Home Foreclosures In Oregon

Acording to the Center for Responsible Lending, Oregon has had 3777 home foreclosures since the beginning of 2009. We are 69 days into the new year so that's almost 55 foreclosures taking place every day.

Millions of people are losing their homes and Credo quotes experts who predict that one out of every six homeowners with a mortgage will be foreclosed on over the next four years. Regardless of reports today that home prices may be bottoming out--and this may not be the case or may not even be good economic news--this problem of foreclosures and subsequent homelessness will be with us for some time to come.

The financial sector is getting a bail out, but what about forgiving working class debt? What about moving to keep people in our homes and jamming the mortgage industry back for their sleazy tactics?

Even the AFL-CIO, which thinks that no one wins on foreclosures and seems okay with compromise legislation on this issue, reminded us today that

In a recent interview on the Pacifica news show, “Democracy Now,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) urged homeowners facing eviction to stay in their homes and seek legal help.

The most important thing to do is to get legal help. And what we are finding is that if people receive a notice from a financial institution, their first reaction is fear, rather than getting proper legal representation. There’s a number people can call: 888-995-HOME—to get the proper legal representation, so they can actually have the scales of justice be balanced rather than, now, all the power to Wall Street and none of the justice to Main Street.

If you believe that Wall Street has been deceptive, could have been fraudulent or tried to dupe the public…you need a lawyer. And you should stay in your home. It is your castle. It’s more than a piece of property. It’s your home.

The best we seem likely to get at this point, short of movements resisting foreclosures at the grassroots with direct action, is a system in which bankruptcy judges have the power to restructure mortgage loans. Even this compromise legislation has made the banking industry spend hugh sums of cash lobbying Congress to keep judges from getting that power.

And so the bankers may well win. On March 5, the House passed a compromise bill to provide people some mortgage relief. While this bill included provisions to allow judges to change the terms of mortgages in bankruptcies, it also put some burdens on homeowners pushed by the banks. Weak-kneed Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are now wavering. It's a good idea to call your Senator ASAP and tell that person to support the most progressive and comprehensive legislation we can get to keep people in their homes and not to cave to the banks.