Edwards should be praised, not criticized

In response to your Aug. 14 editorial, “Edwards’ growing goodie bag”:

Predatory lending and abusive mortgage practices are driving millions of families out of their homes in America. Here in Nevada, we have been affected more than any other state, with one foreclosure filing for every 175 households.

As a former state senator from the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, I was compelled to respond to your criticism of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards’ plan to help keep families in their homes.

Sen. Edwards has once again put forth bold ideas to help working and middle-class families.

The facts are:

— Subprime loans are a valuable alternative for the millions of Americans with spotty credit histories, but they are more expensive and some come with predatory, deceptive terms. As many as half of subprime borrowers could have qualified for cheaper loans and were steered by predatory brokers and lenders seeking short-term profits.

— According to the Center for Responsible Lending, the majority of homeowners with risky loans are people who have, just as Sen. Edwards suggested, been building equity in their homes for years — not new home buyers purchasing homes they knew they couldn’t afford, as the editorial claimed.

— Predatory lenders target the elderly, African-Americans, Latinos and rural communities disproportionately.

As John Edwards made clear in Las Vegas, this is about the future of the middle class.

Sen. Edwards has called for national legislation to regulate mortgage abuses and prohibit predatory home lending. He has proposed immediate steps to help homeowners, including giving bankruptcy judges the discretion to modify families’ loans that exceed the value of their homes, and creating a Home Rescue Fund to help struggling homeowners renegotiate or refinance their mortgages.

One recent example of John Edwards’ leadership on this issue, which touches me personally as a native of Louisiana, is his divestment of money from companies engaged in predatory lending.

Sen. Edwards should be praised for his leadership and for the ideas he has proposed on behalf of working and middle-class families in Nevada, Louisiana and America.

Joe Neal

NORTH LAS VEGAS

THE WRITER, A FORMER STATE SENATOR FROM NORTH LAS VEGAS AND DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE, HAS ENDORSED JOHN EDWARDS IN THE NEVADA DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS.

Lights out

To the editor:

Boy, do I agree with Doug Nusbaum’s Wednesday letter on people complaining about the “high power bills.” We also have about a 2,000-square-foot home and our bill has never been more than $250. Not even in July, August or September.

The setting for our air conditioning is never lower than 82 degrees — and during the day when I am “home alone” it is even higher, at about 90 to 94. This is just fine for me, our birds and small dog.

We have no incandescent bulbs anywhere. Even the outside lights that are on all night long are fluorescent. Expensive at first, but look at the savings in the long run.

Also, being on Nevada Power’s equal payment plan is a huge benefit for everyone. And when the time comes again for the device that allows Nevada Power to shut down our air conditioning during peak periods in the summer, we will be right there to sign up.

If all things could be so easy, life would be much sweeter.

Michael Morris

LAS VEGAS

Party houses

To the editor:

The Las Vegas City Council is considering an ordinance to ban short-term vacation rentals due to the bad behavior of some renters (Review-Journal, Tuesday). But to outlaw short-term vacation rentals is much like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Many homeowners can’t afford their house payments anymore because their interest rates have gone up. They can’t rent their homes (in a traditional sense) and generate enough income to cover their expenses. They can’t sell their homes, because they have gone down in value, not up. Short-term vacation rentals are the only option many homeowners have to generate enough income to cover their expenses and prevent foreclosure.

If this option is taken away, it will cause more harm than good because many of these homes will go into foreclosure, causing the values of all homes in those neighborhoods to go down.

The bad conduct of partiers, whether from out of town or local, is what needs to be addressed — but short-term residential rentals should be allowed. This way, rowdy partiers will be punished for their bad behavior and the property values of neighborhoods will be protected from these homes going into foreclosure.

Joseph A. Zyskowski

HENDERSON