leftcol.inc
| Office |
5920 Second Ave.
(near Antoinette)
Detroit
Orgainizng Meetings
Monday, 7 PM
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Please Donate
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Make
checks payable to: MORATORIUM
NOW
COALITION and send to
Moratorium NOW
Coalition
5920 Second Ave.
Detroit MI 48202
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Committees
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Legal
Open to any with experience in litigation,
including attorneys
contact:
Jerry
Goldberg
313-393-6001
Media
Coordinates media relations, issues press releases
and related issues
contact:
Abayomi
Azikywe
313-671-3715
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NATIONAL
CONFERENCE TO DEMAND
A
TWO YEAR FEDERAL
MORATORIUM TO STOP FORECLOSURES
Saturday – March 31, 2012
Central United Methodist Church – 2nd
Floor
23 E.
Adams St. (at Woodward Ave.), Detroit,
Michigan
visit nationalmoratorium.org
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1515
BROADWAY HAS BEEN SAVED
1515 Broadway
has been saved! The coffee house and
community center is no longer under
the threat of a foreclosure
eviction. In response to tremendous
pressure from the community,
Citgroup has reached an agreement
with Chris Jaszczak, that will keep
1515 Broadway alive and functioning
under his control and ownership.
The coalition consisting of Moratorium
NOW! Coalition, People Before Banks
Coalition, Occupy Detroit, and Occupy
Our Homes, thanks all those who called
and emailed Citigroup demanding that
the eviction be stopped and expressing
your strong support and determination
to keep this unique community center
open. The community support was key to
this victory.
The Rally scheduled for this Thursday
will now be a community gathering to
celebrate this victory and the fact
that 1515 Broadway will continue to
serve as a community space.
COMMUNITY
CELEBRATION
THURSDAY,
JANUARY 26, 6:00 P.M.
1515
BROADWAY, DETROIT
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SAVE
1515 BROADWAY
STOP
THE FORECLOSURE/EVICTION BY CITI
BANK
COMMUNITY
RALLY
THURSDAY,
JANUARY 26, 6:00 P.M.
1515
BROADWAY
(near
Randolph, downtown Detroit)
1515
Broadway is a unique institution in
downtown Detroit. For 25 years,
1515 has operated as a muti-use,
flexible black box theater to
facilitate expression among diverse
Detroiters. It’s a theater,
café, studio, coffee house, sound
stage, bodega and meeting hall.
It’s a salon where Detroiters can come
to interact in a relaxed and
comfortable atmosphere. From
1987 with “Demolish by Neglect” to the
recent “Occupy Movement,” 1515
Broadway has opened its doors to
community activists to meet and
gather.
1515 Broadway has also been the
residence of Christopher Jaszczak
since 1987 (and now his son resides
there too). Chris, as owner and
proprietor of 1515, has used his
personal funds to keep this community
space alive and functioning.
However, in the years 2008-2010,
Chris, like many Michiganders,
encountered financial hardship.
As a result, he fell behind on the
payments on his 11.25% interest
mortgage loan. He reached out to
numerous local economic loan and
development entities for assistance,
to no avail. 1515 Broadway was
placed in foreclosure.
Chris Jaszczak’s income has
recovered. He has made a
reasonable offer to Citi Bank to pay
down the arrearages if they would
restore his mortgage at a standard
interest rate. But Citi, a bank
that has received tens of billions of
dollars in federal taxpayer bailouts
on express condition that they aid
borrowers, would rather destroy a
community institution than deal
equitably with Chris. 1515 Broadway is now
facing an imminent eviction.
Come to a Rally to Save 1515
Broadway. Let’s keep this
wonderful community center open and
serving the people of Detroit!
Tell
Citi to stop the eviction and
reinstate Christopher Jaszczak’s
mortgage.
Email:
Call:
CEO
Pandit at 646-512-4269 (cell phone)
Citigroup
at 212-816-6000 (ask for Richard
Isenberg)
Sponsored
by:
Moratorium Now! Coalition to Stop
Foreclosures, Evictions & Utility
Shutoffs,
Occupy Detroit, People Before Banks
Coalition, and Occupy Our Homes
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The
Henrys
of Southgate are among
the many thousands of
Detroit-area families struggling
against foreclosure and
eviction. Debbie had a stroke in
2008 and the Henrys could no
longer afford the mortgage on a
house plummeting in value. More
than a hundred of us picketed
Bank of America on January 3
demanding that the bank, which
services their mortgage, and the
Federal National Mortgage
Association ("Fannie Mae"),
which now owns the mortgage,
modify the loan to keep the
Henrys in their home. We got
their attention, but the
eviction order still stands.
