Housing

Just got off the phone w a local homeless org, one of the biggest in LA, and they are seeing 300-400 new homeless people per month.

— Mark Horvath (@hardlynormal) June 26, 2012

Want to stop foreclosures by the banksters and keep the banks accountable? Please sign this petition, written by Patrick Porgans, to stop foreclosures, hold the banks accountable and keep people in the homes. Please send this out to all of your friends and relatives! For more information, contact pp [at] planetarysolutionaries.org.
We the People - Occupy Wall Street "99 Percenters"

WEB ADDRESS:
http://www.change.org/petitions/we-the-people-occupy-wall-street-99ers

PETITION TO GOVERNOR BROWN - STOP THE FORECLOSURE- HOLD BANKS ACCOUNTABLE

"WE THE PEOPLE"

In California, foreclosures continue to batter homeowners, averaging out at 1,866 a day, 77 an hour each day the past 10 months, or 1.3 foreclosures per-minute. That’s surely on the minds of many Occupy Wall Street “99ers.”

According to Shum Preston, spokesman for the California attorney general’s office, there was a recent “surge in foreclosures” between July and August bringing an additional 560,000 homes into the foreclosure process.

FOLSOM CITY COUNCIL CANNOT TURN ITS BACK ON WORKING FAMILIES

The Folsom City Council is poised to repeal its mixed-income housing ordinance at its January 11, 2011 Council meeting. The City of Folsom’s mixed-income ordinance requires that when “market rate” development occurs, that a portion of those homes be affordable for people that make less than the area median income. The City Council has also expressed a willingness to go back on its commitment to facilitate development of 405 units that are affordable to working families by 2013, at a time when this housing is needed more than ever.

For a family of four earning $58, 000 or less a year, housing options in the City of Folsom are limited. These families can include; teachers, firefighters, child care workers, retail employees and many others.

An employee working at one of the many Folsom Outlet retail stores earning less than $14.00 per hour would have to work more than 75 hours per week to afford rent in Folsom. Many of these employees are forced to commute. This adds to traffic gridlock and degrades air quality for everyone in the region.

According the most recent census data:

· 33.9% of Folsom households pay 30% or more of income on rent

· More than 30% of households in Folsom work in: retail, social services, education, food services, administrative or other types of service industries.

The Folsom City Council cannot turn its back on working families who struggle to make ends meet. The time to insure affordable housing options for people at all income levels is now.

WHAT CAN YOU DO? Folsom City Council members need to hear from you! Tell them not to turn their backs on working families; retain the affordable housing ordinance and meet the City's written housing commitments for households earning less than the median income.

You can do that by:

California Court Okays Discrimination Against Section 8 Tenants

Remember Donald Sterling, the NBA team owner and Los Angeles mega-landlord who has been sued multiple times for outrageous housing discrimination, most recently by the U.S. Department of Justice? Sterling is back in the news this week, again for discrimination in his role as landlord. This time, however, Sterling convinced a California Court of Appeal that it was just fine for him to discriminate against a Section 8 tenant. At this point, anyone who still believes in the myth that judges are “liberal activists” needs to have his or her head examined.

[Related: Wells Fargo exec used Malibu Colony home lost by Madoff-duped couple for extravagant parties, and from earlier this year - Wells Fargo cancels multi-million dollar Las Vegas trip after it is made public, while at the same time - Eviction patrol heats up on U.S. foreclosures]

The Secret Test That Ensures Lenders Win on Loan Mods

“NPV Test: Failed.”

That was the red-lettered verdict on the computer screen of a CitiMortgage negotiator in June. The result: An 83-year-old widow in Illinois was denied a loan modification through the Obama administration’s Making Home Affordable program, even though the employee admitted in an e-mail, “I am unable to come up with a reason for the denial.”

The Net Present Value test is a complex computer model used by loan servicers to determine whether a homeowner qualifies for the federal loan modification program. The test compares two scenarios – modification and foreclosure – and determines which would be more profitable for the lender. If it’s foreclosure, the lender has no obligation to modify the loan. But the model is a black box. What goes in isn’t entirely clear, and what comes out isn’t always reliable.

The Treasury Department has refused to release the exact formula for the NPV model, bringing criticism from homeowner advocates and industry experts. Cloaking the NPV formula in secrecy makes it difficult to identify any potential flaws in the design of the program, which has generated fewer modifications than anticipated [1]. There are assumptions built into the model, and they may not be the right ones, said Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center. “Someone needs to be able to review it.”

Please take a moment to sign the letter from Loaves and Fishes to Sacramento's Mayor and City Council. Attend the Feb 10th City Council meeting as well if you can. Details are below.

www.sacloaves.org/openletter

Thanks as always,
Bill

From: Joan Burke, Loaves & Fishes

Dear Friend and Supporter,

It’s been a tough winter on North C Street . We’ve all felt the chill of many below freezing nights and the sadness of realizing that the number of homeless people who must come to Loaves & Fishes for survival services continues to rise. It’s been a tough winter everywhere with widespread unemployment, economic uncertainty and fear.