leftcol.inc
| Office |
5920 Second Ave.
(near Antoinette)
Detroit
Hours: Tuesday thru Thursday
11 AM to 3 PM
Orgainizng Meetings
Wednesday, 7 PM
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Please Donate
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Make
checks payable to: MORATORIUM NOW
COALITION and send to
Moratorium NOW Coalition
5920 Second Ave.
Detroit MI 48202 |
Committees
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Legal
Open to any with experience in litigation, including attorneys
contact:
Jerry Goldberg
313-393-6001
Media
Coordinates media relations, issues press releases and related issues
contact:
Abayomi Azikywe
313-671-3715
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Demonstrate at
Bank of America, 500
Griswold St., Detroit - Wednesday, Sept. 1 NOON
Protest Bank's refusal to participate in the Federal program to help
unemployed pay mortgages
NONE OF THE MAJOR BANKS ARE PARTICIPATING!
Support Michelle Hart who
is facing imminent eviction by Bank of America
FIGHT FOR A PROGRAM THAT PUTS PEOPLE BEFORE
PROFITS AND WAR!
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES
& EVICTIONS
STOP THE “SILENT BAILOUT”
TO THE BANKS
Today the vast majority of
home loans
are backed up the federal government through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,
FHA or the Veterans Administration. This means when your home is
foreclosed, the government pays off the bank for the full value of the
inflated loan, evicts you from your home, and then sells off your home
to some investor for peanuts. The difference between what the
government reimburses the banks for your mortgage and the price the
home sells for is paid by the taxpayers.
This silent bailout of the banks, which occurs with virtually every
foreclosure, amounts to $400 billion for Fannie Mae- and Freddie
Mac-backed loans, and hundreds of billions more on FHA properties.
Instead of the government evicting us from our homes, the government at
both the federal and state level should declare a Moratorium on
Foreclosures and evictions, just like the foreclosure moratoriums that
were enacted by 25 states during the 1930s. Instead of the government
bailing out the banks by paying off overvalued loans, they should allow
people to stay in their homes with affordable payments based on the
real value of the property.
And the criminal shut-offs of power by DTE and the Water Board must be
halted so people can survive this economic crisis.
MONEY FOR JOBS, NOT FOR WAR
FOR A MASSIVE PUBLIC JOBS
PROGRAM
The Pentagon war budget is
over $700
billion a year, and that doesn’t even include the tens of billions of
dollars a year spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and supporting
Israeli apartheid. It’s time to end U.S. wars and military
occupations
abroad. The vast sums spent on war should be used instead for a
massive jobs program modeled on the Works Progress Administration of
the 1930s, and to provide free and universal health care for all.
A
“jobless recovery” violates the Full Employment Act enacted in 1946 and
reaffirmed in 1978, which mandates that the government has a duty to
insure jobs for all.
END PRIVATIZATION, WAGE
CUTS AND SCHOOL CLOSINGS
STOP DEBT SERVICE AND
INTEREST PAYMENTS TO THE BANKS
THAT ARE ROBBING CITY
BUDGETS
While services are slashed,
city
workers are being laid off and forced to accept draconian wage and
benefit cuts and schools are shut down and class sizes increased, the
same banks that have destroyed our neighborhoods have asserted direct
control over and are robbing the public budgets.
This year alone, the City of Detroit will pay over $220 billion in debt
service to the banks. Casino tax revenues are handed directly
over to
U.S. Bank. The banks have first lien on state revenue sharing
dollars. 71% of state aid to the schools, amounting to $438.2
million
this year, goes to the banks instead of being used to educate our
youth. The banks’ grab on school operating funds is slated to go
up to
$523.8 million in 2011.
In the 1930s Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy led a national movement for a
Moratorium on the cities’ debts to the banks. We need a
Moratorium on
debt service today to stop the banks’ robbery of Detroit and every U.S.
city.
END RACISM & BIGOTRY –
STOP POLICE BRUTALITY
FULL RIGHTS FOR IMMIGRANTS
– NO WORKER IS ILLEGAL
Stop police
brutality. End the stepped
up-raids by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), the increase in
hate crimes against women and lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender people,
and lack of rights and accessibility for people with disabilities.
These ills are meant to intimidate and divide the working class to
prevent the kind of unified struggle needed against the banks and
bosses. We reject the idea that any worker is illegal and demand
full
rights for immigrant workers including the undocumented.
STOP ENVIRONMENTAL
DESTRUCTION
FOR A PEOPLE’S TAKEOVER OF
THE OIL COMPANIES
The BP catastrophe in the
Gulf and the
oil pipeline disaster in Michigan point out the need for a people’s
takeover of the oil companies and energy monopolies to stop their
destruction of the environment in their drive to maintain their obscene
profits. Oil and all resources belong to the people and should be
controlled by the people to provide safe energy for all.
STOP UNION BUSTING – PASS
THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
While corporate profits
increase, wages
continue to decline during this “jobless recovery.” We need to
reinvigorate the union movement to guarantee jobs at living wages for
all.