We
need to keep up the pressure and
pack the courthouse at the
upcoming hearing. The banks are
being bailed out with taxpayer
dollars while Fannie Mae evicts
the victims of the housing
bubble. Join us: Occupy Our
Homes, Moratorium Now, Occupy
Detroit, People Before Banks
January 19,
Thursday, at 9:30 am
(Hearing begins at 10)
33rd
District Court, Woodhaven
19000 Van
Horn Road
(I-75
to Exit 32, go east on West
Rd. to Allen Rd., turn south
on Allen to Van Horn, turn
left and the courthouse is on
left)
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Oppose
the Emergency Manager
- Repeal Public Act 4!
Defend
Democracy and the Right to
Self-Determination!
Make
the Banks Pay, Not the
Workers and Community:
- Implement
a moratorium on
debt service to
the banks
- No layoffs
- No cuts in
city services
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We
Shall Not
Be Moved Rally
Oppose the Emergency
Manager!
Repeal Public Act 4!
Defend Democracy and the
Right to
Self-Determination!
Make the Banks Pay!
Monday,
January 2, 2012
5
PM
Tabernacle
Missionary Baptist
Church
2080 W. Grand
Blvd, Detroit, MI
For more info: 313-224-4535
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Stop
Bank of America &
Fannie Mae From Evicting
the Henrys!
Tuesday,
January 3:
10:00 am
Rally
and Press Conference at
the home of Robert and
Debbie Henry, 13694 Helen
St. in Southgate
(directions below).
11:00 am: Picket Bank of
America’s nearby Southgate
branch
The Henrys fell
behind on their
Countrywide/Bank of
America mortgage after
Debbie had a stroke in
2008 and could no longer
work full time. The
housing market collapsed
that same year and the
value of their house fell
by two-thirds. In the
aftermath of the crash,
Bank of America and Fannie
Mae were bailed out with
billions of taxpayer
dollars.
Little of this,
ever, trickles down to the
Henrys and the thousands
of Detroit area families
who need mortgage
modifications to stay in
their homes. Bank of
America (BOA) rescinded an
initial modification that
the Henry’s paid for 10
months. Because BOA can
collect the full mortgage
value guaranteed by Fannie
Mae, the bank has little
interest in straightening
out the paperwork snafus
and mismanagement that
confronts anyone seeking a
mortgage modification. Now
Fannie Mae (which bought
the Henrys’ mortgage at
full value) and BOA (which
still services the
mortgage for Fannie Mae)
want to evict the Henrys.
Sponsored by: Occupy
Our Homes - Moratorium
Now! - People Before
Banks
Directions:
To
the Henrys: Exit I-75 at
Northline Road (#37),
east to Dix Highway,
turn south and go 4
streets, left on Helen
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SPECIAL
DETROIT ORGANIZING MEETING
MONDAY,
DECEMBER 5, 7:00-9:00 P.M, 5920
SECOND AVE., Detroit.
NO
EMERGENCY MANAGER!
STOP THE LAY-OFFS!
NO CONSENT AGREEMENT!
BAILOUT DETROIT,
NOT THE BANKS!
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DECEMBER
6 – NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION TO
FIGHT FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS
CALLED BY THE OCCUPY WALL STREET
MOVEMENT
RALLY TO STOP THE EVICTION OF
DETROITER KYRA WILLIAMS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2011, 5:00
p.m.
1140 HIBBARD, DETROIT
(just north of E. Jefferson,
east of Van Dyke)
Kyra
Williams had a lease agreement
on a property located at 1140
Hibbard, Detroit, MI
48214. Ms.
Williams and the landlord had
an agreement under which she
was paying rent with an option
to buy the property.
Kyra Williams paid a
significant amount of money in
rent to the landlord.
25% of the monthly payment was
being collected for the
purchase of the property.
Kyra
Williams received notice of an
eviction hearing for Dec. 21,
2009. The reason for the
eviction hearing was that
unbeknownst to Ms. Williams,
the landlord and owner of the
home had defaulted on the
mortgage for the property with
CitiMortgage.
Kyra
Williams attended the 36th
District Court hearing and
tried to explain she was the
tenant in the property and had
a lease with option to
purchase the
property. The
lender CitiMortgage finally
agreed to sell the property to
Ms. Williams. She
provided proof of funding and
even made repairs to the
property in anticipation of
purchasing the home in
conformance with this
agreement.
Ms.
Williams waited the final
approval of the sale and a
closing date. Instead of
a closing date, Ms. Williams
recently received a message
that CitiMortgage changed its
mind and was moving forward
with the eviction. A
writ of eviction has already
been signed and Ms. Williams
can be evicted at any time.
The
City of Detroit has lost
250,000 people to foreclosures
and evictions because of the
actions of all the major
banks, Citi, Bank of America,
Chase, Wells Fargo, etc., who
have sn utter disregard for
the rights of individuals like
Ms. Williams and the
destruction to our communities
that evictions and
foreclosures have wrought.
