Crc-blog

August 18, 2010

Yesterday in Los Angeles, the four bank regulatory agencies held hearings on the Community Reinvestment Act in the first public opportunity to assess banking regulations left out of the recent financial reform bill recently passed by Congress. CRC and forty community groups participated on panels, testified during open mic, and held a press conference with small business owners, community lenders and consumer advocates calling on the regulators to do more to hold banks accountable, to encourage lending to small businesses and to promote positive community reinvestment in our neighborhoods.

August 10, 2010

Community organizations, advocates and consumers called on the Federal Reserve to require greater transparency from more banks under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) at the Fed's public hearing on Thursday. About 50 community members turned out to testify at the hearing and participated in a press conference calling attention to the need for more and better data, especially regarding lender's loan modifications, home equity lines and reverse mortgages. See the article in the San Francisco Chronicle's SF Gate website: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/05/BUP31EPF7N.DTL

July 22, 2010

More than a year since it began, the nation's primary foreclosure prevention policy is riddled with mortgage servicer mistakes and noncompliance along with continuing incidents of homeowners who were foreclosed on while in the middle of applying for loan workouts or paying trial modifications, according to CRC's latest survey.

June 21, 2010

Congress is in the home stretch of this phase of financial reform in Washington, DC. CRC members have been engaged in the fight for strong and meaningful financial reform for over a year now. Your visits to Congressional district offices, phone calls, emails and faxes have made a difference. So we have to press even harder now. For the next few days, we all should be focused on the Conference Committee.

Read more...

The California Reinvestment Coalition advocates for the right of low-income communities and communities of color to have fair and equal access to banking and other financial services. CRC has a membership of more than 240 nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the State.

What's New

Chasm Between Words and Deeds VI

More than a year since it began, the nation’s primary foreclosure prevention policy is riddled with mortgage servicer mistakes and noncompliance along with continuing incidents of homeowners who were foreclosed on while in the middle of applying for loan workouts or paying trial modifications, according to the California Reinvestment Coalition’s latest survey.

To download a copy of the survey report, The Chasm Between Words and Deeds VI, click here.

For the press release, click here.

PLUS

CRC Seeks a Media and Development Coordinator

For more information on the position click here.

Closing date: August 6, 2010.

 

Banks Shift Prime Lending Away from Communities of Color

A report released today by a multi-state collaboration of regional research, policy and advocacy organizations documents the dramatic decrease in low-cost home loans made between 2006 and 2008, and highlights that communities of color were hardest hit by the drop-off in lending.

The report, Paying More for the American Dream IV, examines the mortgage lending patterns of banks, including the nation’s four largest financial institutions, in seven metropolitan areas in the United States: Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York City, and Rochester, NY.

Click here to download the press release.

Click here to download the full report.


Broad Coalition Steps Up Campaign Against Wells Fargo and Big Banks

Faith, labor and community groups vowed to step up their efforts to change Wells Fargo’s banking practices after the company’s CEO John Stumpf said no to their requests and the pleas of foreclosure victims at the annual shareholder meeting.

About 800 people filled the streets of San Francisco's Financial District on Tuesday April 27, marching to Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting where they rallied outside as CEO John Stumpf and top executives met with shareholders at the Merchants Exchange Building. A delegation of 20 leaders and foreclosure victims with proxies attended the meeting, demanding changes to corporate practices that have bankrupted families and public coffers.

Click here to read the press release.

 

 

In-the-spotlight

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money

How Greedy Corporations Destroy the American Dream



The California Reinvestment Coalition produced this documentary, entitled "Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money, Mo’ Money: How Greedy Corporations Destroy the American Dream" to show how the foreclosure crisis affects everyone. Foreclosures destroy the dreams of California families and threaten the stability of small businesses, city governments and neighborhoods. .

Mo’ Money tells the story of borrowers who were lied to and ignored by their mortgage loan servicers, and the people who are working to keep them in their homes.

It also reveals how this disaster could have been avoided if regulators and government officials did not ignore predatory lending practices.

Read more...