Today's Date: March 28, 2024
Empire State Realty Trust Receives WELL Health-Safety Leadership Award; Becomes Among the First Commercial Office and Multifamil   •   Amerex Group Unveils Red Carter Swimwear's Revitalized Collection   •   Sypher Secures Strategic Partnership with FAIA to Fuel Growth   •   80 M/other Artists Converge for MICAfest 2024 in Northampton, MA this May   •   Torrid Reports Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2023 Results and Initiates Fiscal 2024 Guidance   •   PMI Foods Gives Easter Donation of 15,000 Pounds of Prime Rib to New Life Church in Arkansas   •   Bill Introduced in Minnesota Would Increase Access To Genetic Testing   •   Suffolk Kicks off 2024 “Build With Us @ Suffolk” Program in Boston for Trade Partners, Opening Doors for Minority-,   •   Pushing Policy: Women Uniting for Legislative Change; Four Trailblazing women at the forefront of the Quad Caucus   •   Danimer Scientific Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results   •   Carnegie Learning Named 2024 SIIA CODiE Award Finalist for Best Educational Game and Best AI Implementation in Ed Tech   •   VIRGIN HOTELS CHAMPIONS INCLUSIVE TRAVEL FOR NEURODIVERSE TRAVELERS   •   Paralyzed Veterans of America to honor former Senator Elizabeth Dole with 2024 Gordon H. Mansfield Congressional Leadership Awar   •   Fastenal Releases 2024 Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report   •   Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas and Wells Fargo Bank Award $850K for Rio Manor Apartments Renovation   •   John Legend to Perform at City Year Los Angeles’ 13th Annual Spring Break Event   •   Planet to Provide Carbon Mapper, Inc. with Hyperspectral Data Until 2030   •   More $10-a-day child care spaces   •   Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. Expands OTC Portfolio for Children with the Introduction of bébé Bottoms™   •   Gale Primary Sources Release Four New Archives Devoted to Contributions from Underrecognized Communities
Bookmark and Share

Homeowners Line Up For Help At HUD Event

 New America Media, News Report, Aaron Glantz,

OAKLAND, CA - Capital One Bank is trying to throw Clement Chavez out of his home.

But Chavez, who has lived in the house in Oakland’s Fruitvale District for 30 years, says he doesn’t want to leave.

So even after the bank foreclosed on his home in April, Chavez stayed on. He saved as much as he could from his job as a security guard and in June and July was able to send a series of checks to the bank totaling $5,300.

But much to his surprise, the bank returned his money. 

“They told me to forget about making payments, that the house was already foreclosed, that I had to move, to get out,” Chavez said. He said the bank has given him until September 30th to vacate the property or be forcibly removed.

Chavez was among the dozens of troubled homeowners and renters who showed up at Oakland’s First Congregational Church this past Saturday to get free advice from housing counselors certified by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

“I want to know if I should just go ahead and get out or if there’s any chance that I can stay on,” he said, with a packet of loan documents, bank statements, and cancelled checks arranged on his lap.

The “Your Home, Your Rights” event -- the first in a series of forums around the country -- was organized by HUD and the non-profit ethnic media service New America Media. 

The organizations put the forum on in part, because the foreclosure crisis has led to an unprecedented number of mortgage scammers, who have been defrauding struggling borrowers out of the very funds they need to save their homes.

“Their methods are always changing,” said David Lim, the Alameda County Deputy District Attorney in charge of real estate fraud.

“As soon as I tell you what they’re doing, they’ll change their tactics,” he said. “But their goal is always the same. They want to separate as much money from you as they can while doing the minimum amount of work.”

Since the foreclosure crisis began a year and a half ago, the California Department of Real Estate has initiated more than 600 enforcement actions against shady brokers, while the State Bar of California has opened more than 4,000 investigations into attorneys accused of scamming troubled homeowners.

Chuck Hauptman, HUD’s regional director for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said the main point troubled homeowners should remember is that they should go to a free, government-certified housing counselor.

“If you’re in a situation where you need to get help, it doesn’t cost you a thing,” said Hauptman, who gave out HUD’s main complaint line (1-800-347-3739) as well as his direct line at work (415-989-6536).

A new California law passed last year made it illegal for anyone to charge for loan modification services up front.

According to HUD, more than 2.4 million Americans are expected to lose their homes to foreclosure this year, with the number of California foreclosure filings rising dramatically over the summer.

Nearly 350,000 California homes have been foreclosed in the last six months.

The next housing rights forum organized by HUD and New America Media will be held this Wednesday, September 15, in Stockton at 5:30pm at the Cathedral of the Annunciation gymnasium, 1110 North Lincoln Street. 

Forums are also planned for October 14 in San Bernardino and October 16 in Los Angeles. The exact times and locations of those events have not yet been set.


STORY TAGS: BLACK , AFRICAN AMERICAN , MINORITY , CIVIL RIGHTS , DISCRIMINATION , RACISM , NAACP , URBAN LEAGUE , RACIAL EQUALITY , BIAS , EQUALITY



Back to top
| Back to home page
Video

White House Live Stream
LIVE VIDEO EVERY SATURDAY
alsharpton Rev. Al Sharpton
9 to 11 am EST
jjackson Rev. Jesse Jackson
10 to noon CST


Video

LIVE BROADCASTS
Sounds Make the News ®
WAOK-Urban
Atlanta - WAOK-Urban
KPFA-Progressive
Berkley / San Francisco - KPFA-Progressive
WVON-Urban
Chicago - WVON-Urban
KJLH - Urban
Los Angeles - KJLH - Urban
WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
New York - WKDM-Mandarin Chinese
WADO-Spanish
New York - WADO-Spanish
WBAI - Progressive
New York - WBAI - Progressive
WOL-Urban
Washington - WOL-Urban

Listen to United Natiosns News