SUNTRUST BANK!
You'd evict a 76 year-old woman who lived in her home for 44 years over $41?"
SUNTRUST BANK
William H. Rogers... you're the CEO, right?
If I could just have a moment of your time...
I'll make this short...
I'm sure you're a busy man...
ARE YOU AWARE OF WHAT YOUR BANK IS DOING?
Allow me to run it down for you...
The woman is 76 years old.
76 YEARS OLD.
She lives alone.
This is her 44th year in her home.
44th YEAR LIVING IN THE HOME.
You're going to take her home because
you claim she's short by $41 a month in income?
$41.00?
She's been trying to get her loan modified for 4 years.
Ms. Reyes-Reley, who has owned her home for 17 years, fell behind on her mortgage when her hours were cut and vertigo prevented her from making the 100-mile one-way drive to work...
Woodlands National Bank called Anita and made a concrete offer to keep her in her home. But the following day, when Anita showed up to negotiate, she was told that the offer was off the table due to a minor technicality: she had called the bank four minutes too late.
A woman in El Paso has been fighting foreclosure for several months, saying she was making payments and that Citibank was crediting them to an escrow account without telling her or explaining why. A federal court recently issued a temporary restraining order preventing the bank from foreclosing while the case is litigated, but that didn't stop county constables from forcibly removing her from her home last week.
She asked for a loan modification. While on a trial loan modification, Johnson said she faithfully made payments for 10 months... Unwittingly, she later learned, the home had been put on a dual track: Loan modification talks took place in one office. The foreclosure process started in another.
Norm Rousseau was the victim of a bank error, and as a consequence he ultimately committed suicide.
We have put a woman named Gayla back in her home on Adeline.
Nearly two hundred people rallied in the park today a block from Gayla's old, and new, home in West Oakland. After Gayla spoke movingly about how the bank deceived her about a loan modification and then kicked her kids out onto the street in their pajamas while she was at work we marched over and ((re-occupied it))
And That Makes the Fight Worthwhile
Nonetheless, there have been more than a million foreclosures in California alone since the Great Recession hit. No amount of fighting by small, even fiercely dedicated groups, can do much against such a tide -- except to call attention to it and save the few homes of those who make contact with the right people at the right time and in the right circumstances.
Only laws can ultimately stave off the banksters' maws from continuing to devour the remains of America's houses. And yet our politicians, who were more than happy to send hundreds of billions the way of banks to save their CEOs' bonuses, have barely lifted a finger to help millions of Americans who have been unfairly or illegally foreclosed on or in danger of foreclosure. Congress has done nothing but countenance programs with so many caveats and gotchas and so toothless they help very few.
A small step is being taken today in California. The California Homeowner Bill of Rights should be being voted on today by the California Legislature.
Majority democrats do believe they have the votes to send the protections package to the governor's desk, despite opposition from businesses and lending companies.
The legislation has received far less attention than it deserves, considering the effect of the mortagage crisis on California. It did receive a ringing endorsement
in an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle yesterday, but coverage has been sparse.
If, IF it passes -- and there are no guarantees until the votes are counted and the Governor signs it, if he will -- some small steps will have been taken to provide for a fairer process for future foreclosures.
-- Prohibit lenders from foreclosing while considering alternatives to the foreclosure process.
-- Allow California homeowners to sue lenders to stop foreclosures or seek monetary damages if the lender violates state law.
-- Require large lenders to provide a single point of contact for homeowners who want to discuss loan modifications.
Still nothing will have been done for the millions whose homes are already lost; for those whom the mortgage modifications programs in place don't match; for those trapped in "underwater" houses who cannot refinance and with no means of escape; for those experiencing tragic circumstances that the banksters will still choose to come after.
Verily, the people who should be behind bars -- the bank CEOs and their minions, those who approved the creation and forced feeding of trash loans, and the politicians who continue to support them -- will continue to profit while the suffering of people and the economic malaise of our entire economy continues.
9:31 AM PT: HBoR being discussed on local public radio station now. KQED
10:26 AM PT: My sources tell me, wrt HBoR vote in Sacramento today:
Floor session starts at noon. Anticipated to be done by 2pm.
10:57 AM PT: Senator Correa is a ConservaDem whose vote might be needed. From Seneca Doane in the comments:
Just a reminder that Lou Correa's office can be reached at (714) 558-4400 or (916) 651-4034. Realtors are surely calling him this morning.
11:54 AM PT: Should be able to view Senate floor debate & vote here
12:07 PM PT: Says it's "in progress" but it's not showing anything.
http://www.calchannel.com/...
12:17 PM PT:
Torey Van Oot @CapitolAlert
Senate to gavel down soon. Foreclosure relief bill to come up for a vote
12:24 PM PT: Something is happening now. Video showing floor. Quorum is called.