The
Moratorium NOW! Coalition,
Occupy Detroit and Southeast
Michigan Jobs with Justice are
joining together to say enough
is enough. We are
prepared to do what is
necessary to keep Ms. Williams
in her home and defend others
like her. We are joining
with the Occupy Our Homes
campaign which is staging
actions all over the U.S. on
Dec. 6. And we are
demanding that the governors
and President Obama
immediately enact a two-year
moratorium on all foreclosures
and foreclosure-related
evictions, especially in light
of the trillion-dollar bailout
to the banks which takes place
with every foreclosure and
eviction through the federal
takeover of Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.
Click HERE to
join, endorse or
volunteer for the OCCUPY
FOR JOBS NETWORK!
Read
the Occupy 4 Jobs call
Occupy
4 Jobs on 
Occupy 4
Jobs Network
Solidarity Center, 55 W.
17th St. #5C, New York, NY
10011
212.633.6646
www.Occupy4Jobs.org
Email: info@occupy4jobs.org
Occupy
Detroit
occupydetroit.us
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Moratorium NOW! has a new phone
number: 313-744-7912
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President
Obama must take action through executive
order to defend our rights to our jobs
and our homes. Just as the
Presidents bypassed Congress to wage wars
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, President
Obama must bypass Congress to declare a
war on unemployment and foreclosures and
evictions that are destroying our
communities.
Full
Employment is the Law
The Full
Employment and Balanced Growth Act of
1978 provided that within five
years of passage of the Act, the President
and Congress were to implement policies
guaranteeing that the unemployment rate
was never to exceed 4% a year. In
July 2011, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate
was 9.1%, and the real unemployment rate,
including discouraged workers who still
want jobs and part-time workers who desire
full time work, was 16.1%. This is a
gross violation of the law.
The Full
Employment and Balanced Growth Act of
1978, Section 3111, mandates that
when high unemployment persists (ie during
a jobless recovery) the President is
required to initiate supplementary
programs to reduce unemployment.
Included among these programs are (1)
accelerated public works programs (2)
public service employment; (3) State and
local grant programs; (4) extending
unemployment insurance; skill training in
both the private and public sector; and
(6) youth employment programs.
The budget bill developed by President
Obama and Congress, mandating trillions in
cutbacks at the precise moment when
massive federal public works programs are
critical to fight unemployment, violates
the Full Employment Act and must be
immediately overturned and
disregarded. The President must take
immediate action through executive order
implementing programs to achieve Full
Employment in accordance with the law.
Housing
is a Right
Today the federal government, through its
takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
along with the Federal Housing Authority,
owns at least 75 of all mortgage
loans. ever, rather than utilizing
this federal takeover of the housing
market to benefit homeowners and renters,
the federal government is continuing to
bail out the banks, paying the banks full
value for the fraudulent and predatory
loans which they created, and then
throwing millions of homeowners into the
streets.
It’s time for the federal government to
bail out the people and not the
banks. President Obama should
immediately declare a two year moratorium
on all foreclosures and evictions, during
which times the loans could be
renegotiated to their real value, with the
banks eating the losses for the fraud they
practiced. Rather than selling off
government owned housing to investors and
sharks, the government should train our
youth to rebuild these homes and reoccupy
them with the millions of homeless and
unemployed.
Fight or
Starve
In the 1930’s, as direct result of the
mass struggles of the unemployed and
unions, 25 states implemented Moratoriums
on Foreclosures. The Michigan
Moratorium Act outlawed foreclosures for 5
years. In addition, the federal WPA,
Works Progress Administration, put 8
million people to work, building schools,
highways, bridges and dams which are still
functioning today. It was people
hitting the streets in the millions that
won these victories. It’s time to
revive that movement to guarantee our
rights to jobs and housing, and to demand
that President Obama represent the workers
and poor who elected him, not the
billionaires, bankers and generals who are
setting policy today.
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Detroit
Eastside Neighborhood Assembly
Re-scheduled
Saturday,
Sept. 10, 2011
time: TBD
Corrigan
Playground
(E.
Warren Ave. & Alter Road,
Detroit)
Speakers
~ Music
~ Free Food
~
Free
Foreclosure Legal Consultation
Organize
to
- Stop
Foreclosures
- Save
Public Schools
- Fight
for a Jobs Program
- Demand
Healthcare for All
- Healthcare
for All
- Save
Social Security
- Medicaid,
and Medicare
- Stop
ALL the Wars
Make
the Banks Pay
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TELL CITY COUNCIL:
- MAKE THE BANKS PAY
FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF OUR
CITY
- NO CUTS IN SERVICES
AND ATTACKS ON PUBLIC
WORKERS
While Mayor Bing and Detroit
City Council argue over what city
services to cut and many workers to
lay off, the banks who are destroying
our community and the city’s tax base
with illegal foreclosures based on
racist predatory loans, are reaping a
bonanza off the city budget.
This year alone, the banks are being
paid $216 million in interest payments
(profits) out of city tax
revenues. Casino tax dollars
don’t even go into the general fund –
they go to a trustee for payment of
debt service to the banks.
