The State Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts plans a hearing to investigate whether mortgage lenders are abusing the bankruptcy court system and worsening the foreclosure crisis by levying questionable fees on troubled borrowers or improperly moving to seize homes, according to a New York Times article by Gretchen Morgenson.
Angelo Mozilo, chief executive of Countrywide Financial, has been invited to testify by Sen. Charles Schumer, chairman of the committee.
Schumer hopes the hearing will generate legislation intended to protect borrowers. ‘What the hearing is going to show is what an ongoing, awful enterprise some of these companies ran, not just taking advantage of the terms of the mortgage, but when they control the mortgage how they continue to squeeze and squeeze and squeeze,’ he told the New York Times.
