Press Release: Homeowners and Their Supporters Reveal 150 Years of Predatory Lending

Download the full Press Release here ( PDF )


Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending

www.maapl.info                      maaplinfo@gmail.com

For Immediate Release: 6/20/2023
Contact: Grace Ross – MAAPL coordinator, (617) 291-5591 

HOMEOWNERS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS REVEAL 150 YEARS OF PREDATORY DISCRIMINATORY LENDING AND DEMAND JUSTICE NOW! 

Today, Boston, in Pemberton Square, in front of the Massachusetts higher courts’ building (Massachusetts Supreme Judicial and Appeals Courts), a dozen homeowner-activists from across the state and their supporters came together in a press conference “tying together that the present ‘doomed to foreclose’ mortgage packages are just the most recent expression of 160 years of predatory lending to African Americans”.

“They are serving their traditional wealth stripping function”, Alton King of Longmeadow, MA, who opened the press conference explained. “This has left me and those similarly situated in the expected position of having had our wealth stripped, a denial of the protection of the courts, which has destined me and those similarly situated to another generation of failure to enforce against violations of equal protection in house.”

King had explained about the predatory nature of the origination of his own mortgage package, overpriced beyond the actual value of his home, split into two mortgages that he had started out paying $3,216 per month and ended up with a $13,400/month bill.

Elenice Umana of Brockton, MA spoke, following on the heels of King’s explanation. She spoke of the urgency for the courts to treat equally those who are black and those who are immigrants or speak differently, that everyone has an equal right to their home.

Grace Ross, the coordinator of the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending, who emceed the event, then pointed out that King and Umana are two of three present homeowner foreclosure fighters who were given an uniquely and clearly illegal loan, where they were billed one interest rate and then an even higher interest rate was actually being charged by the mortgagee every month. So, as they paid, they owed more money over time. What they were being billed was not the full extent of what they were being charged.

Jeb Mays of Cambridge, MA quoted from the powerful researcher’s work all of the way back to emancipation on predatory lending, Charles Nier, III, that merchants who were “the most important economic power in the Southern Countryside had maintained a two tier pricing system with a differential of a median of 33.6% to a maximum of 89.6% interest.” And, “White subjective determinations of credit-worthiness were undoubtedly tainted with racism.”

As still apparent, the most famous of the large settlements as to racist predatory lending with a bank, the Countrywide settlement, found that it was the brokers being allowed to make a subjective determination of the credit-worthiness of borrowers to this day that have led to the differentially overpriced mortgages to people of color, as opposed to white borrowers.

Gary Yard of West Springfield, MA talked about the overpriced loan beyond the value of the property that had been split into two loans, even though they were underwritten together. That the originator had lied to the underwriter inflating his income. Then, it became unaffordable, and this could happen to anybody. He pointed out that the splitting of the underwriting of one loan into two offered to the homeowners was a standard practice to avoid the regulatory oversight based on the major federal laws that have been passed to protect homeowners.

Both Umana and Yard, as immigrant borrowers, fit the pattern that came in in the 1930s with the New Deal of “rating neighborhoods”, and that “none of the socioeconomic criteria were more important than race,” and that “when the Homeowners’ Loan Corporation obtained a property through foreclosure, its sales policy was to ‘respect segregation and encourage it’.” Thereby, the predatory lending was expanded from black borrowers to include immigrant borrowers.

Jeb Mays, a supporter of the homeowners, explained that there was a decision from 1974, the Clark v. Universal Builders, Inc. from Chicago that explained that the predatory practices “forced African Americans to devote more of their incomes to housing to the detriment of other basic necessities, including education, medical care, food, clothing, home improvements, and recreation.”

As Grace Ross then explained, giving up the necessities of life is to this day the choice that homeowners who fight for their homes in our courts are being forced to make. As the group insisted, these practices must be changed. The Massachusetts courts have the power and the responsibility to enforce our equal protection rights to property for all Massachusetts residents.

Chris Hrycenko of Brockton and Laurie Endsley of Clinton then both told stories as white women of the expansion of predatory lending to women heads of household borrowers, when women could finally get credit, thanks to the Women’s Movement, in their own name. Both of them had paid for years and still found that at that point they owed more than when they had originally gotten their mortgage. As Hrycenko quoted, “Although redlining communities of color was not illegal, discrimination based on gender or marital status was not only legal, but considered sound business practice.” For example, 1973 Congressional hearings document one VA official stating that, “It is unamerican to count a woman’s income”, and that the would only support counting a woman’s income “if she were to have a hysterectomy.” U.S. 93rd Congress, 1973.