12:30 PM PT: Okay, members of the Afghan Parliament are visiting the Senate floor.
1:19 PM PT: No idea what is going on.
Torey Van Oot @CapitolAlert
After honoring guests such as cowboys and cow girls and Sacto's Eppie Johnson, Senate Dems and Reeps head into caucus
1:29 PM PT: Senate is back. Not considering HBoR right now. Governor's appointments.
1:29 PM PT: Senate is back. Calling roll for some silly appointment.
1:32 PM PT: It's starting! Leno, author of the bill, thanking conference committee.
1:36 PM PT: Leno talking about the benefits of the bill, SB 900.
1:38 PM PT: Republican claiming they don't have copy of the bill. Asking for delay. Scratch that. Copies being delivered.
1:39 PM PT: Apparently temporarily delayed (just for a bit) because of this snafu.
1:46 PM PT: Back to it. Senator Noreen Evans, co-chair of the conference committee, speaking. Sounds confident.
1:52 PM PT: Evans going over the process that created the bill. Also reviewing tenets behind bill and provisions of bill.
1:55 PM PT: Calderon. (D) Key vote from conference committee, now talking.
1:56 PM PT:
rickjacobs @rickjacobs
In the meantime, Senate talks vampire movies. Having passed Asm, now debating SB900 #hbor Finally! .@CourageCampaign
1:57 PM PT: Calderson "very proud." "Borrowers must be treated fairly." Sounds confident too.
1:57 PM PT: "Egregious abuses committed against homeowners." "Due process."
1:59 PM PT: "Strong enforcement mechanism." "About time."
1:59 PM PT: "Very comfortable supporting this today."
2:00 PM PT: Lots more speakers until the vote.
2:00 PM PT: Blakeslee (R), in opposition, now up.
2:03 PM PT: "Why am I a 'no' vote?" -- Because you are an asshole.
2:05 PM PT: Objects to private right of action, allowing homeowner to bring case before a judge to stop foreclosure.
2:08 PM PT:
rickjacobs @rickjacobs
CA Sen Ron Calderon, not a liberal icon, speaking now, is making #hbor possible. He's a hero on this one. @CourageCampaign
2:08 PM PT: "Cottage industry of trial lawyers..."
2:10 PM PT: "Chamber of Commerce calls this 'job killing bill'"
2:10 PM PT: La Malfa (R), now up, in opposition.
2:11 PM PT: "Field day for trial attorney."
This is their only objection. Claim they would vote for it if these trial provisions were struck. Don't believe them.
2:13 PM PT: OMG, an R actually said "Greed out there in the private sector." Of course he quickly qualifies.
2:15 PM PT: Senator Corbett up. Strongly supports.
2:20 PM PT: Senator Harman (R). Yet another White Male in opposition. "If the borrow obtained injunctive relief."
2:21 PM PT: Does a temporary restraining order imply "injunctive relief." They keep harping on this provision.
2:23 PM PT: Claims he, as others did, likes the bill except for this. Almost certainly lying.
2:24 PM PT: Senator Gaines (R). "Uncertainty in the marketplace." YARWM. (Yet Another Republican White Male.) "Chilling Effect." How many buzzwords can he spew?
2:26 PM PT: Senator Huff (R). YARWM. "Must find a resolution." "Normal process hijacked."
2:28 PM PT: "Frivolous litigation." "Uncertainly." "Uncertainty." "99.5% there." Wants to vote it down today and bring it back in August. Hahahahahahaha.
2:30 PM PT: Senator Leno (D). Lots of compromise. Eliminated chain of title. Added right to cure. Team of contact. Five year sunset.
2:32 PM PT: Addressing strategic defaults. Not sensible. Can't qualify for loan modification. Addressing frivolous lawsuits. Bill lays out rules. If they break the law -- and they have broken law -- lay out requirements. Family who lost their home due their day in court.
2:33 PM PT: Senator Steinberg (President of the Senate) up.
2:34 PM PT:
rickjacobs @rickjacobs
Sen.Huff (R) says wait b/c realtors/bankers oppose #hbor. Realtors & banks will stop biz in CA if bill passes? @couragecampaign
2:35 PM PT: Addressing private right of action. "Calderon treads carefully in this regard, but supports this bill."
2:37 PM PT: "Attorney should be compensated for being able to making bank cure the problem."
2:37 PM PT: Thanks Kamala Harris.
2:39 PM PT: 10's of thousands of people who will be able to stay in their homes.
2:39 PM PT: "People came together with different points of view."
2:49 PM PT: IT PASSES!
New Diary
2:50 PM PT: BREAKING: We Finally Win One in California. Homeowners' Bill of Rights Passes Assembly and Senate.