The Nation: Battling the Banksters
7/1/10
Hold the applause. The president would like us to celebrate his "Wall Street reform," but the legislation is misnamed. Barack Obama did not set out as president to reform Wall Street in fundamental ways but to restore it. Judging by the largest banks' booming stock prices and executive bonuses, he appears to have succeeded. The leading bankers expressed relief when they saw the reform package Congress cobbled together on June 25. Wall Street, loathed by citizens everywhere, dodged the bullet in Washington.
Alternet: Occupy Our Homes: From the Streets to Foreclosed Homes, OWS Finds a New Frontier
12/5/11
Today, Occupy Wall Street and Occupy movements around the country will "go out of the streets and into the homes" of the 99 percent to draw attention to the economic, social, and racial injustice of the foreclosure crisis.
The Nation: Stop the Big Bank Payday Predators
11/7/11
NYTimes: Biggest Stock of Foreclosed Homes: Right Here
7/8/11
Although it never shared the notoriety of Miami, Los Angeles and Phoenix during America’s foreclosure crisis, the Chicago area now has the nation’s largest inventory of foreclosed homes because it is harder to unload troubled properties here than in most other metropolitan areas.
According to data compiled by RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks housing sales, Chicago ranks first among the country’s 20 largest metropolitan areas.
Bloomberg: Banks Will Be Sued If Foreclosure Talks Collapse, Attorneys General Say
6/21/11
The five largest U.S. mortgage servicers negotiating with state attorneys general over foreclosure practices would be sued if a settlement isn’t reached, two of the state officials leading the talks said.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper threatened litigation if settlement talks with the companies, including Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), break down.
Report: No End In Sight - Foreclosures in Cook County, IL 2010-2011
6/21/11
Report Introduction:
Click to enlarge [+]
Chicago Talks: Homeowners Welcome Attorney Generals to Town with Questions About Foreclosures
6/19/11
A National People’s Action report released in 2009, with Senator Dick Durbin, showed that 2009 was the worst year ever for foreclosures in Chicago, with the crisis deepening in middle class communities.
The New Bottom Line campaign, a coalition of grassroots community, faith and labor organizations is releasing an update of the research report for 2011, and will be acting to get the attention of state attorney generals, or AGs, to push for a strong settlement with the banks that is fair to homeowners.
NYTimes: For the Jobless, Little U.S. Help on Foreclosure
6/4/11
The Obama administration’s main program to keep distressed homeowners from falling into foreclosure has been aimed at those who took out subprime loans or other risky mortgages during the heady days of the housing boom. But these days, the primary cause of foreclosures is unemployment.
As a result, there is a mismatch between the homeowner program’s design and the country’s economic realities — and a new round of finger-pointing about how best to fix it.