In short, the homeowners stated with their supporters that now is the time and that it is critical that the courts, our government, and, in fact, people in general stand up and demand equal property rights for all. “It is when everyone has justice and thrives that we all benefit,” closed Grace Ross.

Participants then joined in the Anti-Foreclosure Movement’s mantra, “When we fight, we win. When we fight, we win. When we fight, we win.”

(END)

Posted in Current News, For Your Information, Take Action! | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Action Alert: Press Conference and Juneteenth Rally on Tuesday, June 20th!

Please join the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) for a Press Conference and Juneteenth Rally on Beacon Hill!Flyer for MAAPL's Juneteenth Press Conference and Rally, June 20, 2023 at noon, 3 Pemberton Square on Beacon Hill in Boston, MA.

Click the image above to enlarge it. Click here to download.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 20th, 12:00-1:00 PM

WHERE: 3 Pemberton Square, Beacon Hill, Boston, in front of the Massachusetts Higher Courts

WHY: The history of the predatory lending practices used by banks today began as a tool to prevent black men from owning land after emancipation. Later, these practices also targeted immigrants and women as they sought to build wealth and economic security by owning property. They’ve been used to steal the wealth of BIPOC and female-headed households ever since.

It’s Time to End these Discriminatory Practices and Bring Our Wealth Home!

Join Us to Demand that the Massachusetts Courts Enforce our Rights!

Posted in Current News, For Your Information, Take Action! | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Action Alert: Join MAAPL on 5/9/23 for a Press Conference and Hearings on Bills to Protect Massachusetts Homeowners

Please join MAAPL on Tuesday, May 9, 2023 for a press conference and Judiciary Committee hearing on four important bills protecting Massachusetts homeowners.

Download the Press Advisory here ( PDF )

PRESS CONFERENCE: Twenty years into the harm from the historic, greed-driven housing bubble, Massachusetts residents return to the Legislature to call for justice

Date:  Tuesday, May 9, 2023

Press conference:  11:00 AM

Location:  Church on the Hill, 140 Bowdoin Street, Boston MA 02108

Or join us via Zoom:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85023564644?pwd=bWdqQWdkQzZKQTZGbTgxMWpnL0Y5Zz09

Testimony: 1-5pm at Judiciary Committee Hearing, Room A-2, Massachusetts State House.

Bills being heard:

  • H1689, S1043 An Act Protecting Titles to Real Estate in Massachusetts
    Sponsors: Rep. Frank A. Moran, Sen. Paul W. Mark
  • S1017 An Act Establishing a Foreclosure Review Division
    Sponsor: Sen. Edward J. Kennedy
  • H1410, S994 An Act Preventing unnecessary vacancies in foreclosed homes
    Sponsors: Rep. Peter Capano, Sen. Adam Gomez
  • S912 An Act to amend the foreclosure statute to require judicial foreclosure
    Sponsor: Sen. Michael D. Brady

Testimony: By homeowners across the state by Zoom and in person; possibly researchers as well.

For more information about these events, please contact Grace Ross – MAAPL Coordinator, (617) 291-5591

Posted in MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

South Essex Register O’Brien: “I refuse to enforce discriminatory mortgages”

Register John L. O'Brien speaks at a press conference over Zoom on December 7, 2022.On Wednesday, December 7, 2022 in Salem, Massachusetts, the South Essex County Register of Deeds, the Honorable John L. O’Brien, Jr., announced at a press conference at the Salem Registry of Deeds that he has filed to intervene in the so-called securitized trust’s court case against Dr. Esther Ngotho. The press conference was also streamed on Zoom, and the recording of the Zoom conference is available for viewing below.

Grace Ross, Coordinator of the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) joined Register O’Brien for the press conference via Zoom. Ross presented information regarding the long history of discriminatory and predatory mortgages in Massachusetts and how they have been targeted at communities of color in order to strip them of their wealth. Dr. Ngotho was also present to answer questions at the press conference.

Register O’Brien, in collaboration with MAAPL, also released a statement to the media regarding his Motion and the history of predatory lending and illegal practices by the banking industry in Massachusetts intended to strip wealth away from homeowners of color, and more recently, from immigrants and women. The press release is reproduced below.

