It’s crunch time for the rights of Massachusetts residents—and our state economy!
Foreclosures, which destroy lives (this crisis has taught us WHY the Constitution protects equally: “life, liberty and property”), are skyrocketing again—more than twice what they were a year ago. And with the sun-setting of recent legislative protections, foreclosures may double in the near future—rivaling Massachusetts foreclosure numbers in 2009!
Foreclosures literally kill (with 5 times the suicide rate, significant increases in heart attacks, strokes, etc.). Predatory loans that keep households financially underwater also prevent the start-up of small businesses (70% of small business start-ups are funded by mortgages), further destroying the economic well-being of whole neighborhoods and decreasing jobs. Not to mention the inflationary pressure on rents.
And the economic damage that brought down the world economy is still undermining our state!
New laws MUST pass by July 31st.
Our biggest, best hope for stopping this upsurge is pre-foreclosure mediation statewide, which is STILL possible. Second best is for municipalities to be reassured they can pass protections for their residents!
CALL your state Representative this Wednesday, July 6th! (see below how to look them up and find a direct link to their phone number) AND it is fine to also call Tuesday or latest, Thursday morning.
Below is a script to use when calling your Representative:
My name is _______ and I am calling from (your city or town).
Foreclosures have more than doubled in Massachusetts in the past year. If auctions continue to spike as predicted, in the next few months they will reach levels like 2009!
As my elected official, I need you to advocate and vote for major action before the end of your legislative session this month. Banks are evicting homeowners quickly even when the foreclosures are later found to have been illegal.
Pre-foreclosure mediation can end this increase! In Lynn, this program resulted in 97% mutually-agreed affordable loan modifications. This solution will save homeowners and municipalities all over the state, but we need you to act now. Vote for pre-foreclosure mediation.
Vote for Cities and Towns to continue protecting their residents in this historic crisis.
Thanks!
Please pass this call-in day info to all your contacts and networks. We need to spread the word far and wide to make this call-in day a success and let our Representatives know that we need pre-foreclosure mediation now!
Don’t know your state Representative’s phone number or e-mail address? Go to http://www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com
Type in your address, then click the Show my results button. It will tell you who your elected officials are. Click on your state Representative’s name, and you will see their phone number and email address.
The legislative session is nearing a close, and MAAPL and its allies have been working hard to show the leadership in the Legislature that they need to address the foreclosure crisis before the end of this session. Thanks to the actions of our partners and advocates, we are getting the most receptive responses ever from legislators across the board.