(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green and Assembly Deputy Speaker Gary Schaer released the following statements Wednesday after their committees jointly examined the Christie administration’s failure to help more families facing foreclosure.
New Jersey has the nation’s second highest foreclosure rate, but the Christie administration has been slow to help families with $300 million in federal foreclosure aid given to the state.
Green (D-Union/Middlesex/Somerset), chairman of the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee:
“The Christie administration contends it has resolved its problems with this program, but that’s fixing the dam after the damage has been inflicted. We can only guess at how many New Jersey families lost their homes because of Gov. Christie’s failure to effectively implement this program, but we know for sure that it has hurt families and neighborhoods.
“Gov. Christie has devoted plenty of time lately to Republicans in far-flung states. I wish his focus had instead been on helping families struggling here in New Jersey.”
Schaer (D-Passaic/Bergen), chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee:
“The administration’s slow action in help as many affected homeowners as possible likely means many New Jersey families needlessly lost their homes. It’s well and good that the administration claims now to have fixed the program, but that’s too late for many of our neighbors and communities.
“Helping New Jersey families affected by the Great Recession needs to be among our highest priorities. Hopefully, Gov. Christie is finally ready to devote his attention to helping families here in New Jersey, but we will continue to monitor this situation to ensure the program is actually working effectively.”
