Lisa Simpson
Sep 29,2009
In: home loans

Documentary Film is Exposing the Sub-prime Loan Scandal of Brooklyn

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Sarah Friedland a student of Hunter College of Manhattan got an official letter from a lawyer protesting against her producing of a documentary film exposing the sub-prime scandals of Brooklyn. The letter told her to stop and desist from saying untrue things about his clients, the developers.

Initially the tone of the letter scared 29 year old Friedland. She said, “At first I was a little intimated. Then I got mad.” Later she came to know that the same letter had been dispatched to two others who were working with her on the film – Kahil Shkymba and Joy Nayo Simmons.

The trio had begun work on the documentary naming it ‘Subprimed’ from February 2008. At that time Ms Simmons who is employed in the office of Councilman Charles Barron informed a class in Hunter that 14 families on two of the streets in East New York were at risk from foreclosures. The common link in these 14 properties was the same sets of developers.

The story was extremely explosive and by the time the warning letters reached the trio in June the students had already poured in money and many hours into the making of the film. It was however still in an unfinished state. The legal threat did not cause any worry to 42 year old Shkymba but it would entail expenses and hassles to go through the defense.

The story unfolded for the fourteen homeowners when signs on lampposts drew their attention shouting “No Money Down! No Closing Costs!” The sellers of house were HPD, LLC. At a quick glance the sellers seemed to be the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development of the city. But in reality it was a private firm owned by two brothers – Michael and Joseph Makhani.

In the documentary Makhani is queried if the name of the firm is deceptive suggesting and hinting that it is a government agency. Makahni saucily replies, “If the client is stupid, that’s not my problem. We’re not going to have classes to teach people how to read.”

Another person interviewed is Nathaniel Hill who is a limousine driver. He said that he purchased a two-family unit from HPD paying $663,000 for it in 2006. Just prior to the closing he was asked to come with cash ($18,000) although it was not applicable to his mortgage. At the point of closing he came to learn that his monthly commitment would not be $3,000 as he had been previously told but it would be much higher – $4,189. The annual earnings of Hill amounted to $34,000 and it calculated to two thirds of his annual mortgage expenses.

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