Silky Pals Foreclosing on Homes

He swears to help those poor folks in New Orleans. Once he finds out who they are, of course.

Well, the families getting the boot in the New York are are easily identifiable. Let's see if he ponies up some cash to help them out.

EDWARDS' MISERY MONEY: INVESTS IN N.Y. FORECLOSURE FIRM

Presidential candidate John Edwards has invested a big chunk of his personal fortune in a hedge fund tied to subprime lenders foreclosing on the homes of dozens of New Yorkers, The Post has learned.

The 64 homes are scattered across suburban Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland and Putnam counties, according to court records.

The families either have been kicked out of their homes for failure to keep up with mortgage payments or are still fighting foreclosure proceedings in court.

Edwards, who last December formally launched his populist Democratic campaign in New Orleans, promised last month to pull his money out of any fund linked to foreclosures in the flood-ravaged city.

His promise came after The Wall Street Journal reported that subprime lenders tied to Fortress Investment Group were suing 34 New Orleans homeowners in foreclosure proceedings.

Edwards invested a $16 million of his estimated $30 million fortune in Fortress, which has subsidiaries that offered subprime loans.

"I will not have my family's money involved in these firms that are foreclosing on people in New Orleans," he said.

Edwards also said he would "redress" the injustices in New Orleans but explained it was difficult figuring out how to help, because many borrowers had not yet returned to their homes.

Helping down-on-their-luck New Yorkers would be comparatively easy, however, because their names and addresses are readily available in public court records.

An aide said last month he didn't know how quickly Edwards would be able to divest from subprime subsidiaries at Fortress.

"Sen. Edwards has proposed some of the toughest regulations to stop predatory lenders from taking advantage of families who need help the most," Edwards spokesman Eric Schultz said.

Maybe instead of buying airtime to trash the Iraq war effort, he ought to help these families in need.