Members of the anti-foreclosure group Springfield No One Leaves/Nadie Se Mude and their allies are joining a national day action today calling on mortgage Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to stop foreclosing on homeowners.
The group gathered this morning outside the Housing Court in Springfield for a rally, where they leafleted and asked supporters to call Mel Watt, the new head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to ask him to institute a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions on Fannie- and Freddie-backed properties and to “urge him to review policies that hurt families and communities,” SNOL/NSM said in a press release.
The release quoted David Dunwell, a Springfield resident who recently won a years’-long battle against Fannie Mae to stay in his home: “Right now Mel Watt needs to overturn the bad practices of his predecessor. Mel Watt needs to force Fannie [and] Freddie to work with families like mine to stay in our homes. Rather than sell [a home] back to an investor that has no interest in the community… sell it back to the former occupant to keep that family together, keep that community together.”
The national movement is asking FHFA for policies including “allowing modifications with principal reduction; renting or selling back homes at current value to former owners and tenants after foreclosure; donating vacant properties to community organizations for the creation of community controlled affordable housing; and contributing more than $578 million into the National Housing Trust Fund as required by the 2008 Bailout Law,” the release notes.
