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Despite news reports of housing price increases in some markets—and the return of record profits and bonuses on Wall Street—the foreclosure crisis continues to impact many communities, especially communities of color targeted for predatory lending. One in five American homeowners are still “underwater” --owing more than their homes are worth.
Democracy Now interviewed the Home Defenders League’s National Campaign Director Kevin Whelan on the continued lack of bank accountability for the foreclosure crisis -- including a report by the Department of Justice Inspector General that demonstrated that the Department had made mortgage fraud a low priority.
In the interview, Kevin discussed the story of Lavinia Curry, an 86 year old grandmother in Irvington, NJ who fought foreclosure for three years after Wells Fargo refused to accept her family’s attempts to pay their mortgage in full after missing a single payment.
The family organized with CPD core partner New Jersey Communities United and joined a monthly national conference call of families fighting foreclosure organized by the Home Defenders League. After other families in 13 cities delivered their petitions to Wells Fargo, the bank called off a scheduled sheriff’s sale and contacted the family to negotiate a fair solution, including principal reduction.
Home Defenders League members are advocating for the new leader of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Mel Watt, to put a temporary moratorium on foreclosures and to reverse several years of destructive policies put in place by the previous administration that have driven unnecessary foreclosures in African American, Latino, and working class communities.
On March 12, Home Defenders delivered copies of petitions to members of Congress in a dozen states, asking them to support the call for a moratorium and principal reduction for families like Jaymie Kelly of Minneapolis and the Coronels of Los Angeles who have fought foreclosure with the help of HDL partners Occupy Our Homes and ACCE.
Please support the work of Home Defenders League to reset mortgages and reduce foreclosures in hard hit communities at www.fightingforeclosures.org.
Tomorrow in Seattle, Local Progress, the national network of progressive municipal elected officials, is co-hosting a Symposium on Income Inequality, bringing together elected leaders from eight of the nation’s largest cities to discuss how best to confront inequality and raising the minimum wage.
CPD’s staff attorney and Local Progress program lead, Ady Barkan, and CPD Policy Advocate Josie Duffy played key roles in coordinating and supporting the event, which is free and open to the public.
The other event sponsors are Seattle University and the office of Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. Mayor Murray has been a leader in the fight for higher wages, after being elected last November on a platform that included increasing the minimum wage to $15.
Attendees will include:
- Seattle Councilmember Nick Licata, the National Chair of Local Progress
- Chicago Alder John Arena, Chicago Alder Toni Foulkes, Chicago Alder Roderick Sawyer
- New York City Councilmember Ritchie Torres
- Oakland Councilmember Desley Brooks
- Philadelphia Councilmember Wilson Goode, Jr.
- San Diego Councilmember David Alvarez
- San Francisco Supervisor John Avalos
- San Jose Councilmember Don Rocha
Additional speakers include: Lori Pfingst, Center for Budget and Policy; Dorian Warren, Columbia University; Paul Sonn, National Employment Law Project; Michael Reich and Ken Jacobs, U.C. Berkeley; and, Marieka Klawitter and Bob Plotnik, University of Washington.
CPD and Local Progress are proud to bring together such diverse leaders from cities across the country to discuss policies and innovative solutions around inequality. Topics will include the minimum wage, wage theft, paid sick days, and worker support.
CPD’s state partner in Hawaii, Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), scored a major victory this month in persuading Governor Abercrombie and the Department of Transportation to offer drivers tests in additional languages.
Beginning March 17, all island DMVs will offer the written test in 12 additional languages besides English: Spanish, Tongan, Samoan, Japanese, Mandarin, Hawaiian, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Ilocano, Chuukese and Marshallese.
This is a huge victory for Hawaii's families who have faced hardships for years due to Hawaii's previous "English-Only" policy.
Hundreds of people helped win this policy including petition gatherers, members of the clergy who advocated to the Dept. of Transportation, and legal advocates who pursued judicial remedies.
Hawaii was one of the only states in the nation that did not offer the written drivers’ test in Spanish, and Hawaii will be the first state to offer the test in Chuukese and Marshallese. FACE has been leading the fight to secure these translations for more than a year, and it has finally paid off!
CPD and its partner organization the Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DACA), along with allies at Demos and Common Cause Delaware are leading the fight to bring Same Day Registration (SDR) to the Diamond State this year. 171,000 Delawareans missed the state’s 24-day, pre-election voter registration deadline last November.
Research shows that SDR can increase participation by as much as 14 percent among young people. Same Day Registration is particularly useful for low-income voters and people that frequently move.
African Americans have also been found to take advantage of SDR at high proportions. In Delaware where Black voter turnout lagged behind the white vote by 6%, and the vote among 18-24 year olds was a whopping 24% lower than the state average, SDR could have a significant impact in closing these disparities.
