Video & Multimedia
Related: About this forumHomeowner testifies against Wells Fargo at Foreclosure Moratorium People's Hearing.
(I'm sharing because this needs to happen in every state. The new Federal programs are only going to help maybe 1% of those heading towards foreclosures. this bill will help renters as well as homeowners).
Peter Eisert, a homeowner from Excelsior, Minn., testifies at a Foreclosure Moratorium People's Hearing held by state Sen. Scott Dibble and Rep. Karen Clark (DFL, Minneapolis).
Their bill, HF 1886/SF 1521, would provide a temporary moratorium on foreclosures in Minnesota.
The legislation is largely symbolic, though, because the Republicans in power are unlikely to push it forward.
Eisert claims he was misled by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage and unable to get a home loan modification.
The value of his home, where he has lived since 1994, has fallen to $96,000 and he has fallen behind on payments.
Eisert was forced to file bankruptcy in order to remain in the home.
He has requested accounting information from the bank but says he has never received it.
To add insult to injury, during a recent conversation with a loan modification officer, Eisert was asked if he was recording the conversation, and that if he was, he was told the conversation would not continue. "A person should not have to file bankruptcy to keep their home," said Eisert. "This has caused me extreme stress and has affected my life, my sleeping, my eating, my health and my ability to work, my friendships and my relationships with my family. My dream is to have a peaceful, safe place to lay my head."
Rep. Clark offered that she or her colleagues could reach out to Wells Fargo?s lobbyists who often visit the State Capitol and attempt to help Eisert
[link:
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)St. Paul, MN - In a packed hearing room, more than a dozen legislators heard testimony March 14 on proposed legislation to put a moratorium on home foreclosures and the eviction of tenants from foreclosed properties. Representative Karen Clark and Senator Scott Dibble, authors of the Foreclosure Moratorium, Neighborhood Stabilization & Tenant Protection Bill (SF1521 and HF1886) chaired the hearing. The moratorium bill is an initiative of the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout (MCPBO).
Those testifying at the hearing included Cherrene Horazuk, Chief Steward of AFSCME Local 3800, Peter Brown of the Minnesota Tenants Union, Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee, Anthony Newby of Occupy Homes, Mel Reeves of Occupy the Hood and homeowners who have or are currently facing foreclosure, including Rosemary Williams, Bobby Hull, Ruby Brown, Peter Eisert and John Vinge.
Deb Konechne, a spokesperson for the MCPBO, testified, "This bill, which has been introduced in the House and the Senate, would place a 2-year moratorium on home foreclosures and a 2-year moratorium on the foreclosure related eviction of renters from foreclosed property."
She added, "This bill is a plan to keep Minnesotans in our homes. It also protects renters who too many times end up paying rent and a damage deposit without knowing the property is in foreclosure, only to be evicted through no fault of their own, only a few months later."
Rosemary Williams recounted her dramatic fight to keep her home. She said that when sheriffs evicted her and her family from her home in 2009, the Minnesota Coalition for a Peoples Bailout helped move her back in. Williams called for politicians to pass the moratorium law.
To date, Republican committee chairs have refused to hear the Moratorium Bill. Todays peoples hearing served notice on them. We will carry forward the fight for a moratorium on foreclosures. We will continue to challenge politicians that serve the banks and big business, stated Mick Kelly of the MCPBO.
Stacey Kemp, a Minneapolis homeowner gave her take on the hearing, stating "Stopping foreclosures means keeping our neighborhoods healthy and strong. The unemployment and underemployment rate has been bordering on 20% for a very long time. Working families that have been the core of our neighborhoods and communities are losing their homes because of an economic crisis caused by the 1%. I support this public hearing to demand that the legislators protect our interests - not those of the privileged few."
Video from the press conference preceding the people's hearing on the foreclosure & eviction moratorium
midnight
(26,624 posts)law yet. I'm assuming she is referring to a law to make these banks do what is expected of them with the bail out money.... No wonder Tim Geithner got rid of Elizabeth Warren.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)But we do have a wonderful DFL Governor and hopefully with the next election DFL will control House and Senate and Gov Dayton will sign in the the bill. And one for Healthcare and with absolutely TAX the RICH.
The DFL minority was pressured by local activists and homeowners facing foreclosure or foreclosed upon to bring up this bill.
You would think there would have been at least 1 or 2 Republican who had courage to sign on but alas they are cowards or controlled by ALEC... but it will change in the next elections.