Want to show your support for struggling Springfield families this Mothers’ Day?
Tomorrow, May 7, the Springfield No One Leaves Coalition and Bank Tenants Association will lead a march to the downtown office of Bank of America to call on the mega-bank to do its part to end the foreclosure-and-eviction crisis that’s swept the country. That crisis has been especially keenly in Springfield, which last year led the state in the number of foreclosed properties: 595.
The marchers will deliver a card addressed to Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, wishing him a happy Mothers’ Day and asking his bank to start working with struggling borrowers by agreeing to modify their loan agreements, including reducing the principal owed on their loans. The card also demands that Bank of America cease the practice of no-fault evictions of people whose homes have been foreclosed upon.
Sellou Diaite, a leader on the Bank Tenant Association, knows firsthand what it means to fight with Bank of America; she’s been trying to get the bank to modify her loan so she can hold on to her home, but the bank isn’t willing to work with her, she recently told the Advocate. “Bank of America is refusing to work with me and our communities,” Diaite said in an announcement of the May 7 march. “As Springfield mothers and families we’re protesting to demand that Bank of America start working with our communities and pay for the mess that they created.”
In their press release, organizers of the event note that the attorneys general in all 50 states “have included principal reduction in negotiations with major lending institutions as a result of a national investigation into foreclosure practices and the ‘robosigning’ scandal that emerged in the fall of 2010.” But Bank of America and other major lenders “ have opposed such settlements claiming ‘fairness’ and a ‘moral hazard.’”
“Where was the moral hazard argument when Wall St. banks like Bank of America crashed our economy with their irresponsible and illegal practices and then took over $45 billion dollars in taxpayer bailout money?” No One Leaves organizer Malcolm Chu asks in response. “What is fair about Bank of America receiving a $1.9 billion dollar tax refund despite making $4.4 billion dollars in profit in 2009?”
Marchers will meet at Court Square in downtown Springfield at 10 a.m. and march down Main Street to the Bank of America building.
Tomorrow’s event will also serve as a warm-up for another event the following week, bringing together activist groups from around the state and region. On Saturday, March 14, the Springfield activists and their supporters will travel to Boston for a rally against Bank of America in Copley Square. Click here for more information on either event.