Delaware has the opportunity to join 11 other states with Election Day registration. Governor Jack Markell has been an outspoken proponent of SDR and a strong coalition has been developed in support of SDR.
On February 12, CPD, DACA, Demos, SEIU Local 32 BJ, the Sierra Club, Common Cause, and DE state representatives John A. Kowalko and James "J.J." Johnson gathered in Dover to press for a clean Same Day Registration bill this year.
While some legislators have pushed for a primary exemption, CPD and our allies continue to move a campaign for a clean SDR bill that makes the electoral process more open and accessible for all Delawareans.
As noted in a report released by our national partner Demos, over 84% of primary election champions go on to win in the general election, this is particularly true in urban centers such as Wilmington. Therefore, excluding primary elections from SDR would create an unnecessary two-tier electoral system.
In a climate where voting rights is under attack in other states, Delaware stands out as an opportunity strengthen our democracy and begin a movement towards not just defending voting rights, but expanding voting rights. CPD is proud to be in that fight with strong allies and grassroots partners such as DACA.
A new wave of progressive big-city elected officials has taken office in recent months and they are re-shaping the national dialogue. From Seattle to Pittsburgh and New York City to Minneapolis, mayors and city legislators are pushing a reform agenda to combat inequality and expand inclusion.
Many of these elected officials are part of Local Progress, the municipal policy network founded in 2012 by CPD, SEIU, and the Public Leadership Institute. Local Progress is helping advance a progressive policy agenda in cities around the country by helping elected officials share their best practices, build solidarity across cities, and coordinate their work to elevate key issues into the national dialogue.
Seattle Mayor and Local Progress member Ed Murray is currently considering raising the minimum wage for all workers in the city to $15 per hour, a groundbreaking effort that could transform the national debate about inequality and good jobs.
On March 27, Local Progress and the City of Seattle are co-hosting a day-long symposium on the minimum wage to highlight the proposal and consider experiences of leaders from other cities.
The new mayor of Pittsburgh, Local Progress member Bill Peduto, came into office on an avowedly progressive platform after driving forward campaign reform laws in the City Council. His first term agenda includes building more housing and expanding livable streets through parking reform and expanded bike and transit use.
In New York City, Local Progress members Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito are driving forward on priorities like expanding workers’ rights to paid sick days, the creation of a municipal ID card for all residents, and universal free pre-kindergarten.
On March 4, Local Progress is hosting a webinar on innovative racial equity policies that will feature Betsy Hodges, the new mayor of Minneapolis, and UC Berkeley professor John Powell, among others. The webinar is free and open to the public and we invite you to RSVP here.
The Home Defenders League, a national coalition of underwater homeowners and community organizations housed at the Center for Popular Democracy, has announced its newest campaign: FightingForeclosures.org.
In a Local Principal Reduction program, the city works with private investors to acquire a set of the worst, hardest to fix underwater mortgages (called “Private Label Securities” or PLS) and refinances them to restore home equity. If banks refuse to cooperate, cities may use their legal authority of eminent domain to buy the bad mortgages at fair market value and then reset them to current value.
Local Principal Reduction has been pioneered in Richmond, California, and is gaining traction across the country.
Just $10,000 is enough money for the Home Defenders League and allied organizations to begin organizing for Local Principal Reduction in a new city. In its first week, FightingForeclosures.org has raised over $17,000.
Two newly released videos appear on the website: an animated video explaining how LPR works; and a newsreel featuring news anchors, underwater homeowners, local leaders, and nationally known experts, including Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Congressman Keith Ellison, actor and activist John Cusack, labor leader Stephen Lerner, and noted urban policy academic Peter Dreier.
WATCH:
- Newsreel video about Local Principal Reduction
- Animated explanation of how LPR works
CPD is working closely with Make the Road NY and other partners to combat wage theft.
In 2010, New York workers won a significant victory with the passage of the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which increased penalties and improved notice requirements to stop the scourge of stolen wages from low-wage workers. But the passage of the act was only half the fight.
The NY Department of Labor (NYDOL) currently lacks the resources to make a dent in the wage theft epidemic. In New York City alone, wage theft results in nearly $1 billion being taken out of the pockets of low-wage workers every year. Yet since the 1960’s and 1970’s, the number of NYDOL investigators per capita has plummeted.
As of today, it would take an increase of 200 investigators to return the NYDOL to the staffing levels of decades ago. We are urging Albany to dedicate the resources necessary to truly confront wage theft, which is the most prevalent financial crime against working people in New York State.
