Trumka: Foreclosure Settlement ‘First Step’ to Housing Crisis Solution
The $25 billion foreclosure settlement with five of the nation’s biggest banks, announced this morning by federal and state officials, is a “step in addressing the housing and foreclosure crisis that plagues our country,” says AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.
The banks broke the law by railroading homeowners through the foreclosure process. Today’s settlement provides compensation for foreclosure victims without requiring individuals to waive their legal claims. While banks must be made to pay more to help homeowners, the settlement includes needed principal write-downs so homeowners can stay in their homes.
The deal with the five banks settles potential charges against the banks for fraudulent practices, including improper foreclosures by “robo-signing” foreclosure documents. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the settlement moves toward “righting the wrongs that led to our nation’s housing-market collapse and economic crisis.” Read the rest of this entry »
Credit Card Debt? Wedding Planning? Labor College’s Online Tool Can Help
Zachary Teutsch in the AFL-CIO Office of Investment, announces the launch of a fantastic new resource for all of us to gain and improve our financial literacy.
Most schools don’t teach our kids about avoiding credit card debt. Most of us never had anyone take the time to teach us about the financial implications of a birth, a death, a wedding, a divorce, or retirement. This is because there isn’t much financial education in the United States and most of it is by salespeople who would like us to buy their products.
We know that union members around the country face tough financial issues and would like good, honest, fair information. The National Labor College and AFL-CIO have partnered to provide resources and answers at NLC InvestEd. You can download the NLC’s Investor Handbook, learn about mutual funds, balancing stocks and much more.
Some of the topics covered include:
- Buying A Home
- Children
- College
- Foreclosure
- Loss of a Loved One
- Paying Off Debt
- Retirement
- Weddings
Head over to NLC InvestEd and check it out.
As working people, our financial security is under threat and the AFL-CIO knows that having better information about financial issues is one more way we can push back. If you have questions about this new project, leave them as comments here.
Fla.’s Scott Holding Up $1 Billion That Would Help Stop Foreclosures
In another example of his lack of concern for working people, Florida Gov. Rick Scott is holding up more than $1 billion in federal funds that could help thousands of that state’s citizens save their homes from foreclosure.
Florida’s first installment from the federal Hardest Hit program—$418 million—was awarded to the state more than a year ago. The money is for unemployed homeowners or those who have jobs but don’t earn enough to pay their mortgage. It can be used to make loan payments for up to 18 months or to bring delinquent loans current. The most one household can receive is $35,000.
Kimberly Miller of the Palm Beach Post reports that of the first five states to receive the Hardest Hit money in February 2010, all but Florida have fully operational programs. Two subsequent installments of money in August and September brought Florida’s total to $1.05 billion.
Gov. Scott last month rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for a high-speed rail project that would have linked Orlando and Tampa.
Hundreds of Union Members Try to ‘Save the Dream’ of Home Ownership
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Even though JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have declared temporary moratoriums on foreclosures, millions of Americans still face the prospect of losing their homes. And union members are not exempt. Last week, hundreds of union members in danger of foreclosure attended two workshops sponsored by the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) in hopes of being able to continue the American Dream of homeownership.
Counselors and lenders were on hand at the two Save-the-Dream workshops—one in Los Angeles and another in Sacramento, Calif.—to help people who cannot afford their mortgages. At similar events, NACA says it has been able to help some 80 percent of participants, with many households lowering their mortgage interest rates to 2 percent. That success rate, coupled with media coverage, ensured that both events would have overflow crowds.
539,000 Jobs Lost in April—Don’t Let Them Tell You This Is Good News
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Have you heard the one about the recession being over?
New data out today show 539,000 workers lost their jobs in April and the nation’s unemployment rate worsened to 8.9 percent, from 8.5 percent in March, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Jobs lost in April were spread across nearly all major private-sector industries. Jobs lost include 149,000 in manufacturing; 110,000 in the construction industry; 122,000 in professional and business services; and 47,000 in the services industry.
Even more worrisome, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) worsened by 498,000 to 3.7 million over the month and has risen by 2.4 million since the start of the recession in December 2007.
The official unemployment rate is bad. But the real unemployment rate is far worse. If those who are underemployed or who want a job but have given up looking are counted, the U.S. unemployment rate stands at 15.8 percent—more than 25 million Americans.
So it looks like the pundits who claim this Bush-instigated recession and the jobless bleed it created is over, haven’t talked with the millions of unemployed U.S. workers.
