January 19, 2010
Thirty California community groups urged the Federal Reserve to strengthen mortgage lending rules in order to prevent predatory lending abuses from recurring and creating another financial crisis. The Federal Reserve was soliciting comments on proposed rules that finally address a number of issues that CRC, members and allies have been raising for years. The proposal includes placing restrictions on steering of borrowers into more costly loans; yield spread premiums where lenders pay brokers to stick borrowers with higher interest rate loans; and the use of English-only documents in loan transactions negotiated in non-English languages, as well as placing restrictions on Home Equity Lines of Credit abuses. To see the community group letter, click here.
From Foreclosure to Re-Redlining
The California Reinvestment Coalition's new research in five California cities shows re-redlining happening through a pattern of concentrated predatory lending and foreclosures, combined with higher denials for new, prime loans in neighborhoods of color. Based on original research using seldom analyzed lending and loan modification data, the report looks at how banks, including the largest financial institutions, have acted in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and Stockton over the last three years.
To download a pdf of the report, From Foreclosure to Re-Redlining, click here.
Major Changes to Regulate Tax Refund Loans
As tax season gets started, consumer advocates are warning taxpayers to stay away from refund anticipation loans, one of the most avoidable tax-time expenses. New research reveals these loans drained the refunds of about 8.4 million American taxpayers in 2008, costing them $738 million in loan fees, plus over $68 million in other fees.
Click here to read more about RALs.
Letters needed ASAP to stop payday predators!
Please join CRC, Consumers Union, the Center for Responsible Lending, the State Labor Federation, ACORN and the California Consumer Federation in opposing Assembly Bill 377 (on payday lending) during the 2010 State legislative cycle by sending a letter to the State Senate Judiciary Committee, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and the bill’s author, Tony Mendoza.
To learn more, click here.
To download the sample letter, click here.
Join the Fight for Financial Reform!
Will we allow Wall Street and banks to become an even more giant and unchallenged casino – or will the “great recession” generate enough groundswell to reform the system in favor of working people?
In the coming weeks and months, the American people have a historic window of opportunity to make a difference as financial sector reform moves through Congress.
Can you donate $100 or more toward this fight? Your donation will go toward the California Reinvestment Coalition using today’s version of David’s slingshot against Goliath – online media tools to tap into the growing groundswell, and channel it so that Congress, the Administration and the banks get the message loud and clear.
There’s an incredible amount of economic pain and outrage among ordinary Americans – but we need a progressive infrastructure to mobilize and channel it so that our voices break through.
Will you pledge $100 or more to build this fight? Your donation goes directly to making your voice count. We hope to raise $20,000 for David’s slingshot. You can donate online by going to our donor page on Network for Good.
Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money
How Greedy Corporations Destroy the American Dream
The California Reinvestment Coalition produced this documentary, entitled "Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money: How Greedy Corporations Destroy the American Dream" to show how the foreclosure crisis affects everyone. Foreclosures destroy the dreams of California families and threaten the stability of small businesses, city governments and neighborhoods. .
Mo’ Money tells the story of borrowers who were lied to and ignored by their mortgage loan servicers, and the people who are working to keep them in their homes.
It also reveals how this disaster could have been avoided if regulators and government officials did not ignore predatory lending practices.
