06-18-2011, 12:17 AM
Press release just received via e-mail:
Welcome Wagon and Press Conference Demanding that Attorneys General Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud
I thank Hurley Green, Publisher of the Independent Bulletin, for providing the following media advisory regarding an upcoming welcome wagon and press conference. This issue really is critical to us in the 24th Ward, as we ranked #4 in mortgage foreclosures last year, according to the Woodstock Institute. I won't be able to attend the welcome wagon and press conference. If anyone is able to attend, please share your reactions on the board.
Media Advisory for June 21, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Central time
Contact: Monica Trevino at 312-286-4430 or monica@npa-us.org
Margot Friedman at 202-332-5550 or mfriedman@dupontcirclecommunications.com
http://www.newbottomline.com/ http://www.npa-us.org/
Clergy, Underwater Homeowners from Across the U.S. Urge Attorneys General to Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud
National People’s Action to Release Report Showing Spike in Cook County Foreclosures on Prime-Rate Mortgages
(Chicago, Illinois) Clergy and homeowners threatened with foreclosure from Illinois and across the country will be at the Drake Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on June 21 at 1:30 to welcome state Attorneys Generals holding their NAAG summer meeting and urge them to stand firm for a strong settlement agreement with the big banks they are investigating for mortgage fraud.
The clergy and homeowners will provide the AGs with “welcome packets” that contain jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies to symbolize the importance of criminal penalties for bank executives, a tourist map of foreclosed homes in Chicago, and flyers with homeowners’ demands. The AGs have spent hours in closed-door meetings with the big banks. They must give equal time to the citizens and constituents they were elected to protect. The event is being organized by The New Bottom Line campaign, a coalition grassroots community, faith and labor organizations that has been pressing the AGs to reach a strong settlement with the banks.
At 2:15, in front of the Drake Hotel, National People’s Action (NPA) – a member of The New Bottom Line campaign – will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL during the last 18 months. Among the findings: more than 40 percent of all new foreclosure filings have been on fixed prime-rate loans. The data indicates that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has allowed the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages who were affected first. (Key report findings below.)
The clergy and homeowners will call on the AGs who are investigating the nation’s largest banks for mortgage fraud to stand firm for a settlement agreement that includes principal reductions for millions at risk of foreclosure; criminal penalties for bankers who committed mortgage fraud; restitution for families who lost their homes due to fraud; and strict enforcement of the settlement terms on the banks. Constituents will not settle for remedies that are optional for the banks.
Who: Clergy and Homeowners from Illinois, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Washington State
What: Welcome Wagon for State Attorneys General followed by Press Conference to release NPA’s Cook County foreclosure report
When & Where: Welcome Wagon at 1:30 in the Grand Ballroom; Press Conference and Report Release at 2:15 in front of the Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, IL
Visuals: Jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies, tourist map of foreclosed homes, blown up foreclosure map, banners & signs with homeowners’ demands for AG action
Key Findings from National People’s Action’s Report on Cook County, IL Foreclosures
NPA will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL covering the last 18 months of the foreclosure crisis. Since the start of 2010, Cook County has had over 75,000 residential properties in foreclosure. In the last 18 months, nearly 29,000 Cook County homes have been lost to foreclosure and have become bank-owned property (REO). This report reveals that the nation’s five largest banks own or service nearly 60% of all home foreclosures in Cook County.
The report identifies the top Cook County foreclosure "hot spots" - areas that have seen foreclosure activity on approximately 10% of a neighborhood's housing units. The report also shows that more than 40% of all recent foreclosure filings have been on typically prime-rate mortgages. The report asserts that many of these recent foreclosures represent the failure of the major national banks (as mortgage servicers) to extend workable loan modifications to overburdened homeowners. The data supports NPA’s claim that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has caused the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages and to now impact a wider population of homeowners.
Additionally, the report finds that African-American and Latino neighborhoods are the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis with three times the volume of foreclosures and bank-owned property occurring in Cook County’s communities of colors.
About National People’s Action
National People's Action (NPA) is a Network of community power organizations from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NPA has over 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns, and rural communities throughout the United States.
About The New Bottom Line campaign
The New Bottom Line campaign is a coalition of community organizations, congregations, labor unions, and individuals working together to build a movement that challenges established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities. Together, we work to restructure Wall Street to help American families build wealth, close the country's growing income inequality gap and advance a vision for how our economy can better serve the many rather than the few. The New Bottom Line campaign includes National People’s Action (NPA), PICO National Network, Alliance for a Just Society, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and Industrial Areas Foundation of the Southeast (IAF-SE) and dozens of state and local organizations from around the country.
