For a Moratorium on Foreclosures, Utility Shutoffs & Evictions

Whereas, a large number of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure, many as a result of being victimized by the predatory practices of banks and mortgage companies. One in every four subprime mortgage victims are either in or near foreclosure. Soon, almost 10% of the homes of working families across the country could be in foreclosure; and

Whereas, the growing economic crisis has caused a big increase in the number of evictions of renters from their homes and apartments, and utility shutoffs facing those unable to pay their gas and electric bills; and

Whereas, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, 25 states adopted a moratorium (freeze) on foreclosures, and such moratoriums were upheld by the US Supreme Court; and

Whereas, Governors, State Legislatures, the President and Congress, as well as the Department of Housing & Urban Development, have the statutory authority to declare a moratorium on home foreclosures and evictions during a time of either natural or economic emergency disaster. In early 2007 the governor of Massachusetts decreed a 2-month moratorium on foreclosures;

Whereas, Michigan State Senator Hansen Clarke has introduced a bill calling for a 2-year moratorium on foreclosures, in a state that is suffering the worst housing crisis since the 1930s, with tens of thousands also facing eviction and entire communities being decimated by abandoned and often vandalized homes which drive down property values -- a situation also facing communities in other states as well; therefore be it

Resolved, that Golden Gate Branch 214 of the National Association of Letter Carriers call on the President and elected representatives to implement a moratorium (freeze) on home foreclosures, utility shut-offs and evictions.

Adopted May 7, 2008 by unanimous vote. NALC Branch 214 represents 2,500 Postal Service letter carriers in 11 cities of the San Francisco Bay Area.