Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 2012)
Street roots March 2, 2012 And so the madness continues Foreclosure reform hits a GOP roadblock in the Oregon State Legislature, ensuring that outside the marble halls, families will continue to lose their homes. BY A N G ELA M ARTIN C O N T R IB U T IN G W R IT E R s the head of a non-profit advocacy and policy organization, I am dedicated to protecting the financial interests of Oregon consumers. Although our group’s mission aims to cover all realms of consumer advocacy, the housing crisis means we spend a great deal of time on foreclosures. It’s overwhelmingly the number one issue consumers call our office about. By the time they come to us, most consumers have already exhausted the Angela Martin is typical avenues of the executive seeking help through director of housing counselors Economic Fairness and federal programs. A Oregon M o st of th e m tru ly are just exhausted - discuss alternatives to foreclosure. Twenty- dealing with a one other states, including Washington, seemingly never- already have similar programs in effect. The ending process of filling out paperwork, foreclosure-avoidance rate from well- being spun in circles, trying to get straight structured programs is upward of 50 answers from their bank and frankly dealing percent — a figure that would go a long way with a system that simply isn’t working. toward finally ending Oregon’s foreclosure This is why our group worked with landslide. lawmakers to SB 1564 would end carefully craft the dual track process legislation to address in which a some of the most homeowner is common and Instead of lo llo w in g the simultaneously preventable causes bipartisan example set b j negotiating for a loan of foreclosure. th e ir Senate colleagues^ modification while in During the short active foreclosure. House Republican February legislative To show you how session, we leadership Issned am necessary these supported legislators amendment to SB 1552 that protections are, I in their efforts to read lik e a Christmas g ilt to think it’s best to show pass three you an example of the banking lobby, Their foreclosure reform what happens to bills. Due to the amendment would have homeowners without power of just one actually rolled back existing these protections. Republican foreclosure protections. I recently had the Representative, opportunity to meet Gene Whisnant of Salem resident Ginny Sunriver, the House Real at a community bills were dead foreclosure forum put within a week as he on by Economic Fairness Oregon. Fighting refused to give them a hearing. We were back tears, Ginny shared the story of how undeterred, and continued to work hard on she lost her south Salem home. She and her the Senate. Thanks to the dedication of husband lived there for 24 years. They had a several bipartisan senators, the compelling comfortable life. They were happy. But when testimony of homeowners from across the her husband suffered major medical issues state, and an overwhelming public support and required brain surgery, he and Ginny for addressing this issue, the Senate realized they would need to restructure successfully passed both SB 1552 and SB their finances. They sought a loan 1564. modification to the $54,000 remaining on SB 1552 would implement a mandatory their home that was worth more than mediation program in Oregon, giving $150,000, but were strung along for months, homeowners facing foreclosure or those resubmitting piles of paperwork multiple deeply underwater a chance to sit down with their lender and a neutral third party to times. One day last July, Ginny got the news she had waited so long for: The bank said 4 her modification had gone through. But the next day, her home was sold on the courthouse steps. She and her husband were left homeless for several weeks until they finally secured a place to live with relatives. Had SB 1552 & SB 1564 been in place last summer, Ginny would have had the chance to sit down with her lender and a neutral party to discuss ways to restructure that remaining $54,000. Her bank also would have been required to make a decision on her mortgage modification request before selling her home out from under her. While there was broad bipartisan support for these bills in the Senate, the story was much different in the House. An unfortunate truth of politics is that sometimes it doesn’t matter what the majority believes in, the power can be placed in the hands of a certain few who choose to block progress to advance their own agendas, or sometimes simply because they can. That’s exactly what happened when a handful of House Republicans chose to make a political power play out of one of the most important issues facing Oregonians. Instead of following the bipartisan example set by their Senate colleagues, House Republican leadership issued an amendment to SB 1552 that read like a Christmas gift to the banking lobby. Their amendment would have actually rolled back existing foreclosure protections. These weren’t the reforms that families like Ginny’s so desperately need, and they weren’t acceptable to the advocates, legislators, and homeowners who have worked so hard to craft policies that will actually make a difference. At the time of this writing, last-ditch negotiations were still ongoing in the House in an attempt to rescue SB 1552 and 1564. By the time you read this, their fate will likely have been decided. (Visit economicfairnessoregon.org to find out the latest.) Regardless of the outcome, one thing is clear: The fight to protect struggling families is far from over. The big banks have an enormous amount of money and an army of lobbyists at their disposal-not to mention several legislators who are all too willing to do their bidding. Standing in the corner of regular Oregonians are organizations such as Economic Fairness Oregon who are fighting tooth and nail to level the playing field. But we can’t do it alone. We need your help to hold legislators accountable to all Oregonians, not just corporate special interests. Here’s how you can help: - Register to vote and then head to the polls. There are nearly 800,000 eligible voters in Oregon who aren’t registered. Are you one of them? (Head to Oregonvotes.org to register online.) This is an election year, and that means if your elected officials didn’t represent your best interests, you can vote for someone else. Make your voice heard. Call or email your legislators and make sure they’re committed to protecting the needs of Oregon families. If you need help finding your legislator, send us an email at angela@economicfairness.org. Bringing our economy back to a system that works for the people instead of against them is no easy feat. It is riddled with setbacks. But it s also rife with opportunity. We are finally on the brink of rewriting rules of fair play and corporate accountability, but it will require our collective voice and action to get there - please join us in our mission and take part in helping us rebuild a financial system that benefits us all.
