A campaign of National People's Action

How to Make Obama’s Plan Work

In Foreclosures on July 2, 2009 at 9:09 pm

The Obama administration has proposed the creation of a new agency, a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). This could be a great thing, if it actually results in an agency that takes consumer protection seriously and has the power to do it. It could also be disastrous, if the new agency just inherits the existing dysfunctional culture and weak rules and only part of the power of the existing regulators.  Here are NPA’s recommendations for an effective CFPA:

1. Do Not Separate CRA Examinations from CRA Enforcement The CFPA must have explicit authority to stop or delay any financial institutions application for merger, expansion or branch closure. The denial of such an application should be an automatic outcome if the institution receives a CRA grade below Satisfactory.

2. Have CRA Cover All Lending, Not Just Depository Institution Lending

3. Ensure that CFPA Focus Remains on Making Credit Available, Not Just Stamping Out Bad Products and Practices

4. Fund The CFPA through Fees on Financial Institutions Do not leave the funding of CFPA open to political manipulation through the appropriations or to the instability and potential conflict of interest problems of transaction fees.

5. Ensure That On-The-Ground Community Voices Are at the Table CFPA’s Board should have a seat reserved for a community-based group. The proposed Advisory Council should have specific authority to review proposed Agency actions and plans before they are implemented.

6. Retrain CRA Examination Staff to Ensure a Culture of True Enforcement

7. Make Data Publicly Available and Publicly Usable.  The CFPA should expand the fields currently collected under HMDA, establish a public loan modification database and ensure that all data is released in a timely and user-friendly fashion.

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Federal Reserve Forums Kick Off in Richmond, CA

In Bank Accountability, Foreclosures on June 13, 2009 at 3:09 am

save our homeTen percent of the homes in Richmond, California are foreclosed. One in ten. Home values have dropped 70%. The statistics don’t prepare you for the reality; on some blocks there are more boarded-up, empty houses than homes – on some, nothing but. Nor does it prepare you for the pain of those victimized by predatory mortgages. Berenice Ramos has already lost her home, but she’s continuing to fight for others in her community. She’s a leader of CCISCO- Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organizing, a PICO affiliate.

Berenice and CCISCO are doing amazing work to address the issue, winning an ordinance that fines banks $1,000 per day for poorly maintained properties, and pushing the city and county to pull their money out of banks that are not modifying bad loans.

CCISCO’s leaders are real experts on the foreclosure crisis because they deal with its real consequences every day. Yesterday they were able to make a compelling case to officers of the Federal Reserve, one of the main regulators of the banking system. It was the first of ten public meetings that will happen this summer as the result of the commitment Ben Bernanke made when NPA met with him in March.

200 people came, and CCISCO essentially asked for five things:
Help pushing lenders to modify bad mortgages; measures to keep the tenants of foreclosed buildings in their homes; policies that compel banks to fix their own mess by making quality, stable, affordable credit available to all communities without discrimination; greater transparency in mortgage lending so that communities and government can better hold lenders accountable for peddling bad financial products; and a follow-up meeting with Ben Bernanke after the conclusion of the ten forums.

The Richmond meeting was a big step toward making the case for systemic changes that will benefit our communities, but moving the Fed will take time. The national campaign should result in local victories, and the biggest win of the day was a commitment from Preston DuFauchard, Commissioner of the California Department of Corporations. CCISCO has won a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures starting July 1, and the Commissioner committed to prosecute banks who do not abide by the moratorium.

Here is some news coverage of the event.

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PICO and NPA Unite to Hold the Financial Industry Accountable

In Foreclosures on May 19, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Last Week, 40 leaders and staff from the PICO National Network and National People’s Action came together in Chicago. Representatives from California, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Iowa and Ohio joined hands to strengthen relationships and develop joint strategies to hold banks accountable.

We shared stories of our successes and struggles, and all of us came away with new ideas for local organizing to keep families in their homes and make affordable credit available in our communities. Our shared aim is to take the best local organizing, model it and amplify it across the country.

We looked at potential national campaigns and narrowed it down to two major, complementary components. A legislative and regulatory campaign will create rules that force the financial industry to make responsible, long-term investments in our communities. A corporate campaign will make an example of one of the industry’s worst predatory lenders and put an end to their discriminatory practices. Rickie Coleman from Sunflower Community Action in Wichita said, ‘This is about a real economic recovery in our communities.’

PICO is a network of 52 community organizations in 17 states. Since 1972, they have been doing some of the most innovative and effective community organizing. They are a great group and we are proud to be working with them. Together, our networks will be organizing in 25 states.

This historic partnership between two major organizing networks was prompted by a simple understanding by both parties: we can’t do this alone. No single organization is powerful enough to take on the financial industry, and the housing crisis in our communities is too urgent to let the traditional divisions between networks stand in our way. There is no time to lose.

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