Why should the same banks which have
leveled our communities have first
lien on city tax dollars? Rather
than pay the banks hundreds of
millions in debt service, City Council
and the Mayor should be demanding that
the banks repay the city for the
destruction they have caused.
The banks should be made to pay for a
massive jobs program to train our
youth to repair vacant homes and
rebuild our communities.
Article:
How the Banks Destroyed Detroit
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Wayne
County Commissioner Martha Scott introduces
the
Homeowner Protection &
Neighborhood Preservation Act on
April
7, 2011
The
Moratorium NOW! Coalition urges
everyone to support this initiative!
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CLICK HERE
for a listing around the
country from Jobs
With Justice Website
CLICK
HERE
to
send a "Kill the Bill" email
to every Wisconsin legislator! |
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DEMAND A
NATIONAL MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES
AND EVICTIONS
Vanessa Fluker
confronts Congress about the incentive
for banks to foreclose on homes:
Most Home
Loans Are Owned or Backed by the
Federal Government
Federal
Government is now the force behind
most evictions
Today the vast majority of home loans are
owned or backed up by the federal
government. This means when your home is
foreclosed, the government pays off the
bank for the full value of the inflated
loan, evicts you from your home, and then
sells off your home to some investor for
peanuts. This is a silent bail-out of the
banks. Instead of evicting us from our
homes, the government should declare a
moratorium on foreclosures – just like
they did in 25 states during the 1930’s.
Then people could stay in their homes with
affordable payments, based on the real
value of their property.
Today the vast majority of home loans are
owned or backed up by the federal
government. This means when your home is
foreclosed, the government pays off the
bank for the full value of the inflated
loan, evicts you from your home, and then
sells off your home to some investor for
peanuts. This is a silent bail-out of the
banks. Instead of evicting us from our
homes, the government should declare a
moratorium on foreclosures – just like
they did in 25 states during the 1930’s.
Then people could stay in their homes with
affordable payments, based on the real
value of their property.
Today the vast majority of home loans are
owned or backed up by the federal
government. This means when your home is
foreclosed, the government pays off the
bank for the full value of the inflated
loan, evicts you from your home, and then
sells off your home to some investor for
peanuts. This is a silent bail-out of the
banks.
Instead of evicting us from our homes, the
government should declare a moratorium on
foreclosures – just like they did in 25
states during the 1930’s. Then people
could stay in their homes with affordable
payments, based on the real value of their
property.
Demonstration
called
by the People Before Banks Coalition,
and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to
Stop Foreclosures, Evictions, and
Utility Shutoffs
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People
Before Banks Coalition
"Bail
Out of Chase"
PBBC
staff: Rev. Charles Williams,
734-652-6382 or Joan Smith,
402-689-8878.
The People
Before Banks Coalition unites
organized labor, faith communities and
local organizations in a campaign
calling on JP Morgan Chase Bank to do
the right thing. Coalition leaders are
asking individuals and organizations
to sign a pledge to withdraw their
Chase accounts and/or cancel their
Chase credit cards if the bank
continues to reject two actions that
are morally and economically just:
1. Declare
a
two-year moratorium on
foreclosures
As a beneficiary of
billions of taxpayer dollars spent
to bail out the banks, Chase should
take the lead in stemming the flood
tide of foreclosures sweeping the
country. In communities devastated
by unemployment, people need a
temporary bailout scaling back their
housing costs to affordable levels.
2. Sever
its
business ties with the RJ Reynolds
Corporation if
the
tobacco giant refuses to join
negotiations with the Farm Labor
Organizing Committee over the
slave-labor working conditions at
the company’s contract growers in
North Carolina. Chase is RJ
Reynolds’ principal creditor.
To
encourage Chase Bank to take these
urgent steps, we are
enlisting supporters to sign a
pledge to withdraw their Chase
accounts and/or cancel their Chase
credit cards. The UAW has
already made the pledge and we are
asking individuals and organizations
to join this campaign.
CHASE
BANK AND HOME FORECLOSURES
JP
Morgan Chase is now racking up
growing profits at the same time it
admits to massive irregularities in
the foreclosure of homes without
proper documentation. Chase and
other mega banks would rather rush
to foreclosure when the mortgage is
federally insured, collecting the
full value at taxpayer expense.
Chase
proclaims that it has “offered more
than 900,000 mortgage modifications
to troubled homeowners,” but
government reports for the Home
Affordable Modification Program
(HAMP Servicer Report, August 2010)
indicate that Chase has a poor
record for making these
modifications permanent. Chase finds
it cheaper to postpone permanent
modification or deny it altogether
if it can collect on federal
insurance for the full value of the
foreclosed mortgage.
Chase
has joined only a portion of
Michigan’s “Helping the Hardest Hit”
for the unemployed, at the same time
that the bank is the prime
contractor to the state of Michigan
for issuing debit cards to those
collecting unemployment insurance.
