Stop Loan Sharks

by Leigh Graham · 2009-02-10 12:00:00 UTC
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(Photo courtesy of Citizen Orange)

This. Is. awesome.  Come take Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America's Predator Tour!

Hundreds of people trying to save their homes from foreclosure flocked to Connecticut's wealthy Gold Coast this weekend to give financial kingpins a piece of their mind.

Homeowners are fed up – and many are frustrated that those who lead the companies that gave them their subprime mortgages live in luxury while they struggle so hard to meet their loan payments and not fall behind.

On Sunday, hundreds of angry homeowners and volunteers traveled in vans and minibuses and protested outside Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack’s multi-million-dollar mansion to tell the wealthy finance czar how they really feel.

Do read on about hundreds peacefully protesting in bright yellow "Stop Loan Sharks" shirts as part of a weekend of housing counseling for struggling homeowners.

The 21 year old NACA is run by Bruce Marks, a well-known housing activist with an MBA and former Congressional experience who campaigns for banking and lending industry reform.  From his bio: "On May 5, 1999 from the Senate floor, Senator Phil Gramm (R-TX), head of the Senate Banking Committee, attempted to portray banks as victims of Bruce Marks."  I went to a presentation by Cathy Minehan, the former CEO of the Federal Reserve in Boston that Bruce also attended.  When he stood up to question her on the bank's business practices, there was a feeling of warm exasperation on both their parts in dealing with each other.

Marks most well-known victory is in winning an $8B commitment from the former Fleet Bank for lending for low-income, underserved inner-city businesses and residents - out of that award came millions of dollars in funding for NACA to continue to advocate on behalf of low-income urban residents.  The crux of NACA's advocacy efforts now are responsible lending practices, including affordable, sustainable loan terms and financial products.  More coverage is available here.

This story warms my heart, as the Senate moves to vote on a bill that provides tax relief for well-off homebuyers and virtually nothing for "the lowest-income people and people really teetering on the edge of homelessness."  You all know one of the major points of this blog is to question our national priorities and to get more people to accept that poverty is a fundamental social problem that threatens us all.  Because who knows, you might end up homeless, or chasing the unwashed public off your lawn one Saturday afternoon.  And then what would the neighbors think??

Leigh Graham
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