Download the press release ( PDF )
View the press conference ( MP4 )
Article in The Salem News

Supporting documents:
MA 2007 Foreclosure Map ( PDF )
Foreclosures: Denying Massachusetts an Economic Recovery ( PDF )
Map of Property Value Loss by Zip Code for Mortgages Originated in 5 Years Previous to 2009 ( PDF )


JOHN L. O’BRIEN, JR.
Register of Deeds
(978) 542-1722
Fax: (978) 542-1721
e-mail: jl.obrien@sec.state.ma.us

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds
Shetland Park
45 Congress Street
Suite 4100
Salem, Massachusetts 01970

A division of the Secretary of the Commonwealth
WILLIAM FRANCIS GALVIN, SECRETARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Salem, MA
Wednesday, December 7, 2022

Contacts: John O’Brien, (978) 542-1700; Grace Ross 617-291-5591

South Essex Register O’Brien declares that he and all elected officials in positions of responsibility should refuse enforcement of racist/sexist/anti-immigrant mortgages.

Today – Salem Massachusetts, 10 AM, the South Essex County Register of Deeds, the
Honorable John L. O’Brien, Jr., announced at the press conference at the Salem Registry of Deeds at 45 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970 that he has filed to intervene in the so-called securitized trust’s court case against Esther Ngotho. The conference was also zoomed (see below)

“As the Southern Essex County Register of Deeds, I have sworn to faithfully uphold my duties, (as to recording and not recording) of proper and legal documents. I have and will continue to protect my constituents against illegal and predatory lending practices by big banks. Today I have filed my second Motion to Intervene in this case. Ms. Ngotho is not only a constituent of mine, but a United States citizen and an African American immigrant who is the victim of predatory loan and unethical banking practices. In my opinion, this woman was set up by the lenders and others for failure from day one,” explained Register O’Brien.

He continued: “The fact that the Land Court has attempted in Ms. Ngotho’s case to order me to record documents that would continue the destruction of her equal rights to her home is very disappointing. The fact that I attempted to intervene earlier, a Motion which the Land Court denied, is basically ordering me to record documents that I believe would violate the law and in doing so, would also deprive Ms. Ngotho of her equal rights. Additionally, and most importantly, the foreclosure documents are technically and legally deficient and appear to have been fraudulently submitted. The Land Court’s action is basically asking me to turn a blind eye to fraud, which is something that I will not do. The mortgage deed that was submitted for recordation on May 25, 2004 to my Registry of Deeds is, like any other prohibited discriminatory deed, illegal and unenforceable.”

“We so welcome the Register’s visionary actions in compliance with federal Ku Klux Klan Act,” explained Grace C Ross, Coordinator of the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending
(MAAPL) “under federal law, 42 U.S. code sections 1981 & 1982, government actors are to
protect Ngotho’s equal rights to property and to contracting. Under section 1983, “Civil action for deprivation of rights”, a government official is to stand behind Ngotho in ensuring her rights are honored. Under section 1986, anyone is a position to prevent the violation of her rights by two or more persons, have an obligation to act.”

Grace C Ross also provided the background of the extensive evidence of the use of mortgage deeds back at least 100 years to unequally strip the wealth of people of color and their homes, and, more recently, that of immigrants and women. Further, she provided evidence of the wealth stripping and the destruction of economic stability of our communities, especially those with higher percentages of people of color which were also targeted discriminatorily for predatory loans.

Ross also provided a statistical background showing that some 120,000 foreclosures are claimed to have happened in Massachusetts. The vast majority of them represent discriminatory prohibited lending practices. She laid out the overpricing of Ngotho’s property and the extensive elements of the discriminatory predatory loan, all of which, the math shows allowed the enforcement of this illegal loan in the first three years to charge Ngotho $52,000 more than the real price of the property with a legitimate mortgage would have charged her.

Dr. Esther Ngotho, herself, was present to answer questions at the press conference, as well.

For those who cannot make it to the Registry in Salem in person, here is the zoom link. It will open at 9:50am so that we can get everyone on hopefully by 10am and not disrupt the in-person press conference.

PLEASE JOIN THE ZOOM BEFORE 10am so we can work out kinks before 10am.
[Zoom meeting details omitted, as the information is no longer timely.]

Posted in For Your Information, MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Press Release: Alton King Returns Home

Judge's gavel and two books on a wood surfaceOn Friday, November 18, 2022, Alton King, a Black senior with a disability who had been wrongfully evicted from his Longmeadow, MA home, returned to his house for the first time in over a month.