Chase Bank, while collecting the
fees from those cards, should be in
the forefront of guaranteeing that
the unemployed do not lose their
homes. (For more information, go to
http://www.moratorium-mi.org/).
REYNOLDS
AMERICAN AND MIGRANT FARMWORKERS
Every
year, thousands of migrant farm
workers travel to North Carolina to
work for tobacco growers under
contract to RJ Reynolds. Many suffer
from subminimum wages, corrupt crew
leaders, extreme poverty,
unregulated labor camps, and serious
daily health risks, including
nicotine poisoning and heat stroke.
JP Morgan Chase is one of the lead
banks in a consortium of lenders
that has invested $500 million in
Reynolds.
UAW
President Bob King recently visited
the tobacco fields with Baldemar
Velasquez of the Farm Labor
Organizing Committee. “Chase needs
to help unemployed homeowners in
Michigan and underpaid farm workers
in the Carolinas,” King said on his
return. “The bank could make a huge
difference by suspending
foreclosures and by pressuring RJ
Reynolds to join negotiations with
farmworkers and contract growers.”
(For more information go to http://supportfloc.org/)
The
People Before Banks Coalition unites
faith-based activists, community groups,
and unions on behalf of social justice.
Its constituent groups include the
Interfaith Workers Justice Committee,
the UAW, the Farm Labor Organizing
Committee, Rainbow PUSH, Moratorium
Now Coalition to Stop Foreclosures,
Evictions, and Utility Shutoffs,
and Jobs With Justice.
For more information, contact:
peoplebeforebanks@gmail.com
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Stop
the Eviction of Michelle Hart and
her Mother
Demand a Two Year
Moratorium on all Foreclosures &
Evictions
STOP Bank of
America
UPDATE: The
eviction hearing for Michelle Hart and
her mother has been rescheduled for Dec.
15. It appears that the fraud
(lost documents, improper title
tranfers, robosigning, etc.) that has
been exposed in hundreds of thousands of
foreclosures around the U.S. may exist
in this case as well.
The very same week that Bank of America --
and other major banks -- announced it was
suspending foreclosures to try to clean up
their massive fraud, Michelle Hart and her
elderly mother were served with eviction
papers by Bank of America! Bank of
America’s lawyers informed Ms. Hart’s
representative that they fully intend to
evict them from their Southfield home
despite BOA’s public proclamations and the
front page news headlines that call into
question every property transaction during
and after the housing crisis erupted.
WE
DEMAND: LOAN MODIFICATION, NOT
EVICTION!
BOA would rather toss Michelle Hart and
her mother, who suffers from pancreatic
cancer, out on the street, than negotiate
a loan modification.
Michelle Hart and her mother -- like
hundred of thousands of others -- applied
for a loan modification of their usurious,
adjustable-rate mortgage from Countrywide
and Bank of America to reflect her reduced
income. BOA refused to modify Ms.
Hart’s usurious, adjustable-rate mortgage.
BOA ignored the binding Consent Agreement
to modify loans that it signed with the
Attorney General’s office on Oct. 6,
2008. BOA even received $7 billion
from the federal government to participate
in the Making Home Affordable Program.
Why is virtually every government program
announced to help homeowners with
modifications collapsing? The
programs don’t work because they are based
on the belief that the same banks that
have perpetrated and profited from massive
foreclosure fraud, will treat borrowers
who seek modifications in a fair manner
when they seek modifications of their
loans. Borrowers are stymied.
It is a fact that the lenders either have
no one to answer their calls, or when they
do, the banks routinely deny the
modifications, violating the banks’
agreements with the government to carry
out modifications.
IT IS IMMEDIATELY NECESSARY FOR THE
GOVERNMENT TO DECLARE A NATIONAL TWO YEAR
MORATORIUM ON ALL FORECLOSURES AND
EVICTIONS SO MORTGAGE PAYMENTS CAN BE SET
BASED ON HOMEOWNERS’ ABILITY TO PAY AND
THE PRINCIPAL IS REDUCED TO THE ACTUAL
VALUE OF THE HOMES.
The majority of home loans are now either
owned or backed-up by the federal
government through Fannie Mae, Freddie
Mac, or the FHA. The president and
the governor have the authority and
responsibility to declare such a
moratorium by executive order. Join
the struggle to demand a TWO YEAR
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS
to save our communities and defend our
human right to decent affordable housing.
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SIGN
THE PETITION:
DEMAND
A TWO-YEAR NATIONAL MORATORIUMON
FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS NOW!
Stop
the "Silent Bailout" to the Banks!
Send
online messages demanding that
President Obama, Treasury Secretary
Geithner, Housing and Urban
Development Secretary Donovan, members
of the House and Senate Banking and
Finance Committees, the Joint Economic
Committee, Congressional leaders, your
own Congressional delegation, the
Governor of your state, and media
representatives! petition
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FIGHT
FOR A PROGRAM THAT PUTS PEOPLE
BEFORE PROFITS AND WAR!
