 NEDAP News | Vol. 2 Issue 11 | November 2007
Welcome to the November 2007 edition of NEDAP News
NEDAP Joins March on Wall Street
 On November 28, NEDAP joined Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition and members of the NYC Anti-Predatory Lending Task Force to call on Wall Street's top investment firms to donate their holiday bonuses to homeowners facing foreclosure. The action put a spotlight on the $38 billion expected in year-end Wall Street bonuses, at the same time that hundreds of thousands of homeowners risk losing their homes because of abusive subprime and exotic mortgages, often purchased by these same investment houses.
Standing in front of the Wall Street Bull, the groups described the central role that Wall Street investment banks have played in helping fuel the foreclosure crisis, and then proceeded to the headquarters of one of the country's largest investment houses to deliver a letter demanding that Wall Street "Donate the Bonu$!" The groups issued the letter to the five largest U.S.-based investment banks.
Hotline Heats Up with Frozen Bank Accounts
A Nov. 11 article in the Daily News, "N.Y. banks are abusing the power to seize money," generated hundreds of calls to NEDAP's financial justice hotline - almost all from people whose bank accounts had been frozen by debt collectors. Even though subsistence income is legally exempt from debt collection, aggressive debt collectors are able to circumvent legal protections and freeze accounts - leaving people without access to the funds they need for basic expenses such as food, rent, and medicine. This month, NEDAP published new consumer resource pages that explain how to unfreeze a bank account and vacate a default judgment, as well as common defenses to creditor lawsuits.
A bill pending in Albany, the Exempt Income Protection Act, would end this practice by closing the loophole that allows debt collectors to freeze exempt funds.
NEDAP and NYRL Call on Governor to Stem Foreclosures
NEDAP joined members of New Yorkers for Responsible Lending (NYRL) at a Nov. 1 press conference in Albany, to call on Governor Spitzer to include foreclosure prevention funds in the state's executive budget.
One week later, NEDAP's Sarah Ludwig and other NYRL members were invited to participate in a press conference with Governor Spitzer and NYS Attorney General Cuomo, in which the Governor presented initiatives to tackle the foreclosure crisis.
Community Training and Advocacy Highlights
In November, NEDAP:
- Released a new pocket guide for homebuyers, created by the NYC Anti-Predatory Lending Task Force, which includes info about key mortgage terms, products, and documents; warning signs of predatory loans; and local and online resources to assist people in the mortgage and homebuying process. Download the guide here!
- Led two sessions at the National Consumer Law Center's annual conference, in Washington, DC, "Defending Debt Collection Suits," and "The Geography of Consumer Law: Using Mapping Software to Make Your Case."
- Conducted a training for volunteer lawyers and law students who will be counseling people defending themselves in debt collection lawsuits, through the Brooklyn CLARO project.
- Trained teachers and students in New Immigrant Community Empowerment's ESL and civic literacy program on the status of Social Security "no-match" letter requirements, as well as on Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) and other issues for immigrant workers.
- Participated in a homeowner forum hosted by State Senator Velmanette Montgomery at the Cornerstone Baptist Church in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
- Testified at a City Council hearing on the scope of the subprime lending crisis in NYC.
- Trained new "financial coaches" at The Financial Clinic, on redlining, the Community Reinvestment Act, and the impact of the two-tiered credit system on low income neighborhoods and communities of color.
- Appeared in various media outlets, including:
- MarketWatch, "N.Y. Governor wants a subprime-bailout fund"
- New York Daily News, "N.Y. Banks are abusing the power to seize money"
- Yahoo! Finance, "Unholy Alliance Fleeces Social Security Recipients"
- Indypendent, "Rent Wars of East Harlem"
- El Diario/La Prensa, "Exposing appraisal fraud"
- Capital News 9, "Foreclosure troubles"
- Schenectady Gazette, "Groups push to save people's homes"
- Press & Sun-Bulletin, "Spitzer, Cuomo try to limit impact of sub-prime mortgage market meltdown"
- Democracy Now!, "Minorities Hit Hardest by Subprime Mortgage Crisis"
- 1010 WINS (AM), a six-part series on the foreclosure crisis in NYC.
NEDAP welcomes your tax-deductible contribution, which may be made online or by mail.
NEDAP News is the monthly e-newsletter of the
Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project - www.nedap.org.
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