“There is an epidemic of wage theft in New York State and an enormous backlog of cases at the Department of Labor,” said Amy Carroll, Deputy Director of the Center for Popular Democracy. “Marginal improvements are insufficient. Governor Cuomo and the Legislature need to fully fund enforcement of minimum wage and overtime. The rule of law and the dignity of New York’s workers depend on their budgetary choices.”
In addition to fighting for an increased number of investigators, the Coalition is pushing back on an effort to repeal the law’s notice provision, which helps employers and workers understand their rights and responsibilities under the law.
The law requires employers to give written notice of wage rates to each new hire and to all employees by February 1 of each year. The notice must include:
- Rate or rates of pay, including overtime rate of pay (if it applies)
- How the employee is paid: by the hour, shift, day, week, commission, etc.
- Regular payday
- Official name of the employer and any other “doing business as” names of business
- Address and phone number of the employer's main office or principal location
- Allowances taken as part of the minimum wage (tips, meal and lodging deductions)
- The notice must be given both in English and in the employee's primary language (if the Labor Department provides a translation of the notice form in that language).
The NYS Coalition to End Wage Theft is an alliance of labor, small business, community, faith, legal services, and policy organizations to tackle the crime of wage theft. Steering committee member groups include (list in formation): Make the Road New York, the Center for Popular Democracy, the National Employment Law Project, Laborers Local 78, Laborers Local 79, Laborers Local 108, Laborers Local 1010, the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, and the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union.
The Center for Popular Democracy will be providing research, organizing, and strategy support to similar campaigns against wage theft across the country in 2014.
New York's Mayor de Blasio used his first State of the City address to announce plans for a new "City ID" program, making identification available to all city residents -- regardless of citizenship status, race, or economic means -- that will be accepted as proof of identity by key institutions throughout the city.
Municipal ID cards are an important step toward raising the quality of life for vulnerable and marginalized residents, including immigrants, and Mayor de Blasio's proposal will make a powerful difference for thousands of New Yorkers. Increasingly, identification requirements gate-keep almost every aspect of daily life – from opening a bank account to gaining hospital admission, from picking up a package at the post office to picking up your children at school.
The Center for Popular Democracy has been on the front lines of this initiative to improve quality of life for immigrants and other vulnerable populations. Our recent report, "Who We Are: Municipal ID Cards as a Local Strategy to Promote Belonging and Shared Community Identity," which surveys the results of similar programs in other municipalities, found that municipal ID programs can improve police-community relationships and increase access to social services for vulnerable residents.
"With this announcement, the Mayor and the Council have made a powerful statement about the role of immigrants and other vulnerable populations in our city. Whether born and raised in the five boroughs or recently arrived, a New Yorker is a New Yorker. We all belong to this community, and we are all stronger when everyone can participate fully in city life. The health of our economy and strength of our democracy both turn on our ability to recognize this," said Brittny Saunders, Supervising Attorney for Immigrant Rights & Racial Justice at the Center for Popular Democracy.
Watch a video of CPD’s Brittny Saunders speak about Municipal IDs on NY1 television.
Our report also found that beyond their practical value, the cards hold symbolic importance in creating a sense of shared community and belonging for immigrants and other marginalized individuals. With CPD and a diverse coalition of allies working closely with key elected officials, New York is once again at the front lines of progressive change toward creating a more inclusive, fair society.
For tickets & sponsorship, please visit www.populardemoracy.org/gala
Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stood with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to announce legislation that will significantly expand the city’s Earned Sick Time law, providing important protections to New York workers and improving the city’s public health.
The law was originally passed last May with the help of a broad coalition of advocates and community organizations, including CPD, which, along with A Better Balance, has served as legal counsel to the coalition. Mayor de Blasio and Speaker Mark-Viverito announced their plan to immediately expand the protections of the law and to provide for more aggressive enforcement.
As CPD's Deputy Director Amy Carroll and Make the Road New York's CO-Executive Director Javier Valdés write in the Gotham Gazette, "Their decision is a concrete move to confront and alleviate inequality, and bodes well for all New Yorkers, especially low-income workers and their families who live paycheck to paycheck." Read their full Op-Ed here.
And just yesterday, the City Council of Newark, NJ, voted unanimously to become the nation’s seventh municipality to enact a paid sick days law, and the second in New Jersey following Jersey City. Passage in the Garden State’s two largest cities back-to-back signals major momentum there and nationally.
“The rapid spread of paid sick days from city to city across the country demonstrates strong public support for policy that improves the lives of working families,” said CPD’s Co-Executive Director Andrew Friedman upon the Newark law’s passage.
“Progressive coalitions are leading the way, hand-in-hand with elected officials who are committed to a robust economy that creates good jobs and expands our country’s middle class,” Friedman added.
With strategic policy help from CPD, Newark’s robust law will guarantee paid sick days to all workers, regardless of the size of their workplace.
