force when the noncompliance took place, notwithstanding the prior entry of a foreclosure judgment.'.’.
←→Calendar No. 911
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 2136
A BILL
To address the treatment of primary mortgages in bankruptcy, and for other purposes.

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July 29 (legislative day, July 28), 2008
Reported with an amendment