A win for homeowners in Colorado! Alliance affiliate Colorado Progressive Coalition has been working for two years to pass “Show Me the Note” legislation, which forces banks to prove they own the deed to a home before they can foreclose on it. On Monday, U.S. District Judge, William Martinez, ruled that the unsworn testimony of an attorney for a foreclosing party was not enough to foreclose on Lisa Brumfiel, of Colorado. Continue reading
As part of the escalation of tactics against mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, members of Alliance affiliate Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) joined Right to the City, ACCE and others to bring the fight directly to Fannie Mae at their regional headquarters in Los Angeles last week. Continue reading
Wells Fargo was put on notice last week as Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC), the Alliance for a Just Society, and community members took their grievances with the Wall Street bank to the streets of Denver. The week started out with a delegation of homeowners, union members, immigrants, and students delivering their set of demands to Western Regional CEO Tom Honig, and vowing to not let up on Wells Fargo until their demands were met.
They made good on that promise when a group of “Robin Hoods” joined CPC on Tuesday to take their money back. The delegation turned in over 300 signatures of individuals, all pledging to take their money out of Wells Fargo. They also pledged to actively work with the City of Denver to ensure that tax dollars would stay out of the hands of Wall Street.
The next day, 99 letters from occupytheboardroom.com were delivered to both Tom Honig, Western Regional CEO, and Nathan Christian, Regional President, who coincidentally live across the street from one another in a gated community. But snow, gates, and security cameras did not deter Robin Hoods from delivering their message. Watch what happened here.
On Thursday, homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes gathered outside the Wells Fargo Center to demand action. And Wells Fargo responded by locking their doors. CPC and the homeowners were not deterred and set up a makeshift “Fargoville” outside of the locked doors. Watching through the windows of the building, bankers looked out on more than 150 protesters. Angered at Wells Fargo’s use of high-interest subprime loans directed at communities of color and “robo-signing” tactics, the protestors demanded that Wells Fargo and other “big” banks put a moratorium on all foreclosures. In addition, they called on Wells Fargo to pay back home-owners who helped bail them out by resetting mortgages to their true market value.
Vicki Dillard, one of the protesters who is experiencing difficulties with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage after she was a victim of predatory lending, explained the group’s objective was to ensure that home owners are not the ones being blamed for the crisis.
“We are trying to name who the villain is, and that is truly Wells Fargo and the big banks. I believe that we are starting to refocus and get the target back on who the target really is.” Dillard said. “I hope that this motivates people to begin using their voice and to get our elected officials, the law, and hopefully the banks to do some things are on their own.”
Another group of protestors marched from the CPC offices on Santa Fe Drive to the Denver Performing Arts Center where they joined Occupy Denver in a protest at the Colorado Chamber of Commerce’s annual luncheon that featured Tom Donohue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Both groups are vehemently opposed to the U.S. Chambers investment of $750 million over the last 15 years to heavily influence elections and gain corporate-friendly policies for the benefit of the 1 percent. With swelled numbers the group then marched to the Wells Fargo Center to join the homeowners in “Fargoville.”
The week capped off with an action to highlight Wells Fargo’s investments in the two largest private prison corporations – GEO Group and Corrections Corporation of America. CPC, The Alliance for a Just Society, and hundreds of protestors met at the Auroria Campus. Students, dressed as the “Bulls of GEO and Wells Fargo”, were paraded down Main Street in a “prison stagecoach”, and the march continued on to Wells Fargo Center. The march ended with “Robin Hood” freeing the students and symbolically putting GEO and Wells Fargo in the prison instead.
The Mile High Showdown is just the beginning of Colorado Progressive Coalition and the Alliance’s campaign against big bank greed. To get involved, please go to www.progressivecoalition.org and sign up to become a member of CPC.
Congress is locked in a budget battle that’s grabbed round-the-clock media attention. Lost in the coverage are the real stakes in the debate, including the lives of the more than 50 million people covered by Medicaid, which is now in the budget-cutting cross-hairs. More than half of these 50 million are people of color. Racial disparities in health coverage have already reached alarming proportions. Cuts to Medicaid would make these disparities even worse, taking a toll on the real lives of real people. The experiences and perspectives of some of these real people are captured in Medicaid Makes a Difference: Protecting Medicaid, Advancing Racial Equity, from the Alliance for a Just Society and 14 members of its Health Rights Organizing Project, a network of grassroots organizations across the country committed to the fight for health equity. Continue reading
Forty homeowners and clergy members traveled across the country on Tuesday to Chicago’s Drake Hotel to welcome and urge the nation’s states’ Attorneys General to stand firm for a strong settlement agreement with the big banks.
While the Attorneys General gathered for their NAAG summer meeting, members of the New Bottom Line brought along “welcome packets” that contained cookies with frosted handcuffs to symbolize that the big banks must be held accountable for their crimes, a tourist map of foreclosed homes in Chicago, and a flyer with homeowner’s demands. In addition, they held a press conference to release “No End in Sight” a new report by New Bottom Line organizational member, National People’s Action detailing foreclosures in Cook County, IL. Continue reading
Nearly a year after the passage of health care reform, the Alliance for a Just Society convened members of its Health Rights Organizing Project, a national collaboration of grassroots community organizations working on health care, to reflect on that victory and to develop next steps in the long march towards an equitable health care system. This was the first face-to-face meeting of the coalition since health reform was made law in March 2010. Continue reading
September 23rd will mark the six-month anniversary of the passage of Health Care Reform. As the anniversary approaches, members and leaders of the Colorado Progressive Coalition (CPC) have been partnering with members of Congress for a series of forums across the state that highlight what the new health care law will mean for Coloradans. Continue reading
Twenty-seven leaders from grassroots organizations in six states came together in Seattle during three very hot days in early July to launch NWFCO’s newest training program, the Justice Leadership Academy (JLA). Continue reading
On May 5th, 2010, the Colorado state legislature passed a payday lending reform bill that is a huge victory against predatory lending, and will benefit an estimated 200,000 low-income Coloradans annually. Continue reading