King said in a statement released to the media by the Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), “I am excited to be back home. I am very satisfied that the Longmeadow Police have understood that I am not evicted physically from the home right now and report to me that they will be looking for the parties who claim that they have some rights to go back to the courts.”

King’s case is currently under reconsideration by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. MAAPL has been working with other organizations to convince the SJC to reverse its decision in the original case. More details about the SJC’s original decision, and MAAPL’s response to the decision, are available here on the MAAPL website.

You can read the full MAAPL Press Release below.

Download the complete Press Release ( PDF )


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact(s): Mr. Alton King: (413) 250-0098; Grace Ross (MAAPL Director): (617) 291-5591

LOCATION: 49 Memery Lane, Longmeadow, MA 01106-2573

ALTON KING RETURNS HOME

LONGMEADOW, MA, November 18, 2022 – Earlier today, Alton King, Jr. unlocked his home for the first time in over a month. Prior to doing so, King prioritized notifying the Longmeadow Police Department and ultimately gained entry with the assistance of a locksmith. King, though 80 years old, will swish jump shots… if you let him. After being out of his house for over a month, Mr. King was upbeat and praised the Longmeadow Police Department for their handling of today’s events:

“I am excited to be back home. I am very satisfied that the Longmeadow Police have understood that I am not evicted physically from the home right now and report to me that they will be looking for the parties who claim that they have some rights to go back to the courts.”

Sadly, the condition of Mr. King’s home, and the exact location of his possessions is still uncertain at this time. Mr. King conveyed the following after assessing his home for the first time in over a month:

“My home is not the way that I left it. We are creating a list of damages at this point. I still have a right to my belongings that are being illegally withheld by the moving company. They claim that it is the Sheriff’s office that is doing it. I expect those to be returned to me immediately. This is obviously not over, but today, justice prevailed.” [emphasis added]

Contrary to the disclosures by Sheriff Nick Cocchi, no legal eviction of Mr. Alton King from: 49 Memery Lane, Longmeadow, MA occurred on October 12, 2020. In fact, aside from confirming receipt, Sheriff Cocchi has still not responded to the ‘Open Letter’, dated and delivered to him on October 12, 2022. On the aforementioned day, Mr. King was unlawfully locked out of his house, and watched as much of his personal property was removed from his house. As of 6 p.m. today, some of Mr. King’s personal property still remains locked at Race Street Properties, 460 Race Street, Holyoke, MA.

Until today:

BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON As TRUSTEE on behalf of the registered holders of Alternative Loan Trust 2006-J7, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-J7 (BNYM-J7)

had been ‘holding’ Mr. King’s home hostage for over a month. An unknown quantity of Mr. King’s personal possessions, removed by Race Street Properties on October 12, 2022, still remains unaccounted for.


1Race Street Properties, 460 Race Street, Holyoke, MA, which purports to be a ‘storage’ facility while not being legally registered with MA Division of Occupational Licensure (DOL).  Also, Mr. King has not received a final inventory release from Race Street Properties for his ‘stored’ personal property as required by MGL Chapter 239 § 4.


The above-mentioned securitized trust (BNYM-J7) has: no legal existence, no trust founding documents on record with any Massachusetts Registries of Deeds, and has or is in the process of violating numerous Massachusetts laws and various Federal laws, including the anti-Ku Klux Klan Act, 42 U.S. c. §1981-88 (See ‘Open Letter’ to Sheriff Cocchi).

Today, Mr. King intends to return to his home so he may sleep in his own bed tonight and celebrate Thanksgiving with his family as he has for the last 18 years. Presently, the Bankruptcy Court has sole jurisdiction over this matter; the next hearing date for Mr. King is on December 13, 2022 at 10 a.m.

For other comments, clarifications, or questions, please contact:

Grace Ross, Coordinator of Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL)
(617) 291-5591 (c); Grace@GraceRoss.net

Please contact Jay Lively, Outreach & Media for general inquiries at (774) 521-6382 (c); jay.lively22@gmail.com

Posted in Current News, MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Press Release – Homeowners and Public Outraged: Blocked Attending Historic Hearing Retrying Predatory Mortgage Case

Judge's gavel and two books on a wood surfaceOn Thursday, November 10, 2022 the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) released a statement to the media regarding Tommy and Mary Morris being denied the right to attend their own hearing before the Housing Court on November 9, 2022.

The Morrises, as well as members of the general public, were barred from being heard by the judge and witnessing the proceedings despite making numerous attempts over the course of 2 hours to join the hearing remotely as instructed.

