Allow me to first explain what leads me to this 'Call to Action' at such a late hour, or is it early? ;)
I read an editorial in the Detroit Free Press recently that told yet another tale of an impending foreclosure:
"Thomas Warren is bagging up his few belongings: a 19-inch television, a DVD player, a weight set and bench. Most of it is just stuff, but his deceased mother's antique china cabinet and buffet, sitting in the living room of the three-bedroom brick house, has special meaning.
"She was a beautiful woman," Warren, 55, told me last week at his home near I-96 and Greenfield. "I'd like to store it until I get settled, but I don't have the money. I might have to let them throw it away, which would be a hurting thing."
On May 7, sheriff's deputies will evict him from the 73-year-old house, probably kicking whatever's left inside to the curb. From there, Warren plans to go to a shelter.
This apparently makes sense to Fannie Mae, the mortgage company that now owns the property, and Trott & Trott, the law firm that's handling the eviction. In the big picture, though, it's crazy.
Detroit will add one more name to its roster of nearly 20,000 homeless, and one more building to its register of more than 70,000 vacant homes. In weeks -- maybe days -- vandals will strip the house of pipes, fixtures and anything else of value, just as they did the house next door. A building worth little now will become practically worthless.
"There's nothing we can do," an employee of Trott & Trott told me, before referring me to Fannie Mae."
Fannie Mae is a government-run mortgage giant, and Trott & Trott is Michigan's largest foreclosure law firm. Some interesting background information on the firm here in an article that I contributed to during the 2008 elections, while I was a 'fellow' with Michigan Messenger.
Well, the editorial really burned me up. Another blight on the city of Detroit is not needed. Someone to work with homeowners - especially in areas that have been ravaged by foreclosure and unemployment already - is what we really need.
I got busy and emailed the author at the Free Press, and the good people at Moratorium Now!, and a few TV stations, too.
As busy as all of the staff at Moratorium Now! are, one of the lawyers is going to provide legal help to Mr. Warren! I will keep you posted on how the fight against Fannie Mae goes.
Now, that brings me to the 'Call to Action'...
My contact at Moratorium Now! tells me they have a couple of items that need some publicity. I said I have a few friends, and they have a few friends.
First up, on Monday, May 2, 2011:
Attorney Goldberg will be holding a clinic on Monday evening on how to go to court and stop your eviction if MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration System) was involved. The clinic will be at 5920 Second Ave., Detroit, at 7 PM.
The MERS decision comes at the same time Wayne County Commissioner Martha Scott has introduced a bill that calls for a one-year moratorium on foreclosures in Wayne County. The banks are already apparently pushing back hard, I'm told.
Detroit's Channel 7 News spoke with Attorney Goldberg on Tuesday evening about the Michigan MERS ruling:
The coalition also needs supporters to pack the courtroom for Attorney Vanessa Fluker, another Coalition member, on Friday at 9 PM:
Support Attorney Vanessa Fluker
Friday, April 29, 2011, 9:00 am
Judge Virgil Smith's courtroom, 7th Floor, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 2 Woodward Ave., Detroit, MI 48226
There will be a hearing on the motion to have Judge Robert Colombo disqualify himself from consideration of the appeal of the sanctions he imposed against Vanessa for fighting RBS Citizens Bank, the same bank who gave Judge Colombo a mortgage and two refinancings in a five year period.
Funds are still needed to appeal this outrageous $12,200 sanction. Send donations to Vanessa G. Fluker, PLLC, appeal fund, at 2920 E. Jefferson, Suite 101, Detroit, MI 48207.
The goal of Moratorium Now! is to help build a movement to win a national moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.
Anything that any of you are able to help with would be most appreciated! If you're in the area, help pack Vanessa Fluker's hearing, or spread word of this group and what they are doing, or if you've got dollars or change to spare to help pay Vanessa's sanction fee...it's all good. I also thank-you for taking the time to read this.
-Diane