MORATORIUM
ON FORECLOSURES & EVICTIONS
STOP
THE “SILENT BAILOUT” TO THE BANKS
Today
the vast majority of home loans are
backed up the federal government
through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA
or the Veterans
Administration. This means
when your home is foreclosed, the
government pays off the bank for the
full value of the inflated loan,
evicts you from your home, and then
sells off your home to some investor
for peanuts. The difference
between what the government
reimburses the banks for your
mortgage and the price the home
sells for is paid by the
taxpayers.
This silent bailout of the banks,
which occurs with virtually every
foreclosure, amounts to $400 billion
for Fannie Mae- and Freddie
Mac-backed loans, and hundreds of
billions more on FHA properties.
Instead of the government evicting
us from our homes, the government at
both the federal and state level
should declare a Moratorium on
Foreclosures and evictions, just
like the foreclosure moratoriums
that were enacted by 25 states
during the 1930s. Instead of the
government bailing out the banks by
paying off overvalued loans, they
should allow people to stay in their
homes with affordable payments based
on the real value of the property.
And the criminal shut-offs of power
by DTE and the Water Board must be
halted so people can survive this
economic crisis.
MONEY
FOR JOBS, NOT FOR WAR
FOR A
MASSIVE PUBLIC JOBS PROGRAM
The
Pentagon war budget is over $700
billion a year, and that doesn’t
even include the tens of billions of
dollars a year spent on the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan and supporting
Israeli apartheid. It’s time
to end U.S. wars and military
occupations abroad. The vast
sums spent on war should be used
instead for a massive jobs program
modeled on the Works Progress
Administration of the 1930s, and to
provide free and universal health
care for all. A “jobless
recovery” violates the Full
Employment Act enacted in 1946 and
reaffirmed in 1978, which mandates
that the government has a duty to
insure jobs for all.
END
PRIVATIZATION, WAGE CUTS AND SCHOOL
CLOSINGS
STOP
DEBT SERVICE AND INTEREST PAYMENTS
TO THE BANKS
THAT
ARE ROBBING CITY BUDGETS
While
services are slashed, city workers
are being laid off and forced to
accept draconian wage and benefit
cuts and schools are shut down and
class sizes increased, the same
banks that have destroyed our
neighborhoods have asserted direct
control over and are robbing the
public budgets.
This year alone, the City of Detroit
will pay over $220 billion in debt
service to the banks. Casino
tax revenues are handed directly
over to U.S. Bank. The banks
have first lien on state revenue
sharing dollars. 71% of state
aid to the schools, amounting to
$438.2 million this year, goes to
the banks instead of being used to
educate our youth. The banks’
grab on school operating funds is
slated to go up to $523.8 million in
2011.
In the 1930s Detroit Mayor Frank
Murphy led a national movement for a
Moratorium on the cities’ debts to
the banks. We need a
Moratorium on debt service today to
stop the banks’ robbery of Detroit
and every U.S. city.
END
RACISM & BIGOTRY – STOP POLICE
BRUTALITY
FULL
RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS – NO WORKER IS
ILLEGAL
Stop
police brutality. End the
stepped up-raids by ICE (Immigration
and Customs Enforcement), the
increase in hate crimes against
women and
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender
people, and lack of rights and
accessibility for people with
disabilities. These ills are meant
to intimidate and divide the working
class to prevent the kind of unified
struggle needed against the banks
and bosses. We reject the idea
that any worker is illegal and
demand full rights for immigrant
workers including the undocumented.
STOP
ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION
FOR A
PEOPLE’S TAKEOVER OF THE OIL
COMPANIES
The BP
catastrophe in the Gulf and the oil
pipeline disaster in Michigan point
out the need for a people’s takeover
of the oil companies and energy
monopolies to stop their destruction
of the environment in their drive to
maintain their obscene
profits. Oil and all resources
belong to the people and should be
controlled by the people to provide
safe energy for all.
STOP
UNION BUSTING – PASS THE EMPLOYEE
FREE CHOICE ACT
While
corporate profits increase, wages
continue to decline during this
“jobless recovery.” We need to
reinvigorate the union movement to
guarantee jobs at living wages for
all.
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UPDATE:
MARVIN AND LOUISE MORRIS
HOME SAVED!
It
appears that we have won a victory in
the Morris case. Yesterday,
Vanessa Fluker, the Morris's attorney,
was called by the attorney for Homeq
and Barclays. He informed Ms.
Fluker that they were adjourning the
hearing for a judgment for possession
scheduled for Friday, July 23,
2010. In addition, they were
proposing a resolution to this case
that would allow the Morris's to stay
in their home.
Based on this call, people do not need
to pack the courtroom on Friday.
We want to thank everyone for the
calls and emails to Homeq that
produced this settlement offer.
ever, as no settlement is final until
it has been reduced to a written
agreement, people should stay on the
alert.
Let's keep up the struggle to stop
foreclosures and evictions and win the
Moratorium that is so desperately
needed.