This case, HSBC Bank as Trustee v. Morris, may be the first holding in the country, during this foreclosure crisis, to admonish the lower courts in their state to address predatory lending.

The full text of the MAAPL press release is below.

Download the complete Press Release ( PDF )


Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL)
www.maapl.info | maaplinfo@gmail.com

For Immediate Release: November 10, 2022
Contact: Grace Ross  617-291-5591

HOMEOWNERS AND PUBLIC OUTRAGED: BLOCKED ATTENDING HISTORIC HEARING RETRYING PREDATORY MORTGAGE CASE

November 10, 2022, Brockton, MA – “The injustice continues! It’s an outrage! I wasn’t able to go on Zoom to attend my own hearing.The corruption in this country and these illegal actions against people losing their homes in this country are destroying lives and families. Home ownership used to be the American Dream,” explained Tommy L. Morris at being denied the right to attend his own Housing Court hearing.

Today, Mr. Morris and his wife Mary and others filed sworn affidavits of the violation of their rights to attend public court hearings. (See attached affidavit specifying 19+ attempts.)

The Morrises – Defendants in their own first hearing after an historic reversal by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court of a judgment erroneously entered given evidence of predatory and apparently discriminatory lending practices – and members of the general public, put the courts and the world on notice that they were barred from being heard by the judge and barred from witnessing these potentially historic proceedings, yesterday, November 9.

On July 22, 2022, as a historic first, the top court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, admonished the lower courts that they could no longer ignore an attempt to enforce mortgages that were the product of prohibited predatory and discriminatory lending practices. The HSBC Bank as Trustee v. Morris decision may be the first holding in the country, during this foreclosure crisis, to admonish the lower courts in their state, to address predatory lending.

In the early 2000s, legislation across the country was passed, early in the historic housing bubble, to arrest predatory lending practices; Massachusetts 2004 law was arguably the strongest. Its focus was to end the egregious practice of giving a loan to make fast money for the brokers and lenders, where the underwriting evidence demonstrated that the mortgage was based on a value far beyond the real property value, stripping as much wealth from the unwitting borrowers upfront as possible with the most likely long-term outcome being foreclosure.

With the SJC order, the Morrises were promised that the lower court, the MetroSouth Housing Court, judgment was to be reversed, that the predatory nature of the loan had to be assessed, and the case re-adjudicated. Today, Nov. 10, the public docket still does not reflect compliance with the SJC order to reverse the judgment for eviction.

The Morrises first status hearing was scheduled virtually for noon yesterday, before the Central Housing Court Chief Judge, Diana Horan. They attempted to join their hearing remotely, as instructed. Members of the public also attempted to join remotely, but apparently only the lawyers were permitted to join.

For 2 hours, the Morrises were consistently denied access to their hearing, and when they finally reached somebody at one of the courthouses, they were informed that their hearing had long since been over.

Jay Lively, an E. Falmouth homeowner and leader in the Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending, was also denied access to this hearing, “When accessibility to courts both as a party or a witness disappear, there can be no justice because accountability has been banished.”

Constitutional rights are in question when the public and press are blocked from what are supposed to be public court hearings; this was a public hearing and not in the limited set of circumstances which some-times allow a hearing to be closed (protecting the identity of a sexual violence victim, for instance.)

“I had a Fremont predatory loan and was happy to hear the Supreme Court’s decision in Mr. Morris’ case in July. However, I was very disappointed that I was unable to hear the status hearing yesterday with Judge Horan. We waited to be admitted to Zoom for an hour and 40 mins. and then found out the hearing was over,” Christine Hrycenko, Brockton resident and member of the Brockton Foreclosure Fighters.

The exclusion of the public, and especially given the historic importance of this case, makes it so that no other homeowners whose cases are similarly situated, and who would have a right to the same decision, can witness the proceedings; nor can there be any public record. (END)

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Those denied entrance to the hearing are available for comment if you contact Grace Ross above.

Posted in MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Leave a comment

Press Release: Eviction Not Final Outcome of 16 Year Predatory Discriminatory Loan

Judge's gavel and two books on a wood surfaceOn Thursday, October 20, 2022, the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) released a statement to the media regarding the wrongful eviction case of Alton King, a Black senior with a disability.

King has an open case in the Massachusetts Appeals Court. MAAPL has also been working with other organizations to convince the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts to reverse its decision in King’s original case. More details about the SJC’s original decision, and MAAPL’s response to the decision, are available here on the MAAPL website.

