A view looking south down Linwood avenue during the 1967 Rebellion in Detroit. Forty years later in 2007 the city faces one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. MECAWI has taken up this issue linking it to the massive pentagon budget.
Originally uploaded by Pan-African News Wire File Photos
http://www.mecawi.org
Call 313-319-0870
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DEMONSTRATION AT MAYORS’ FORECLOSURE MEETING IN DETROIT
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1:30 PM, OUTSIDE MGM GRAND HOTEL, THIRD JUST NORTH OF BAGLEY, DETROIT
PROTESTERS TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM TO STOP FORECLOSURES AND UTILITY SHUT-OFFS
CONTACT: Jerry Goldberg -- 313-319-0870
A demonstration will take place this Tuesday outside the Mayors’ Foreclosure meeting in Detroit, hosted by Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. The Mayors’ meeting is closed to the public, but is open to the mortgage providers and financial institutions, the same racist bodies that have helped create the foreclosure crisis in the cities with their predatory lending and sub-prime mortgages.
Demonstrators will demand that instead of cozying up to the bankers, the Mayors take immediate action to protect the homes of the people from these bankers. They will be demanding that the Mayors declare States of Emergencies in their respective cities, and urge the governors of each state to use their emergency powers under the law to impose a Moratorium on Foreclosures and Utility Shut-offs.
In Michigan, three separate Michigan statutes mandate that the Governor declare a State of Emergency during periods of crisis, natural or ‘man-made,’ and provide special powers to meet the crisis. During the 1930’s, the Michigan legislature utilized its emergency powers to pass the Mortgage Moratorium Act, Act No. 98, Pub. Acts 1933. The Act extended the redemption period during which homeowners could not have their property taken from them after foreclosure from six months, to 5 years. The Michigan Moratorium Act and similar acts in 23 other states were upheld by the U.S. Supreme court.
In Detroit, 85% of mortgages are “sub-prime”, meaning that they are at a much higher rate than the 6% rate for “prime” mortgages. Most of the mortgages are variable adjustable rate mortgages, meaning the payments double or triple after the first couple of years. Seniors who had paid off their homes, now find themselves with unaffordable monthly payments, as a result of being lured into unaffordable, illegal mortgages by brokers working on behalf the financial institutions. Studies have documented that even among African-Americans and Latinos with good credit, sub-prime mortgages are the rule due to racist banking practices.
The Michigan Emergency Committee Against War & Injustice is organizing a community Fightback meeting on Saturday December 8, 1:00 pm, at Central United Methodist Church in Detroit to plan actions to press for a Moratorium on Foreclosures and Utility Shut-offs. Call 313-319-0870 for more information. Leaflet for the meeting is attached.
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