UPDATE:
MARVIN
AND
LOUISE
MORRIS
HOME SAVED!
It appears that we
have won a victory in the Morris case.
Yesterday, Vanessa Fluker, the Morris's attorney, was called by the
attorney for Homeq and Barclays. He informed Ms. Fluker that they
were adjourning the hearing for a judgment for possession scheduled for
Friday, July 23, 2010. In addition, they were proposing a
resolution to this case that would allow the Morris's to stay in their
home.
Based on this call, people do not need to pack the courtroom on Friday.
We want to thank everyone for the calls and emails to Homeq that
produced this settlement offer. However, as no settlement is
final until it has been reduced to a written agreement, people should
stay on the alert.
Let's keep up the struggle to stop foreclosures and evictions and win
the Moratorium that is so desperately needed.
Campaign and
background:
HELP
MARVIN AND LOUISE MORRIS
SAVE THEIR HOME
DON’T LET HOME
EQ AND BARCLAY’S
DEPRIVE DETROIT SENIORS OF THEIR
LIFETIME HOME
DON’T LET HOME
EQ AND BARCLAY’S
DEPRIVE DETROIT SENIORS OF THEIR
LIFETIME HOME
What you can do:
Thursday, July 22, 5:00 pm
Come to a Rally at the Morris home,
9592 Plainview, Detroit MI 48228 to express solidarity with the fight
to Save the Morrises Home.
Friday July 23, 8:30 am
Pack the Courtroom – Judge Kathleen
Macdonald’s Courtroom, Room 1107 Coleman A. Young Municipal Building, 2
Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226. Home Eq and Barclay’s are
asking
Judge Macdonald to issue a judgment of possession to take away the
Morrises home.
Contact Home Eq’s Executives to demand that Home Eq stop this
outrageous action of taking the Morrises’ home.
email:
Art.lyon@homeq.com (CEO)
Keith.Becher@homeq.com, 1-916-339-6134-phone (COO)
Marvin and Louise Morris are senior citizens, 79 and 77 years old
respectively. They have lived at their home at 9592 Plainview, Detroit,
MI 48228 for 32 years. Their home was paid off, but unfortunately like
so many others in Detroit and across the country, they were lured into
a sub-prime predatory loan re-financing.
Since that time, the Morrisses have been in a constant battle to hold
onto their home. They previously challenged Home Eq’s accounting
practices, and received a settlement which Home Eq has not forgotten.
Now over a disputed arrearage of $7673.29, the Morrisses once again
face the loss of their home. This time the courts have ruled against
the Morrises, and they are facing imminent eviction from their home of
32 years.
During the course of this litigation, Mr. & Mrs. Morris have paid
over $8,000 into escrow diligently paying their normal monthly payment
of $467.00 per month since December 2008. This is on a monthly income
of less that $1000 per month. There have been at least seven homes
emptied by foreclosure on their block. A home across the street sold
for $1200. If Mr. and Mrs Morris are evicted, their home will sell for
far less than the $8000 they have paid into escrow. The amount in the
escrow is more than the property in their area is selling for now.
HomEq received federal funding for modifications to “help” borrowers,
yet HomEq has never even attempted to work out anything with the
Morrises. Unfortunately, the Morrises are not alone, senior citizens
are thrown out daily because servicers like HomEq refused to work with
borrowers for homes that are now worth only $3000-$4000, like the
Morris’ home. This conduct must be stopped.
Moratorium Now
Coalition – 313-887-4344
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The
Banks
and
Wall
Street
are
making
the
plans
and
pulling
the
strings!
Mayor Bing and Robert Bobb are their tools
- Detroit Pension Fund ripoff…Detroit School
closings/layoffs…
- Foreclosures and evictions destroying
neighborhoods…
- City workers face wage/benefit cuts…
- DTE utility shutoffs kill families…
- DMC to be sold…Mayor’s bizarre “downsizing”
plan…
- Immigrant families torn apart by
raids/deportations…
- Detroit unemployment at 45% - why is there no
public jobs program?…
DON’T LET THEM DESTROY DETROIT
Behind Mayor Bing
and Robert Bobb stand the big banks and corporate firms – sometimes
working through “non-profits” like the Skillman and Kresge
foundations. They have launched a wholesale attack against the
people of Detroit, our democratically elected bodies (School Board and
Pension Fund Trustees), our unions, our homes and schools – our very
right to live. We already gave these banks trillions of dollars
in tax money bailouts. Now they are back for more.
Sponsored by: Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions
& Utility Shutoffs
313-680-5508
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Tell Governor Granholm:
IT'S AN EMERGENCY
Demand that the Governor use her powers to
DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY and a
MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES, EVICTIONS, and UTILITY SHUTOFFS
The
people of Michigan need emergency relief NOW to survive the economic
catastrophe that we are in. We demand that Gov. Granholm exercise her
authority under MCL 10.31 to declare a State of Economic Emergency in
Michigan and place an immediate Moratorium on all Foreclosures,
Evictions and Utility Shutoffs. In addition, we demand that the State
Legislature pass S.B. 29 which calls for a two-year moratorium on
foreclosures.