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Welcome Wagon and Press Conference Demanding that Attorneys General Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud
I thank Hurley Green, Publisher of the Independent Bulletin, for providing the following media advisory regarding an upcoming welcome wagon and press conference. This issue really is critical to us in the 24th Ward, as we ranked #4 in mortgage foreclosures last year, according to the Woodstock Institute. I won't be able to attend the welcome wagon and press conference. If anyone is able to attend, please share your reactions on the board.
Media Advisory for June 21, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. Central time
Contact: Monica Trevino at 312-286-4430 or monica@npa-us.org
Margot Friedman at 202-332-5550 or mfriedman@dupontcirclecommunications.com
http://www.newbottomline.com/ http://www.npa-us.org/
Clergy, Underwater Homeowners from Across the U.S. Urge Attorneys General to Hold Big Banks Accountable for Mortgage Fraud
National People’s Action to Release Report Showing Spike in Cook County Foreclosures on Prime-Rate Mortgages
(Chicago, Illinois) Clergy and homeowners threatened with foreclosure from Illinois and across the country will be at the Drake Hotel’s Grand Ballroom on June 21 at 1:30 to welcome state Attorneys Generals holding their NAAG summer meeting and urge them to stand firm for a strong settlement agreement with the big banks they are investigating for mortgage fraud.
The clergy and homeowners will provide the AGs with “welcome packets” that contain jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies to symbolize the importance of criminal penalties for bank executives, a tourist map of foreclosed homes in Chicago, and flyers with homeowners’ demands. The AGs have spent hours in closed-door meetings with the big banks. They must give equal time to the citizens and constituents they were elected to protect. The event is being organized by The New Bottom Line campaign, a coalition grassroots community, faith and labor organizations that has been pressing the AGs to reach a strong settlement with the banks.
At 2:15, in front of the Drake Hotel, National People’s Action (NPA) – a member of The New Bottom Line campaign – will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL during the last 18 months. Among the findings: more than 40 percent of all new foreclosure filings have been on fixed prime-rate loans. The data indicates that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has allowed the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages who were affected first. (Key report findings below.)
The clergy and homeowners will call on the AGs who are investigating the nation’s largest banks for mortgage fraud to stand firm for a settlement agreement that includes principal reductions for millions at risk of foreclosure; criminal penalties for bankers who committed mortgage fraud; restitution for families who lost their homes due to fraud; and strict enforcement of the settlement terms on the banks. Constituents will not settle for remedies that are optional for the banks.
Who: Clergy and Homeowners from Illinois, California, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, and Washington State
What: Welcome Wagon for State Attorneys General followed by Press Conference to release NPA’s Cook County foreclosure report
When & Where: Welcome Wagon at 1:30 in the Grand Ballroom; Press Conference and Report Release at 2:15 in front of the Drake Hotel, 140 East Walton Place, Chicago, IL
Visuals: Jail-bar and handcuff-shaped cookies, tourist map of foreclosed homes, blown up foreclosure map, banners & signs with homeowners’ demands for AG action
Key Findings from National People’s Action’s Report on Cook County, IL Foreclosures
NPA will release a report on residential foreclosures in Cook County, IL covering the last 18 months of the foreclosure crisis. Since the start of 2010, Cook County has had over 75,000 residential properties in foreclosure. In the last 18 months, nearly 29,000 Cook County homes have been lost to foreclosure and have become bank-owned property (REO). This report reveals that the nation’s five largest banks own or service nearly 60% of all home foreclosures in Cook County.
The report identifies the top Cook County foreclosure "hot spots" - areas that have seen foreclosure activity on approximately 10% of a neighborhood's housing units. The report also shows that more than 40% of all recent foreclosure filings have been on typically prime-rate mortgages. The report asserts that many of these recent foreclosures represent the failure of the major national banks (as mortgage servicers) to extend workable loan modifications to overburdened homeowners. The data supports NPA’s claim that the failure to enact effective loan modifications has caused the foreclosure crisis to grow beyond homeowners with subprime mortgages and to now impact a wider population of homeowners.
Additionally, the report finds that African-American and Latino neighborhoods are the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis with three times the volume of foreclosures and bank-owned property occurring in Cook County’s communities of colors.
About National People’s Action
National People's Action (NPA) is a Network of community power organizations from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NPA has over 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns, and rural communities throughout the United States.
About The New Bottom Line campaign
The New Bottom Line campaign is a coalition of community organizations, congregations, labor unions, and individuals working together to build a movement that challenges established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities. Together, we work to restructure Wall Street to help American families build wealth, close the country's growing income inequality gap and advance a vision for how our economy can better serve the many rather than the few. The New Bottom Line campaign includes National People’s Action (NPA), PICO National Network, Alliance for a Just Society, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and Industrial Areas Foundation of the Southeast (IAF-SE) and dozens of state and local organizations from around the country.
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