MORATORIUM
NOW! COALITION TO STOP FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS
32 East Adams, 4th Floor, Detroit, MI 48226
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 27, 2009
Contact: 313-319-0870
MORATORIUM
NOW COALITION SUPPORTS WAYNE COUNTY SHERIFF
WARREN
EVANS’ APPLICATION FOR GOVERNOR GRANHOLM TO
DECLARE
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES IN WAYNE COUNTY
DENOUNCES
GRANHOLM’S REJECTION OF APPLICATION AS
LEGALLY
INDEFENSIBLE AND AN AFFRONT TO POOR AND WORKING PEOPLE
ANNOUNCES
PLANS FOR DEMONSTRATION AT STATE OF STATE ADDRESS,
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2009, 6:00 PM AT THE STATE CAPITOL
The Moratorium Now Coalition to Stop
Foreclosures and Evictions fully supports Wayne County Sheriff Warren
Evans’ effort in applying to Gov. Jennifer Granholm for a Declaration
of a State of Emergency in Wayne County and the imposition of a
six-month on Moratorium on Foreclosures in Wayne County to meet the
crisis.
Governor Granholm’s summary rejection of this
request is an affront to the poor and working people in Wayne County suffering every day from the foreclosure
epidemic that is destroying our communities. Last
week the Detroit News, citing Realcomp, reported that the median sale
prices of homes in Metro Detroit due to foreclosures fell to $57,000 in
2008, a 46.3% decline from 2007’s median sale price of $108,100. In the City of Detroit, the median sale price for
homes dropped to an astonishing $7,500. Despite the false pronouncements of “loan
modification programs” by many banks and mortgage companies,
foreclosures and evictions are continuing unabated in Wayne County. Every day
seniors as well as unemployed workers are being thrown out of their
homes.
Jerry Goldberg, an attorney who defends
individuals facing foreclosure, and a member of the Coalition, stated: “Governor Granholm’s statement that she does
not have the legal authority to declare a moratorium is absolutely
incorrect. In fact, under Michigan law
pursuant to MCL 10.31, the governor is invested by Michigan law with
the power to declare a State of Emergency in times of great public
crisis either in a particular locale on application of a mayor or
Sheriff, or statewide; and to promulgate reasonable rules, orders and
regulations ‘necessary to protect life and property or to bring the
emergency situation within the affected area under control.’ In Walsh v City of River Rouge, 385 Mich 623 (1971), the Michigan Supreme
Court held that the emergency powers to invoke and act on a State of Emergency were exclusive to the governor.
“In Russell v Battle Creek Lumber
Co., 265 Mich 649 (1934), the Michigan Supreme Court upheld the
emergency moratorium statute, Act No. 98, Pub. Acts 1933, which with
subsequent amendments placed a five (5) year Moratorium on foreclosures
in Michigan.
“The Michigan
Supreme Court adopted the ruling of U.S. Supreme Court in Home
Loan & Building Loan Ass’n v Blaisdell, 290 US 398 (1934). In that case, in upholding a Minnesota
Moratorium on Foreclosures, the U.S. Supreme Court held that upon a
declaration of a State of Emergency and pursuant to a state’s police
power during an emergency economic crisis, a moratorium on foreclosures
was constitutional, and that a state’s power to protect the health and
welfare of the people during crises essentially superseded the contract
clause of the constitution. In Makar
v Peoples Wayne County Bank of Dearborn, 284 Mich 489 (1938), the
Michigan Supreme Court again upheld the constitutionality of the
Michigan Moratorium Act, which had been in effect for four years when
this case was decided. The Court noted in
upholding this Act that one of its purposes was ‘to prevent valuable
property from being sold at distress prices occasioned by an economic
emergency and to give mortgagors a chance to preserve their equities.’ ”
The Moratorium
Now Coalition will be demonstrating in Lansing at the State Capitol on Tuesday
February 3, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. when Governor Granholm gives her State of
the State address. For transportation
information call 313-887-4344. Coalition
website is moratorium-mi.org.
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