Furthermore, emergency relief is needed in the City of Detroit, the
hardest hit major city with 45% unemployed, families losing their lives
due to DTE Energy shutoffs, neighborhoods destroyed by foreclosures and
evictions, Detroit schools continuing to fail, and City services
diminished due to lay-offs.
We must demand that the Governor apply to President Obama for money to
bail out Michigan cities and towns, especially those with the highest
unemployment. This should also happen in every state. We need
funds for jobs for youth to rebuild the houses that have been stripped
and destroyed, and money to stop the destruction of public education
and services in our cities. The money for the bankers, corporations and
military must go to Bailout the People!
We
demand
that
Governor
Granholm:
- Declare
a
State
of
Economic
Emergency
in
the
State
of
Michigan!
- Order
a Moratorium NOW to Stop all Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility
Shutoffs in Michigan
- Request
President Obama declare Michigan a Disaster Area and Fund a Public
Works Program to Provide Jobs Now
call 313 - 887- 4344 or email: moratorium@moratorium-mi.org
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65,000
lined up at Cobo Hall October 6 for a few dollars to pay rent and
utilities -- How many more are desperate and suffering?
IT’S
AN EMERGENCY!
We
won’t starve
or
freeze
this
winter!
-
Gov. Granholm has
legal,
constitutional powers to declare an economic emergency and impose a
moratorium to stop foreclosures, evictions, and utility shutoffs. Tell
her to do it. Call 517-373-3400.
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Mayor Bing can request
emergency help—just like in a tornado or flood. Tell him to do it. Call
313-224-3400.
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Let President Obama
know the
stimulus isn’t reaching us.
We need jobs or an
income, today. Enforce the Full Employment Act
We need a national
moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.
Bail out the
people—not
the banks!
Call President Obama:
Comments:
202-456-1111 or Switchboard: 202-456-1414.
TOGETHER
WE
CAN
FIGHT
BACK
AND
WIN
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Demand
a Federal Moratorium on Foreclosures NOW!
BAIL
OUT THE
PEOPLE - NOT THE BANKS
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- Demand that the first item in any emergency
federal
legislation be protection for the victims of this crisis, the millions
facing foreclosures and millions of others who are seeing their
communities destroyed by the foreclosure epidemic brought on by the
predatory lending and fraud of the financial industry.
- Demand the enactment of an immediate 2 year
federal
moratorium on all foreclosures. Such a moratorium is
mandatory under federal law, which mandates the imposition of a
moratorium on foreclosures whenever there is a declaration of a State
of Emergency.
- During the moratorium, an oversight committee
of
community representatives, civil rights organizations, unions should
review and adjust every mortgage in the country, so people’s house
payments reflect the real values of their homes and their ability to
pay. Such oversight cannot be left to the bankers or even to
federal judges who are often disconnected from the reality facing
working people today.
- Demand that rather than spending $1 trillion of
taxpayer money to bail out Wall Street, that money be used to guarantee
people’s needs, for decent jobs, health care, education, etc. It
is the decline in wages, massive restructuring that has eliminated
millions of decent paying jobs, and spiraling health costs that in
large part has brought on this crisis, forcing people to take out
unaffordable predatory loans just to survive.
The Moratorium Now! Coalition has been pressing
for a
statewide moratorium on foreclosures in Michigan and recently held a
demonstration in Lansing, MI to support SB 29, which would put such a
moratorium into effect.
The Coalition is also demanding that new Detroit
Mayor David Bing declare a State of Emergency in Detroit, the hardest
hit city in the country by the foreclosure epidemic with an 25% home
vacancy rate, and formerly apply to Governor Granholm to place a
moratorium on foreclosures in Detroit pursuant to MCL 10.31
For more information
contact
313-319-0870.
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SIGN
THE
ONLINE
PETITION demanding
the Feds implement an
IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON
FORECLOSURES AND EVICTIONS, NOW!
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Help Organize a Mass Movement To Demand
Passage of the 2-year Moratorium on Foreclosures Bill
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Only
a state-wide, mass movement to demand passage of the 2-year Moratorium
on Foreclosures Bill can overcome the power of the moneyed mortgage
companies and bankers. Everyone concerned must become an
organizer!
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Get the word out in your area –
put out leaflets and
posters; write letters to the newspapers; put a notice in your
community, union or church newsletter; talk to your neighbors,
relatives, friends and co-workers.
- Gather and send in endorsements of the bill
from
your group – union, neighborhood association, minister/church board,
student government, etc. endorsement
form online endorsement
- Get a resolution of support
from your city council.
- Be on the alert to organize for a massive
demonstration at the Capitol in Lansing to demand passage of the bill.
- Become an organizing center in your area for
the
“MORATORIUM NOW! COALITION to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility
Shutoffs.”
Contact the Detroit office to be listed on the website and to get
quantities of flyers, etc.
- Donate to build this mass campaign. Make
checks payable to MORATORIUM NOW COALITION and send to 23 E. Adams,
Detroit MI 48226.
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Endorse the Moratorium on Foreclosures
Bill
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