For recent Western MA media coverage of this case, see this news item.

Download the complete Press Release ( PDF )


Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL)
www.maapl.info and maaplinfo@gmail.com

For Immediate Release: October 20, 2022
Contact: Grace Ross  617-291-5591

EVICTION NOT FINAL OUTCOME OF 16 YEAR PREDATORY DISCRIMINATORY LOAN  

Longmeadow, MA, October 12, 2022, the eviction started at 9am but the Execution to Evict Alton King expired at 11:59pm.

Yet, on Thursday, October 13th, the Hampden County Sheriff deputies were found still  on King’s property, with moving trucks; and continuing a move-out while they no longer had an  authorizing Order to Evict. King, meanwhile, received a Bankruptcy Stay on Thursday, October  13, 2022 around 8:35 a.m.

Being evicted, even though the eviction case came about exemplifying the absolutely  most predatory type of loan, not legal under any mortgage law; King’s loan epitomizes practices  repeatedly prohibited by State and Federal law and Federal and State case-law since they began  160 years ago.

Unbeknownst to King, the underwriting of his property by the lender only offered him a bifurcated loan almost $400,000 more than the property was worth, trapping him in an  unaffordable loan that ballooned in a couple of years, to over three times the monthly payment  he was originally told.

But what he only found out after they claimed to have foreclosed on the prohibited  loan, was that it was a double-book entry loan, where he was being sent bills for a lower  interest rate than the bank was actually using, to build up how much he would owe over time;  so that after 30 years of paying, he would actually owe more (that he had not been assessed  monthly in his billing) principal than he had when he first got the loan.

Alton King, as an African American senior with a disability, was illegally induced into an  unsustainable and prohibited loan.

King’s monthly payment mushroomed from $3200/month to $13,400/month. The  mortgage was based on a 150% over inflated appraisal; when the $410,000 addition was placed  on the home the appraised value dropped $250,000. The bank refused to give a conventional  loan as promised.

Former Attorney General Harshbarger fixed this predatory lending problem 30 years  ago with regulations and a criminal law; when that failed the Predatory Home Loan Practices Act (PHLPA) was enacted in 2004, but the courts have refused to enforce all of these.

Fast-forward through: unsuccessful attempts to get a loan modification, three years of  court cases post a purported non-judicial foreclosure (because no court oversees the  foreclosure by sale process in Massachusetts). Finally, the judges he was in front of waited-out  King’s various legal rights to a Stay, by denying him the documents necessary to exercise his  rights to appeal a renewed order to evict.

As King himself reports:

“The judiciary, from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court down to through all  the courts have thus far largely ignored enforcement of those protections. Falsified  documents are routinely accepted by the courts from bank attorneys, who seemed to  have No Fear of repercussions, to validate the wrongful foreclosures.

Justice requires accountability for those who violate their positions of trust. The recent MA SJC decision in the HSBC Bank, as Trustee v. Morris case (July 2022) has  made it clear that predatory loans are not going to be tolerated. Not only is there  extensive evidence now of the bifurcated history of mortgage lending in this country and  the clear history of discrimination, but I documented the equal rights violations in the  Housing Court proceeding, itself, at minimum, as to age and disability.

As a senior Black man with a disability, I know from personal experience of 16 years of  mortgaging and then foreclosure and not that Courts what our laws hold, that the  experience of unequal treatment that is not timely rectified is also recognized as an  irredeemable loss. Such treatment left unremedied not only leaves an indelible mark but  lack of protection signals that the victim, such as me, is not even held as worthy of the  protections guaranteed in our state and federal constitutions: “even a successful suit will  not vindicate entirely King’s right to be free from discriminatory treatment.

Our Constitutions’ guarantee of equal protection cannot conscience denial of a stay  of eviction and provision of all his full rights.

Millions of Americans, a disproportionate number of them being Black, minorities,  elderly, Indigent, and disabled, are being targeted. The predatory institutions act with  impunity, especially knowing that there is tremendous profit and almost no risk in taking  advantage of Black people, minorities, elderly, indigent, and disabled.”

As of today, King has exercised his rights to a Stay under bankruptcy. The Hampden  County Sheriff’s office sits in a legally untenable position of withholding King’s own personal  possessions from him by locking him out of the house and yet not allowing him access to  possessions in the house, including legal documents that he has a right to.

King has an open case in the Massachusetts Appeals Court; he has a right to reverse the  eviction judgment under the Morris decision that has been not even properly reviewed, and  therefore he has a right to have heard. And he is exercising all of his options to enforce his  rights at this time.

