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Eight million people are at risk of losing their homes because Wall Street abandoned responsible lending practices to gain short-term profits. The housing crisis is not just a problem for families facing foreclosure - it's a problem for every homeowner in America. As long as foreclosures persist, home values will keep going down, and everyone loses.

We need your help. Have you been affected by the housing meltdown? Foreclosed on? Underwater? Record your story, or the story of a friend, family member, or neighbor, and send it to us. You can also add your written story along with a photo for the map. Then, watch the video stories of the families, mothers, fathers, and children who have lost, or are losing the place they call home.

Author Archive for ZP Heller

Bank of America Still Screwing Troubled Mortgage Borrowers

Published
by
ZP Heller
on May 14, 2009
in Content
. Comments

If you think Bank of America is curbing their predatory practicies now that they’ve ousted Ken Lewis as chairman, think again.  Check out this ad I came across:

SHORT SALE!

Have You Had Difficulty Negotiating A Short Sale With Your Lender?

To approve a Short sale of your primary home, did the Lender make you sign a note or letter stating you must repay the difference between your loan and the sale amount, even if you never refinanced your home?

Did the Lender force you into Foreclosure and Bankruptcy?

We are a group of individuals (not attorneys) concerned with the way certain Banks have treated troubled borrowers and are investigating their practices, especially in light of the billions of dollars banks have received in TARP Monies. Some of these ill-advised business practices may even be illegal under California law, and costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

This is not a solicitation of business. We want to hear from you. Confidentiality assured.

Please call 1-866-981-8781 and leave a confidential message. Thank you.

What prompted this ad is that Bank of America has apparently been screwing over troubled mortgage borrowers who are attempting to negotiate short sales on their homes.  Borrowers who can’t afford to keep their homes have to work out a deal with their bank, selling short on their home at whatever the market value is currently in order to avoid foreclosure altogether.  Bank of America, however, is forcing these troubled borrowers to sign deficiency letters, meaning the borrower has to repay the difference between the sale price and the remainder of the existing loan on the property, which could easily force borrowers into bankruptcy.

What’s odd is that banks get far less in foreclosure than in short sales, so it would be in their best interest to work something out.  What’s more, Bank of America recently announced it was easing its policy on short sales, requiring 5 percent of short sale proceeds instead of 10 percent.  But this ad makes it sound like Bank of America is still having it both ways with troubled borrowers.

In California, Bank of America’s predatory behavior might be violating the law, since they are refusing to bless a short sale if the borrower does not sign a deficiency letter, even when the borrower’s home has not been refinanced.  If you know anyone, particularly in California, who has had difficulty negotiating a short sale, urge them to call 1-866-981-8781 and leave a confidential message.  Bank of America has already taken tens of billions in our taxpayer money through the bailout; we can’t allow them to continue screwing homeowners at every turn.

Bernie Sanders to the Rescue

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 26, 2009
in Content
. Comments

President Obama delivered a fantastic speech last night. It’s tone alone will go a long way toward reassuring a nation mired in economic crisis. And amazingly, there were many moments of bipartisan applause, like when Obama tackled corporate greed: “I intend to hold these banks fully accountable for the assistance they receive, and this time, they will have to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars result in more lending for the American taxpayer. This time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks or buy fancy drapes or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over.”

This was music to my ears, but as Robert Scheer astutely pointed out at The Nation, the problem Obama had in discussing regulation to fix our financial woes is that many of his top economic advisers, including Lawrence Summers, were responsible for gutting the regulatory system that helped cause this mess in the first place. Don’t get me wrong, Obama’s speech was strong and hopefully it will symbolize a fundamental change in thinking from his economic team. But I’m just glad we have someone like Senator Bernie Sanders to help Obama make good on his demagoguery.

The Independent Senator from Vermont says we need a new Wall Street. He wants to confront the culture of greed head on, get rid of the CEOs of these corrupt financial institutions, and establish a much stricter regulatory process. Sanders has been a vocal critic of TARP spending from the beginning, and last month he called for the congressional TARP Oversight Panel to expand its focus and dig into the causes of the financial crisis, using subpoena power to expose the roots. Sanders’ vigilence and frankness, coupled with Obama’s rhetoric last night, is what gives me hope.

