January 29, 2008


Drew Brooks January 29, 2008 - 10:44PM SHELBY — It may be a national issue, but members of Congress are turning to individuals in Cleveland County as they seek to understand and put a hold on the financial crisis in the mortgage industry.

Politicians are turning to two Cleveland County residents — O. Max Gardner III, a lawyer, and Ben Ingle, a lender.

Gardner, who has worked with Congressmen on similar issues in the past and trains lawyers from across the nation at his “Bankruptcy Bootcamp,” has provided the government with information and has spoken with Reps. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) and chair of the house judiciary committee Barney Frank (D-Mass.) as well as Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)

Gardner sees current economic events — the credit crunch caused by the mortgage crisis, the falling value of the dollar and the rising price of food and oil — as “the perfect financial storm.”

He supports a solution that would allow for the modification of home mortgages, a process, said Gardner, that is currently judicial and cumbersome.

Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), meanwhile, mentioned Ingle on the House floor in mid-November.

He spoke of Ingle using his position to secure a loan for a victim of domestic violence who was trying to escape a bad situation but did not have the credit to do so.

“We’re not all out here trying to hurt people,” Ingle said.

On Monday, Ingle was honored by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development for his efforts to provide affordable loans to would-be homeowners throughout the lending crisis.

McHenry used Ingle as an example of how he said brokers would be banned from helping would-be borrowers get the money they need if a portion of bill HR3915 passed.

The bill would limit the financing options available to consumers to prevent borrowers from getting a loan they possibly could not pay back.

“What this bill does is harm our communities and I think our mortgage brokers are doing the right thing,” McHenry said.

We know what’s happening and how it happened. Tomorrow, The Star takes a look at some of the possible solutions