As King says: “I call on the world, right now, to stand on the right side of justice and  recognize that it is only a matter of time now, that the wealthiest institutions are going to have  to face justice regarding decades of knowing discriminatory lending (race, age, disability, and  for other homeowners, such for instance as Rorie Susan Woods, herself, victim of sexist  lending), all of which has been outlawed for some 50 years.”

(END)

Posted in For Your Information, MAAPL in the News, Take Action! | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Press Release: NEAC of NAACP Files Amicus Brief in Alton King Case

Judge's gavel and two books on a wood surfaceOn Thursday, August 25, 2022, the New England Area Conference (NEAC) of the NAACP released a statement to the media regarding its filing of an amicus brief in the Supreme Judicial Court case Bank of New York Mellon as Trustee on Behalf of the Registered Holders of Alternative Loan Trust 2006-J7, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-J7 v. Alton King.

King’s case is currently under reconsideration by the SJC. MAAPL has been working with the NEAC and other organizations to convince the SJC to reverse its decision in the original case. More details about the SJC’s original decision, and MAAPL’s response to the decision, are available here on the MAAPL website.

You can read the full NEAC press release below.

Download the NEAC Press Release ( PDF )
Download the NEAC Amicus Brief ( PDF )


NAACP, NEW ENGLAND AREA CONFERENCE

P. O. Box 320128
West Roxbury, MA 02132
(617) 323-8885

Contacts: Juan Cofield, NEAC #
Grace Ross, MAAPL 617-291-5591

New England Area Conference of the NAACP files historic brief in support of Black senior homeowner (and those similarly situated) targeted in this unprecedented period of illegal foreclosures.

The New England Area Conference (NEAC) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed an amicus brief with the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

“This filing represents a historic step towards ending predatory and discriminatory home lending practices and illegal foreclosures in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We are proud to provide Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court, with an opportunity to address and correct the impact of 160 years of discriminatory lending practices,” said Maurice Powe, lead counsel for NEAC and legal redress committee chair for the Springfield Branch of the NAACP.

The case, Bank of New York Mellon as Trustee on Behalf of the Registered Holders of Alternative Loan Trust 2006-J7, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 2006-J7 v. Alton King, case number SJC-12859, is presently under reconsideration.

NEAC has worked for over a decade with the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) to end the illegal and predatory mortgage lending targeted to Blacks and other people of color. “This truly authoritative brief is a crash course in the criminal ploys by which the American mortgaging industry still reduces Black homebuyers to stifling economic deprivation,” explained Sarah McKee, formerly General Counsel of Interpol for the U.S., who has volunteered with MAAPL since 2014.

“I am so proud that NEAC has entered this brief in my SJC appeal,” said Alton King of Long Meadow explained, “These loans that were doomed to fail, designed to be foreclosed from inception, have ruinously extracted generational wealth from targeted communities, people of color and economically disenfranchised groups.”

“The Alton King case is unfortunately just one of thousands of Massachusetts homeowners targeted by discriminatory and illegal lending practices; it has damaged disproportionately Blacks and other borrowers of color. In fact, these practices have damaged the fabric of and caused overwhelming damage to the American economy” said Juan Cofield, president of NEAC. He stated further that, “for a century, the NAACP has worked through the courts to enforce the US Constitution, federal and state laws to ensure that all citizens are guaranteed equal opportunity for liberty and justice.”

(END)

Posted in Current News, For Your Information, Take Action! | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

MA Homeowners Forge a Milestone Victory at Supreme Judicial Court!

On Friday, July 29, 2022, MAAPL released a statement to the media marking and celebrating a breakthrough legal decision that was handed down on July 22, 2022 by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. On that date, the Court affirmed in HSBC Bank USA v. Morris, et al. that a predatory loan and its foreclosure are prohibited, and reversed the Housing Court eviction judgment in that case. A Brockton senior black couple has won the first victory recognizing that, even after a supposed foreclosure, courts must address and reverse the foreclosure where a mortgage is predatory and illegal from origination.

