United States of America

Eminent Domain: A Long Shot Against Blight

Published in Monday January 13th, 2014 In In the media

Ms. McLaughlin has a plan to help the many Richmond residents who owe more money on their houses than their houses are worth, but it’s one that banks like Wells Fargo, large asset managers like Pimco and BlackRock, real estate interests and even Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants, have tried to quash. Her idea involves a novel use of the power of eminent domain to bail out homeowners by buying up and then forgiving mortgage debt.

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D.C. foreclosure law is too weak to protect homeowners

Published in Tuesday January 7th, 2014 In In the media

The D.C. Council recently revised the foreclosure mediation law it passed three years ago. Known as the Saving D.C. Homes From Foreclosure Act of 2010, the law was created to address the foreclosure crisis in the District. But in tinkering with the measure, the council avoided the basic issue: The District needs a strong foreclosure law that protects consumers.

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Chicago signs legislation giving homeoweners more time to avoid foreclosure

Published in Monday January 6th, 2014 In In the media

Because of the state’s continued high unemployment during Quinn’s term, the bill signed Thursday extends the law through the Dec. 31, 2015 deadline for the loan modification program.

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New Jersey foreclosure pipeline remains clogged

Published in Monday January 6th, 2014 In In the media

The number of homes entering foreclosure across the nation is at its lowest level in years, but a persistent backlog has left New Jersey stuck at year’s end with the nation’s second-largest percentage of homes in some stage of foreclosure. Nearly 7 percent of New Jersey homes are in the foreclosure pipeline, behind only Florida.

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Human Rights Report Card Gives U.S. Poor Grades on Housing

Published in Wednesday December 11th, 2013

The National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released its 2013 Human Right to Housing Report Card today, marked globally as human rights day, reviewing U.S. compliance with the human right to housing in the context of American homelessness over the past year. The report card found that while there were areas of improvement, much more needs to be done.

In Extracting Deal From JPMorgan, U.S. Aimed for Bottom Line

Published in Thursday November 21st, 2013 In In the media

The deal with JPMorgan is the largest sum a single company has ever paid to the government. The bank, at the Justice Department’s insistence, also admitted to a statement of facts that outlined how it failed to fully disclose the risks of buying risky mortgage securities from 2005 to 2008.

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Six killed as tornadoes rip through U.S. Midwest

Published in Monday November 18th, 2013 In In the media

A fast-moving storm system triggered multiple tornadoes on Sunday that killed at least six people and flattened large parts of a town in Illinois as it tore across the Midwest, authorities said. The tornadoes leveled scores of homes and demolished entire neighborhoods.

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Jury Finds Bank of America Liable in Mortgage Case

Published in Thursday October 24th, 2013

Bank of America, one of the nation’s largest banks, was found liable on Wednesday of having sold defective mortgages, a jury decision that will be seen as a victory for the government in its aggressive effort to hold banks accountable for their role in the housing crisis.

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Cruel, Inhuman & Degrading: Homelessness in the U.S. Under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights

Published in Wednesday October 2nd, 2013 In Mobilisation and agenda

On September 3, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty released to the public a report, “Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading: Criminalization of Homelessness in the U.S. under the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights,” addressing concerns raised by the U.N. Human Rights Committee in its review of the U.S.

National Day of Action for ICCPR

Published in Friday September 20th, 2013 In Social movement news

This Day of Action is all about the ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights – a tool that we have underutilized for far too long. The ICCPR is a human rights treaty that was drafted by the United Nations (UN) and that the U.S. Government (along with 166 other countries) signed and accepted as law in 1992. Since then, that same government has done little to let us – their people – know about the rights they pledged to protect under this treaty.

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