Protest and Invest: Countrywide Financial Corp., the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, will make it easier for customers to keep their homes by changing the terms on $16 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages.
“This is a big step,” said Bruce Marks, chief executive officer of Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, after the company’s plan was announced.“Countrywide sets the standard for servicing and how lending gets done.” The Boston-based advocacy group has demanded Countrywide make loan modifications easier. The company’s willingness to cut interest rates without penalty payments is a welcome move, Marks said.
Everyone protests. It’s important to know how to protest effectively. Marks demonstrates how connected individuals and corporations protest. The poor and lower-income folks often resort to street-actions (picket signs, etc.) in protest. To get what we want in our communities, we need to know how to protest effectively at many different levels, not just on the street.
posted Oct 23, 2007, 10:25am by Rodolpho Carrasco
by Turning Our Ear to The Cries of the Poor (Foreclosure Victims) at Trying to follow
[...] you own a house, especially with a sub-prime mortgage, you’ve probably heard the recent news that Countrywide is going to refinance up to $16 billion of loans to help people avoid foreclosure. [...]
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I used to work in a foreclosure law firm where I was responsible for 200-300 foreclosures a month via Sheriff’s Sale. People would picket the street level entrance and they would get a response from the office. The response? We would use the underground entrance from the subway station.
Picketing did NOTHING.
However, intelligent, responsible (”here is why I did not pay my mortgage and here is how I plan to remedy it”) conversation worked frequently. Foreclosure is a necessary evil. Most people in foreclosure would rather see the property owner satisfy their debt than boot them. If a reasonable plan can be worked out, everyone can win. Most people attack the foreclosure agents with a bunch of nonsense and make it impossible for the agent to work towards a reasonable compromise.