MAAPL’s press release is reprinted below, or you can download the press release ( PDF )

Related post: Action Alert: Join MAAPL for SJC Oral Arguments on Monday, 4/4/22


Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending
www.maapl.info

July 29, 2022                                                   Contact: Grace Ross, MAAPL Coordinator
For Immediate Release                                                                                   Cell 617.291.5591

Massachusetts Homeowners Forge a Milestone Victory at Supreme Judicial Court

July 29, 2022 – Homeowners in the second decade of fighting predatory, prohibited loans, celebrate first breakthrough recognition by Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court when on Friday, July 22, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed that a predatory loan and its foreclosure are prohibited and reversed the Housing Court eviction judgment in that case. A Brockton senior black couple argued their way to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and got the first victory recognizing that even after a supposed foreclosure courts must address and reverse where a mortgage is predatory and illegal from origination.

“We proved it; they broke every law there was and still no one got arrested. I’m so excited that the SJC heard our case,” one of the homeowner, Mr. Tommy L. Morris, who took unique and visionary leadership arguing his own case as a non-lawyer at key points in the many step process (including sharing time in oral argument at the Supreme Judicial Court itself) shares this important message, especially for other Massachusetts homeowners, “Now everyone knows that what they did was illegal and was always illegal. And people have to never give up.  People need to work together to make sure that they get the justice that they should have gotten years ago.”

“Those homeowners facing injustice from predatory loans are reminded that they have 20 years under our laws to fight that injustice. Like in the long road to end legalized segregation took a series of milestone decisions from the US Supreme Judicial Court, this Massachusetts SJC decision represents such a milestone to reversing this 16 year long unprecedented period of home foreclosures,” said Grace Ross, Coordinator of 14-year old coalition, the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending, “justice is just beginning; the homeowner fighters of Massachusetts will be back to our top state court!”

““The SJC delivered a vital win to Massachusetts homeowners victimized by the illegal foreclosure crisis who’ve been deprived of the right to assert mortgage origination violations. The Morris decision is a warning to unscrupulous mortgage lenders that predatory mortgage loans cannot be laundered simply by selling them off to other banks,” commented Brian Wasser, Esq, as early private bar attorney entrant into homeowner foreclosure defense legal work in 2008.

After Homeowners fighting their ways through repeated barriers of unequal access finally got a case all the way up to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court with the issue before the Court: a prohibited origination violation.  The first predatory lending foreclosures hit their earliest victims with foreclosure beginning in 2004-2005 in communities of color. After cumulative predictable foreclosures crashing the world markets and continuing to escalate in pure foreclosure numbers into the second decade of this century, foreclosures are rebounding to continue of unprecedented numbers of foreclosures originated in that same time period (2002-2008) through to today.

“In a meticulously crafted opinion, the SJC determined that the Legislature precisely intended our Predatory Home Loan Practices Act to protect Massachusetts families from grasping lenders such as victimized Mr. and Mrs. Morris and countless others. This is a win for hardworking families who were similarly impoverished, and terrorized, by the foreclosure of predatory mortgage loans that had been illegal from the moment when borrowers signed the papers,“ Sarah McKee, retired Federal Prosecutor from Amherst, Ma. and was Governor Patrick’s Appointee to the Registry Modernization Commission.

###

Posted in Current News, For Your Information, MAAPL in the News | Leave a comment

Action Alert: Join MAAPL for SJC Oral Arguments on Monday, 4/4/22

Judge's gavel and two books on a wood surfaceThe Morrises’ case is now up at the Massachusetts SJC to be HEARD, this MONDAY, April 4, 2022 at about 10:30am (time is not exact)

This is our first chance to show the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that it needs to stand up for the people of Massachusetts, especially the people of color and communities with a higher percentage of people of color who were targeted for the illegal, predatory, and, in fact, “prohibited” discriminatory loans that the industry across the board has rampantly engaged in.

We have all been horrified by what the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court did to Alton King and said was okay to be done to everybody similarly situated. That is, anybody who is “post foreclosure” and needs fees waived to be able to fight for their rights in our courts can be denied. (Although we are fighting that in the lower courts and getting there…)

We have an opportunity to show the SJC that we are watching and that they need to do the right thing. Please put THIS Monday on your calendar and plan to watch or attend!

We have found out that observers can be in the Courtroom itself; that would be the most impressive to the SJC (they prefer masks be worn). If you can’t make it OR we find out we can’t witness in person, PLEASE plan to watch the hearing using the link below — we will figure out a way to let the court know how many people are watching!

https://boston.suffolk.edu/sjc/

They need to know how many people are watching and how many people are going to be paying attention to whether they choose the people of Massachusetts over the mega-banks, and whether they start the process of reparations and healing that is our Constitutional right.

Posted in For Your Information, Take Action! | Tagged , , | 1 Comment