Congressman Conyers Gets Ready for Cramdown

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 25, 2009
in Content
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Who’s ready for cramdown? Congressman John Conyers sure is, President Obama seems to be, and now Speaker of the House Pelosi wants to bring a housing bill to a vote this week that would empower bankruptcy judges to modify mortgage terms for borrowers on their primary residences. As David Dayen (aka Dday) explains, “This is an important provision, which most economists believe will be the best tool homeowners can have for them to stay in their homes, and for lenders to agree to loan modifications.” Dayen and Rep. Conyers, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, discussed the importance of cramdown as part of Brave New Films’ Fighting for Our Homes campaign.

Conyers has long been a champion of cramdown. With someone facing foreclosure in our country every 13 seconds and 8-10 million Americans in danger of losing their homes, this legislation would effectively “level the playing field,” as Conyers put it. It would allow bankruptcy judges to consider the unfair circumstances of a mortgage, while enabling those homeowners who have been victimized by predatory lending practices to be able to deal with their lenders. All the while, it would stick to the wealthy elite and those in our government who have resisted cramdown, since until now, only secondary and tertiary properties and assets qualified to have the terms rewritten by a bankruptcy judge.

Millions of Americans Facing Foreclosure Can Make Their Voices Heard

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 10, 2009
in Content
. Comments

We have already heard too much from bailed out banks. Their corporate greed clearly knows no bounds as they continue predatory lending practices after taking tens of billions from the government, which they failed to use to jump-start economic recovery. And now we’ve heard from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who rolled out his controversial Financial Stabilization Plan today that will devote $50 billion to help dam up the flood of foreclosures drowning our economy. Who have we not heard from?

How about the 2.3 million Americans who faced foreclosure proceedings last year? How about the 860,000 people whose homes were repossessed by lenders? How about the millions more out there right now struggling to renegotiate their mortgages with banks bent on reducing lending, restricting loans, and lying about conditions? Those are the heartrending stories we haven’t heard yet, but that’s about to change.

Today, Brave New Foundation is unveiling its newest campaign: Fighting for Our Homes. The website enables anyone affected by the housing crisis to tell their tale in their own words, either by recording it on camera or writing it down and submitting it with a photo of the house in jeopardy. Watch as people from around the country give accounts of their nightmarish ordeals. These stories fill up an interactive Google map symbolizing the toll this economic meltdown has taken on Main Street homeowners, reminding us of the consequences of irresponsible lending and corporate malfeasance.

Continue reading ‘Millions of Americans Facing Foreclosure Can Make Their Voices Heard’

Why Is Bank of America Blaming the Financial Crisis on Dead Mothers?

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 9, 2009
in Content
. Comments

How do you know when your bank is standing in the way of economic recovery? Well, take the following quiz. Your bank took $45 billion in bailout funds and:

a) Blew it on an overseas bank investment, DC lobbyists, corporate jets, executive bonuses, and a lavish Super Bowl party worth $10 million alone.
b) Announced it would lay off 35,000 workers while refusing to provide adequate health care for the rest of its 212,000 employees.
c) Asked participants on a conference call to donate large sums of money to vulnerable anti-union Senatorial candidates in order to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act.
d) Blamed the financial crisis on dead mothers.
e) All of the above.

Sadly, for Bank of America, the answer is “e” as in “egregious.” TPMMuckraker had a story Friday about Theresa Hatt, a Bank of America customer who died of cancer last month at 52. When her son, Paul Kelleher, called Bank of America to let them know, an estates representative asked if Kelleher intended to pay off the balance of his mother’s credit card. When he said he wasn’t obligated to, the representative said, “I know that if it were my mother, I’d pay it. That’s why we’re in the banking crisis we’re in: banks having to write off defaulted loans.”

Continue reading ‘Why Is Bank of America Blaming the Financial Crisis on Dead Mothers?’

