Filipino Housing Advocates

Filipino Housing Advocates Plan to Fight for California's Homeowners in Court

SAN FRANCISCO - The National Asian American Coalition (formerly Mabuhay Alliance) announced today that they plan to file a lawsuit against the California Housing Finance Agency because it failed to distribute more than $2 billion dollars, set aside by the Obama government, to help.

struggling homeowners in California.

Out of the 1 million homeowners in the state needing help, the group said only 300 homeowners have been helped with their loan modifications.

Executive Director Faith Bautista said, "This is civil rights issue. People need that money to keep their homes. And not enough is being done to help them.

Bautista and the group's counsel, Bob Gnaizda said they plan to meet with California Governor Jerry Brown to see if this issue could be resolved — before the case even reaches the courts. Bautista and the group's counsel, Bob Gnaizda said they plan to meet with California Governor Jerry Brown to see if this issue could be resolved — before the case even reaches the courts.

OUT OF OPTIONS

Meantime, in Carson, California, Arnel de la Cruz said he tried everything to save his home. After losing his job two years ago, he tried to get a loan modification from his lender, Chase Bank, to reduce his 4,000 dollar monthly mortgage.

He and his family managed to stay current on their payments. But after hiring a company to help with the modification, de la Cruz was advised to default on the mortgage payments.

The family soon got a foreclosure notice. He then filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy stopped the foreclosure process, but only saved him less than a hundred dollars a month.

De la Cruz said he gave up on the bankruptcy, and joined a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit delayed the auction for 5 months, but the bank eventually auctioned the home just before Christmas.

"I have had no peace of mind since this whole thing happened. It's very stressful," De la Cruz shared.

Lawsuits typically delay the foreclosure process through court ordered injunctions. De la Cruz said a financial counseling group had delayed the auction. However he says neither him nor the company handling his case were informed that the deadline to renew had passed.

He now gets daily visits and letters from parties involved with the new owners. He fears he'll be kicked out of his house at any minute — along with his wife and two children.

For their part, Chase Bank said they try to do everything to avoid foreclosures. The banks added that they make an effort to communicate with homeowners before a foreclosure or auction takes place. But Chase said communication could be lost when dealing with outside companies — especially those that are paid to do loan modifications.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Filipino
• Housing
• Advocates

[TheGotchaJournalist]

The big question should be: How much of that money is going to Mabuhay Alliance, now renamed NAAC? The advocacy is self-serving.