(NNPA)—Affluence is no antidote to foreclosure.
In Prince George’s County, Maryland—one of the United States’ wealthiest majority-Black jurisdictions — the foreclosure crisis has hammered several solidly middle-class communities. These include Perrywood, a neighborhood of two-story homes near the county seat in Upper Marlboro; Marleigh in Bowie, where the local homeowners association mows the lawns of foreclosed residences that the banks don’t maintain; and Fairwood, where the median income is $170,000, according to the U.S. Census.
“They didn’t understand what it meant to take out a second mortgage, to refinance or to receive a subprime loan, they just made purchases,” said Bob Ross, president of the NAACP chapter in Prince George’s County. “So when the bubble burst, they were stuck.”
NAACP New York State Conference economic development chair Garry Anthony Johnson calls foreclosures “an epidemic” for people of color.
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