Archbishop Fights For Home
February 25, 2012
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Archbishop
Franzo King of the St. John Coltrane Church in San Francisco, is
fighting to save his home in the Bayview neighborhood. He, like tens of
thousands of Bay area homeowners, was sold a "Pick-A-Pay" loan, where
payment increases significantly after five years, with promises that he
could easily refinance his loan later. Despite
a recent agreement Wells-Fargo made with the State Attorney General to
compensate families victimized by Pick-A-Pay loans, Wells Fargo refuses
to work with Archbishop King to negotiate a loan modification and the
home is set to be auctioned on March 5.
Archbishop King is one of millions of homeowners that is fighting to bring justice to families victimized by the crimes and recklessness that crashed the economy. The last few weeks have brought a flicker of hope in this struggle: a new federal investigation, a $25 billion settlement with clear enforcement provisions and the release of a report that calls into question the legality of many foreclosures in California. These developments have the potential to bring relief in the coming year to homeowners, but they haven't slowed the pace of foreclosures in California: one every 76 seconds! The banks need to get their house in order before they evict even one more homeowner. Sign the petition to tell the banks to halt all foreclosures until there is due process in place for California homeowners. You have helped put the banks on the defensive in a way we couldn't have imagined a year ago. Together, we have taken on CEOs, marched with thousands, organized dozens of home defenses like Arturo's and put Wall Street fraud and greed at the top of the news cycle. We've made a measure progress in three key areas, but the scale is still too small and none is providing immediate relief: 466,000 Californians will see some relief from the recently announced $25 billion multi-state settlementwith five mega-banks, including principal reduction for 250,000 families. This is downpayment on the money Wall Street owes the community, but the settlement leaves out millions of families and won't put money into anyone's pocket for months. President Obama has announced that a new financial fraud task force led by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will investigate the reckless and criminal behavior that led to the financial collapse. We will be vigilant in pushing for a full investigation of these crimes so that the acts exposed will create the leverage to negotiate principal reduction and full restitution for homeowners on a much larger scale. Principal reduction for all California borrowers would inject over $20 billion into the California economy every year and save or create over 300,000 jobs. Finally, the suspicions of many were validated when an audit conducted by San Francisco county assessor Phil Ting showed that 99% of mortgages had inappropriate paperwork and 84% showed violations of California law. Ting has forwarded his findings to Attorney General Kamala Harris and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi who have both called for further state and federal actions and investigations which is another path to relief for victims of banker crime. Investigations, implementation and legislation all take time and we need a halt to foreclosures in California today. Sign the petition to tell the banks to halt all foreclosures until there is due process in place for California homeowners. Archbishop King has been a leader in his community and is one of many families that are standing up to wrongful foreclosures: he is refusing to leave his home if they try to evict him. You may have seen the latest "home defense" victory in the news yesterday: with huge support from the community, homeowner Monica Kenney stood up to her bank and won a last minute reprieve from eviction. Home defenses have stopped several unfair evictions, but without immediate action too many people like Archbishop King will be needless victims. He could win relief and principal reduction as a result of the investigations into the banks, but relief would come months after his scheduled eviction date. Shouldn't the banks stop in their tracks and make sure there are no more needless victims like his family? A package of bills expected to be backed by Attorney General Harris will have the ability to protect millions from living the same nightmare as the King family. It will include a requirement to prove a clean chain of title on the mortgage and an end to dual tracking, where the servicer pursues a foreclosure for a family at the same time they are attempting to negotiate a modification. In the coming days, we'll be updating you as news breaks on Archbishop King's home and sharing more details about this critical legislation. Today, we need to recognize that the system is broken and call on the banks to do the responsible thing. Click here to tell the Big Banks to stop foreclosures until due process protections are in place. Fight Back! Vivian Richardson, ACCE |
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Here's a related story from KCBS- Clergy members ask Wells Fargo to Repent:
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/02/22/clergy-members-ask-wells-fargo-to-repent-during-sf-foreclosure-protest/
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/02/22/clergy-members-ask-wells-fargo-to-repent-during-sf-foreclosure-protest/
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