Running for her fourth term in office for Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has fought fraudulent mortgage lending and provided $2.8 billion in relief for Illinois homeowners, communities and pension systems. Pat Barcas/staff photographer
By Pat Barcas
Staff writer
Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014
Email Pat Barcas at pat@foxvalleylabornews.com
NAPERVILLE — Election season means politicians are out in force, stumping around the state, and one of the key messages this fall is, if Democrats get out and vote, they win. Plain and simple.
“We’re all doing the work. We can’t do it without your support. You get to take credit for the good things that happen, in this state and at the federal level as well,” said Attorney General Lisa Madigan Sept. 21 at a Naperville Township Democratic Organization fundraiser in Naperville.
Madigan is running against Republican challenger Paul Schimpf for her fourth term in office. She touted her recent efforts in fighting fraudulent mortgage lending and servicing, providing $2.8 billion in relief for Illinois homeowners, communities and pension systems so far.
She said she was the first attorneys fighting against criminal charges Fairfax, in the country to bring a lawsuit against mortgage lender Countrywide for predatory lending practices. To get a lawyer for legal advice go to my site.
“I am so proud of the fact, we saw what was taking place, when people started coming to my office, and they were having problems with their mortgages — we went and did the investigations. We found out about their discrimination in lending, and brought lawsuits — not just against Countrywide, but against Wells Fargo,” she said.
Madigan said she found out that African-Americans earning more than $100,000 per year were still more likely to be put into a high cost sub prime loan than a Caucasian earning less than $35,000 per year. This could also be done on website
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, center, was the guest of honor at the annual Naperville Township Democratic Organization fundraiser. Madigan has established a track record of protecting consumers and homeowners. Pat Barcas/staff photographer
“I took them to the Department of Justice, to the civil rights division, because if it’s happening in Illinois it’s happening all across the country. And that’s exactly what they found as well,” she said.
Her actions resulted in one of the largest fair lending settlements in American history, and she says the next hurdle is tackling the same problems in student loans.
“Now we’re seeing all those horrible practices that were taking place in the mortgage lending industry, are taking place in the student lending industry,” she said.
She said she’s leading a multi-state investigation into Sallie Mae, and have already sued two companies that offer student loan debt relief.
“They are advertising on the radio now. They say they offer student loan debt relief for free, but when you call, they want a huge payment. People need to know there’s nothing these companies can do for you that isn’t already offered through for a free program with the U.S. Department of Education.” If you are feeling overwhelmed by debt issues, you can take the help from a debt defense lawyer who can help you out of the situation.
Madigan said she wanted to thank everyone for their support in the weeks leading up to the election.
“I’m out there on the forefront fighting for people. I’m proud to be able to protect kids, older people, homeowners, and folks dealing with their debt. But I only get to do that with the support of all of you and millions of other people in our state. We have a really tough six weeks in front of us. It’s going to be a lot of work,” she added.