Activists campaign to save Baltimore home from foreclosure

Community activists with the Network to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions held a picket line March 23 in front of the law offices of Cohn, Goldberg and Deutsch, LLC, a foreclosure firm. They were protesting to save the home of Renee Washington DeFreitas. Bank of America began the foreclosure process before it even reviewed her application for a loan modification.

Before leaving, activists went inside the law offices and delivered a letter with their demands. Sharon Black, a spokesperson for the group, told Workers World: “The attorneys inside the offices appeared rattled, startled and hostile. They’re used to conducting business as usual — doing the bidding of the banks without angry workers expressing their outrage.”

Black continued: “But this is what they should expect until there is justice in Renee DeFreitas’ case. DeFreitas represents thousands of workers who are losing their homes while banks continue to get bailed out.

“In this case the attorneys have been unscrupulous in rushing to foreclose on her home even before the process of reviewing a loan modification has been made. In addition, Bank of America has not even had a face-to-face mediation meeting as stipulated by state law,” Black exclaimed.

DeFreitas is a 51-year-old state employee and mother of five who did everything she was supposed to: She worked hard for long hours, volunteered for overtime when it existed, saved her money, and bought a home with the hope that she would have something as she grew older, both for herself and her children and grandchildren.

But state workers were forced to take pay cuts and nonpaid furlough days that drastically reduced DeFreitas’ already meager salary. Her once “dream home” has now became a nightmare.

DeFreitas wrote a letter to HOPE (Home Owners Preserving Equity), a state-sponsored program to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. In it she stated: “I worked my whole life so I could get my own home, which I did, and also make me proud to have my own, but now it’s a burden. I have used my savings to pay my mortgage, along with my 401(k). I’ve even gone as far as asking family members to help. I have gone into my insurance policies in order to keep my house.”

She also did everything right with Bank of America by filling out long forms and submitting over 44 pages of documentation to its BAC Home Loan Servicing to apply for a loan modification on her mortgage. But at the same time that she was being advised to fill out forms and to get in touch with HOPE, Bank of America began the foreclosure process.

Foreclosure crisis, bank bailouts continue

At a Dec. 8 congressional hearing, Laurie Goodman, senior managing director at Amherst Securities, testified that in the third quarter of 2009, 14.1 percent of borrowers — or 7.9 million homeowners — did not make their mortgage payments. She estimated that 7 million of these 7.9 million homeowners will lose their homes. (www.house.gov) Julie Gordon from the Center for Responsible Lending testified that with the effects of high unemployment, millions more would be added to these numbers. She estimated that by the time this crisis abates, as many as 13 million families will have lost their homes.

The Home Affordable Modification Program has fallen short because banks have simply not abided by the law. The promise of HAMP was that 3 to 4 million homeowners would be helped with loan modifications. But to date only 650,000 homeowners are now in a trial modification. Only a fraction of those have actually received a permanent loan modification.

HAMP also does not address those workers who have lost their jobs, a major shortcoming for the 30 million who are unemployed and left out in the cold.

How is it that bank profits are rising even as foreclosures grow exponentially? The reason is that the government is increasingly guaranteeing bank losses due to foreclosures by reimbursing the lenders at the full value for overvalued mortgages when there are defaults. This “silent bailout” continues every day.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the corporations that guarantee about half of the country’s mortgages, were taken over by the government in July 2008. Fannie and Freddie are burning so much cash bailing out the lenders that the Treasury is considering an infusion of another $400 billion in taxpayer funds into these entities. (New York Times, Dec. 17)

Coupled with funds from the AIG and GMAC bailouts, which are being utilized to pay off lenders on foreclosed properties, it is estimated that the total government lifeline to the banks could rise to $1 trillion. The effect of this continued bailout is that it actually discourages bank lenders from reducing the principal on mortgages whose values they inflated through their predatory lending practices. This is because they know the government will pay them full value. In addition, why even abide by HAMP and keep people in their homes when there is so much profit to be made by foreclosures?

Moratorium now!

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition in Michigan and the Community/Labor Coalition for a Moratorium in Los Angeles have been leading the way in calling for a halt on all foreclosures and evictions. The present situation cries out for a moratorium.

Jerry Goldberg, an attorney with the Moratorium NOW! Coalition, pointed out, “Even the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act passed in May 2009 states that it is the sense of Congress that there should be a moratorium on foreclosures until the Treasury Department certifies that HAMP has been implemented.” HAMP has obviously not been implemented.

The Network to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions is calling on people to “stand up against the banks.” In Baltimore, activists are launching a campaign to stop Bank of America’s foreclosure of Renee DeFreitas. This includes not only a national petition campaign, but picket lines, meetings and protests. It also includes utilizing whatever legal avenues may be at our disposal.

Black explained: “We cannot allow a trillion-dollar bank like BOA, which has received millions of our tax dollars, to destroy the lives of our friends, neighbors and co-workers and to get away with this. Every empty house not only crushes the dreams of its former occupants — it crushes the dreams of an entire community. If push comes to shove, we will organize a ‘community stay-in at Renee’s house’ to stop the sheriff.”

To make a donation or get involved, contact the Network to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions at 2011 N. Charles St., lower level, Baltimore, MD 21218; phone: 410-218-4835 or e-mail [email protected].