Campaign
and background:
HELP
MARVIN
AND LOUISE MORRIS
SAVE THEIR HOME
DON’T LET HOME EQ AND BARCLAY’S
DEPRIVE DETROIT SENIORS OF THEIR
LIFETIME HOME
DON’T
LET HOME EQ AND BARCLAY’S
DEPRIVE DETROIT SENIORS OF THEIR
LIFETIME HOME
What you can do:
Thursday, July 22, 5:00 pm
Come to a Rally at the Morris home, 9592
Plainview, Detroit MI 48228 to express
solidarity with the fight to Save the
Morrises Home.
Friday July 23, 8:30 am
Pack the Courtroom – Judge Kathleen
Macdonald’s Courtroom, Room 1107 Coleman
A. Young Municipal Building, 2 Woodward
Ave., Detroit, MI 48226. Home Eq and
Barclay’s are asking Judge Macdonald to
issue a judgment of possession to take
away the Morrises home.
Contact Home Eq’s Executives to demand
that Home Eq stop this outrageous action
of taking the Morrises’ home.
email:
Art.lyon@homeq.com (CEO)
Keith.Becher@homeq.com,
1-916-339-6134-phone (COO)
Marvin and Louise Morris are senior
citizens, 79 and 77 years old
respectively. They have lived at their
home at 9592 Plainview, Detroit, MI 48228
for 32 years. Their home was paid off, but
unfortunately like so many others in
Detroit and across the country, they were
lured into a sub-prime predatory loan
re-financing.
Since that time, the Morrisses have been
in a constant battle to hold onto their
home. They previously challenged Home Eq’s
accounting practices, and received a
settlement which Home Eq has not
forgotten.
Now over a disputed arrearage of $7673.29,
the Morrisses once again face the loss of
their home. This time the courts have
ruled against the Morrises, and they are
facing imminent eviction from their home
of 32 years.
During the course of this litigation, Mr.
& Mrs. Morris have paid over $8,000
into escrow diligently paying their normal
monthly payment of $467.00 per month since
December 2008. This is on a monthly income
of less that $1000 per month. There have
been at least seven homes emptied by
foreclosure on their block. A home across
the street sold for $1200. If Mr. and Mrs
Morris are evicted, their home will sell
for far less than the $8000 they have paid
into escrow. The amount in the escrow is
more than the property in their area is
selling for now.
HomEq received federal funding for
modifications to “help” borrowers, yet
HomEq has never even attempted to work out
anything with the Morrises. Unfortunately,
the Morrises are not alone, senior
citizens are thrown out daily because
servicers like HomEq refused to work with
borrowers for homes that are now worth
only $3000-$4000, like the Morris’ home.
This conduct must be stopped.
Moratorium
Now Coalition – 313-887-4344
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The
Banks and Wall Street are making the
plans and pulling the strings!
Mayor Bing and Robert Bobb are
their tools
- Detroit Pension Fund
ripoff…Detroit School
closings/layoffs…
- Foreclosures and evictions
destroying neighborhoods…
- City workers face wage/benefit
cuts…
- DTE utility shutoffs kill
families…
- DMC to be sold…Mayor’s bizarre
“downsizing” plan…
- Immigrant families torn apart by
raids/deportations…
- Detroit unemployment at 45% - why
is there no public jobs program?…
DON’T LET THEM DESTROY DETROIT
Behind
Mayor Bing and Robert Bobb stand the big
banks and corporate firms – sometimes
working through “non-profits” like the
Skillman and Kresge foundations.
They have launched a wholesale attack
against the people of Detroit, our
democratically elected bodies (School
Board and Pension Fund Trustees), our
unions, our homes and schools – our very
right to live. We already gave
these banks trillions of dollars in tax
money bailouts. Now they are back
for more.
Sponsored by: Moratorium NOW! Coalition to
Stop Foreclosures, Evictions & Utility
Shutoffs
313-680-5508
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Tell Governor Granholm: IT'S
AN EMERGENCY
Demand that the Governor use her
powers to
DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY and a
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES,
EVICTIONS, and UTILITY SHUTOFFS
The people of Michigan need
emergency relief NOW to
survive the economic
catastrophe that we are in.
We demand that Gov. Granholm
exercise her authority under
MCL 10.31 to declare a State
of Economic Emergency in
Michigan and place an
immediate Moratorium on all
Foreclosures, Evictions and
Utility Shutoffs. In
addition, we demand that the
State Legislature pass S.B.
29 which calls for a
two-year moratorium on
foreclosures.
Furthermore, emergency
relief is needed in the City
of Detroit, the hardest hit
major city with 45%
unemployed, families losing
their lives due to DTE
Energy shutoffs,
neighborhoods destroyed by
foreclosures and evictions,
Detroit schools continuing
to fail, and City services
diminished due to lay-offs.
We must demand that the
Governor apply to President
Obama for money to bail out
Michigan cities and towns,
especially those with the
highest unemployment.