Kerry Slams Republicans for Creating Housing Crisis

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 9, 2009
in Content
. Comments

Sen. John Kerry is on fire. First, he drew the connection between the Vietnam War and the current quagmire in Afghanistan during Secrtary of State Clinton’s confirmation hearing. Now, he’s taking on the Republicans on the Senate floor, chastising the GOP and the Bush administration for creating the housing crisis.

“For nine months,” Kerry said, “they sat there while 10,000 homes a day were being foreclosed, and they allowed us to slide into where we are today.” So much for the Republicans’ ridiculous claims that a lack of housing relief was their chief concern with the stimulus.

Now if he could hold some oversight hearings on Afghanistan, we’d be all set!

Why We Must Fight Like Hell to Confirm Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 9, 2009
in Content
. Comments

Have the Republicans lost all sense of reality? In the midst of a crushing recession, our country is hemorrhaging jobs. According to Think Progress, the Labor Department reported we lost 598,000 jobs in January, and 1.8 million in the last three months. The livelihoods of millions of Americans and our entire economy are at stake, and yet GOP obstructionists are stonewalling President Obama’s economic stimulus plan and the nomination of Hilda Solis for Labor Secretary.

The Senate Labor committee postponed Solis’ nomination yesterday because of a recent USA Today report about her husband’s outstanding California tax liens. (NOTE: it was her husband’s auto repair business, not anything to do with Solis herself.) Though the tax liens have since been repaid, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY) and his Republican cohorts are still delaying the confirmation vote, claiming they need to investigate Solis’ involvement with American Rights at Work (ARAW), a pro-labor non-profit. But this really boils down to the GOP’s inherent fears over the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill Solis co-sponsored in the House that would enable workers to unionize more easily and negotiate for equitable wages and benefits and safer working conditions.

As David Dayen wrote over at Calitics, “The American Rights at Work thing is a complete red herring. She was a representative figure for those who supported Employee Free Choice in Congress. She is not a lobbyist. She supported a bill. And so denying her free-speech rights seems ridiculous to the extreme.”

Solis might understand the needs of workers better than anyone in Congress. There’s no question she could help ensure President Obama’s plan to create 3.6 million jobs by next year actually happens. We must fight like hell to get her approved. Join this Facebook page and help confirm Hilda Solis now. Then, sign American Rights at Work’s petition to support the Employee Free Choice, where you can snag their Employee Free Choice widget for your own personal blog.

From Little ACORNs Grow

Published
by
ZP Heller
on February 9, 2009
in Content
. Comments

The GOP and Fox News have been ganging up on the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) like a couple of bullies picking on the scrawniest kid in the schoolyard–and they can only push that kid so far until he gives them a well-deserved bloody nose. Last week, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) unjustly accused ACORN of receiving a $4.19 billion bailout from President Obama’s economic stimulus package. His false claims were echoed by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) on Fox, who claimed this money was a “payoff” for ACORN’s activism in the last election. That was all it took for bloviators Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin to resuscitate allegations of ACORN’s voter fraud. They even blamed the low- and moderate-income advocacy group for the subprime meltdown, rather than discuss the banks actually caused this mess and have subsequently received tens of billions in bailout funds they continue to squander.

These cries amount to nothing more than fearmongering in the name of obstructionism, what ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis called “a complete fabrication of overheated partisan fever dreams.” As Congress Matters noted, the $4.19 billion was actually set aside for “neighborhood stabilization activities related to emergency assistance for the redevelopment of abandoned and foreclosed homes.” In other words, any non-profit housing developer could bid on this money.

Here comes the bloody nose. Yesterday, the organization sent a letter to Boehner’s office and media in Ohio shooting down each and every accusation and attacking Boehner on his home turf, a district where more than 4,800 families faced foreclosure in 2008 alone. They also went after Boehner’s record of voting against the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 and the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act. Simultaneously, they’re asking everyone to contact their Senators and tell them to support the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a version of which passed in the House last week despite the GOP’s partisan rancor.

Continue reading ‘From Little ACORNs Grow’