NPA, New Bottom Line urge new director’s name to be revealed and assurances that director will hold Wall Street accountable and push banks to provide restitution for homeowners
Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–May 21, 2012. While addressing the 40th annual National People’s Action’s conference, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said today that a director has been appointed to the newly-created Mortgage Fraud Task Force. Watch 7 second clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItcMSEthf8I&;feature=youtu.be
In light of this information, NPA and The New Bottom Line call on the Obama Administration to make the name of the director public.
The national bank accountability groups expect the new director to act with much needed urgency. This director must lead the task force to conduct an aggressive investigation into Wall Street’s fraud that will prosecute criminal activity and result in the big banks writing down at least $300 billion in mortgage principal for underwater homeowners, especially in the hardest hit low-income communities.
It has been almost four months since President Obama announced the formation of the federal investigation in his State of The Union, but there has been little to no significant progress to date.
“The director of the Mortgage Fraud Task Force has the power to help 11 million underwater homeowners and help the economy recover. We need to start working with him or her without further delay,” said George Goehl, executive director of National People’s Action.
“Every day another 6,296 homes get a foreclosure notice in the mail. We can’t wait to fix the housing crisis,” said Tracy Van Slyke, co-director of The New Bottom Line.
On Sunday afternoon, 1,000 community leaders converged on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s home to ask that he stop undermining Wall Street accountability and support a financial speculation tax. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-qCbZ_eccw&;feature=youtu.be See also http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/25/timothy-geithner-wheels-justice-turning-now_n_1454235.html
This morning, 1,000 community leaders, including underwater homeowners, packed the lobby of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and delivered a pink slip to FHFA Director Ed DeMarco because he is blocking principal reduction-reducing home mortgages to fair market value. Through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FHFA controls more than half the mortgages in the country. Since the President has not yet fired DeMarco, as NPA and NBL has called on him to do, the American people took it upon themselves to deliver a pink slip directly to DeMarco.
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National People’s Action (NPA) is a network of grassroots organizations with a fierce reputation for direct action that works to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. NPA has more than 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns and rural communities throughout the United States through direct-action, house meetings and community organizing. www.npa-us.org. NPA is a member of The New Bottom Line.
The New Bottom Line (NBL) is a growing movement fueled by a coalition of community organizations, congregations, and individuals working together to challenge established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities. Together, we are working to restructure Wall Street to help American families build wealth, close the country’s growing income gap and advance a vision for how our economy can better serve the many rather than the few. Coalition members include PICO National Network, National People’s Action (NPA), Alliance for a Just Society, the Right the City Alliance, and dozens of state and local organizations from around the country. www.newbottomline.com