This should also happen in
every state. We need funds
for jobs for youth to
rebuild the houses that have
been stripped and destroyed,
and money to stop the
destruction of public
education and services in
our cities. The money for
the bankers, corporations
and military must go to
Bailout the People!
We demand that
Governor Granholm:
- Declare a
State of Economic
Emergency in the State
of Michigan!
- Order a
Moratorium NOW to Stop all
Foreclosures, Evictions
and Utility Shutoffs in
Michigan
- Request
President Obama declare
Michigan a Disaster Area
and Fund a Public Works
Program to Provide Jobs
Now
call 313 - 887- 4344 or email: moratorium@moratorium-mi.org
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65,000 lined up at Cobo
Hall October 6 for a few dollars
to pay rent and utilities -- many
more are desperate and suffering?
IT’S AN
EMERGENCY!
We
won’t
starve
or freeze this winter!
-
Gov. Granholm
has legal, constitutional
powers to declare an
economic emergency and
impose a moratorium to stop
foreclosures, evictions, and
utility shutoffs. Tell her
to do it. Call 517-373-3400.
-
Mayor Bing can
request emergency help—just
like in a tornado or flood.
Tell him to do it. Call
313-224-3400.
-
Let President
Obama know the stimulus
isn’t reaching us.
We need jobs or an
income, today. Enforce the Full
Employment Act
We need a national
moratorium on foreclosures and
evictions.
Bail out the
people—not the banks!
Call President
Obama: Comments: 202-456-1111 or
Switchboard: 202-456-1414.
TOGETHER
WE CAN FIGHT BACK AND WIN
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Demand
a
Federal Moratorium on Foreclosures
NOW!
BAIL
OUT THE PEOPLE - NOT THE BANKS
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- Demand that the first item in any
emergency federal legislation be
protection for the victims of this
crisis, the millions facing
foreclosures and millions of others
who are seeing their communities
destroyed by the foreclosure epidemic
brought on by the predatory lending
and fraud of the financial industry.
- Demand the enactment of an immediate
2 year federal moratorium on all
foreclosures. Such a
moratorium is mandatory under federal
law, which mandates the imposition of
a moratorium on foreclosures whenever
there is a declaration of a State of
Emergency.
- During the moratorium, an oversight
committee of community
representatives, civil rights
organizations, unions should review
and adjust every mortgage in the
country, so people’s house payments
reflect the real values of their homes
and their ability to pay. Such
oversight cannot be left to the
bankers or even to federal judges who
are often disconnected from the
reality facing working people today.
- Demand that rather than spending $1
trillion of taxpayer money to bail out
Wall Street, that money be used to
guarantee people’s needs, for decent
jobs, health care, education,
etc. It is the decline in wages,
massive restructuring that has
eliminated millions of decent paying
jobs, and spiraling health costs that
in large part has brought on this
crisis, forcing people to take out
unaffordable predatory loans just to
survive.
The Moratorium Now! Coalition has been
pressing for a statewide moratorium on
foreclosures in Michigan and recently
held a demonstration in Lansing, MI to
support SB 29, which would put such a
moratorium into effect.
The Coalition is also demanding that
new Detroit Mayor David Bing declare a
State of Emergency in Detroit, the
hardest hit city in the country by the
foreclosure epidemic with an 25% home
vacancy rate, and formerly apply to
Governor Granholm to place a moratorium
on foreclosures in Detroit pursuant to
MCL 10.31
For more
information contact 313-319-0870.
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SIGN THE ONLINE
PETITION demanding the Feds
implement an
IMMEDIATE
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES AND
EVICTIONS, NOW!
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Help
Organize a Mass Movement To Demand
Passage of the 2-year Moratorium on
Foreclosures Bill
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Only
a state-wide, mass movement to demand
passage of the 2-year Moratorium on
Foreclosures Bill can overcome the
power of the moneyed mortgage
companies and bankers. Everyone
concerned must become an organizer!
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Get the word out in your area – put
out leaflets and posters; write
letters to the newspapers; put a
notice in your community, union or
church newsletter; talk to your
neighbors, relatives, friends and
co-workers.
- Gather and send in endorsements of
the bill from your group – union,
neighborhood association,
minister/church board, student
government, etc. endorsement
form online
endorsement
- Get a resolution of support from
your city council.
- Be on the alert to organize for a
massive demonstration at the Capitol
in Lansing to demand passage of the
bill.
- Become an organizing center in your
area for the “MORATORIUM NOW!
COALITION to Stop Foreclosures,
Evictions and Utility Shutoffs.”
Contact the Detroit office to be
listed on the website and to get
quantities of flyers, etc.
- Donate to build this mass
campaign. Make checks payable to
MORATORIUM NOW COALITION and send to
23 E. Adams, Detroit MI 48226.
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Contact
Your State and Federal Representives
Demand a Moratorium!
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Directory
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