Urge your County Commissioner to support

The Homeowner Protection
& Neighborhood Preservation Act

Scott, King and other coalition leaders held a news conference April 6

    Citing the economic and social devastation of the foreclosure crisis, Wayne County Commissioner Martha G. Scott introduced a bill calling for a one-year moratorium on sheriff sales of occupied foreclosed homes, as well as an investigation... Read more about thecampaign kidk-off.

what the bill says.

of the “extent to which the county and its citizens have been victimized and economically harmed by the fraudulent practices of banks and mortgage servicers.”

    More than 100,000 Michigan homes were foreclosed in 2010 according to the Center for Responsible lending, and RealityTrac experts warn that it isn't getting better.

    Kicking off the campaign at the April 6, 2011 news conference in Highland Park's Greater St. Matthew Baptist Church were Commissioner Martha G. Scott; UAW President Bob King; Reverend D. Alexander Bullock, President of Rainbow PUSH Detroit, Reverend Charles Williams Jr., and other community and union leaders. The following day, The Commission began considering the bill. Read exactly what the bill says -- no fine print!

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From Real Estate Weekly - It's no secret that foreclosures hurt us all

The Homeowner Protection
and Neighborhood Preservation Act

Submitted by Commissioner Martha G. Scott
Wayne County, Michigan
April 7, 2011

1) Whereas, 100,000 Michigan households were foreclosed in 2010 and 400 homes a week are auctioned at foreclosure in Wayne County.

2) Whereas, the eviction of homeowners and the forced auction of their property contributes to homelessness, increases the out-migration of people, reduces tax revenues, and depresses the valuation of Michigan homes by a projected $20.3 billion between 2009-2012.

3) Whereas, the process of mortgage origination, securitization, rating, and foreclosure has been characterized by allegations of massive fraud, from the predatory lending practices of sub-prime mortgage companies, to the deceptive practices of Wall Street underwriters, to the misrepresentation of security valuations by ratings agencies, to the improper recording of mortgage assignments and evasion of county fees, to the counterfeiting of mortgage documents and robo-signing of affidavits at foreclosure.

4) Whereas, banks prefer to foreclose and collect federal mortgage insurance on many properties rather than invest the needed time and resources to modify mortgages under the federal government’s Making Home Affordable Program. In the program’s first two years, there have been only 11,000 permanent modifications in the Detroit metro area and only 540,000 nationally, far less than the 3-4 million mortgage modifications promised in 2009.

Therefore be it resolved, that the Wayne County Commission, seeking to protect homeowners, preserve our neighborhoods, and insure the proper documentation and payment of county fees for mortgage assignments, hereby:

A) Calls for an independent audit of foreclosure sales to determine the extent to which the county and its citizens have been victimized and economically harmed by the fraudulent practices of banks and mortgage servicers;

B) Urges the Sheriff to implement a moratorium on foreclosure sales of occupied residential housing for one year;

C) Places the issue of implementing such a moratorium on the November 8, 2011, ballot as an advisory question.