Urgent! Call Governor Patrick Now–Tell Him to Veto S1987!

Take Action Now!

UPDATE: We are asking for a full court press to defeat S1987 now!  We have heard directly from the team responsible for review that it is still in the active process category! Governor Patrick could sign or veto the bill any time through Monday, August 11, or he could wait and let it die.  He has indicated he is sympathetic to the homeowners on this issue, but he is also hearing from the real estate lawyers and title insurers.  We need to flood his office with calls (considering faxing something if you haven’t).

As you no doubt know, MAAPL and our allies and member groups have been working for over three years to stop a bill from coming out of the Legislature that would cut the time a homeowner has post-foreclosure to file a lawsuit against the banks from 20 years to 1 year for those already foreclosed on, including 65,000 former homeowners in Massachusetts. The new law would shorten the time for foreclosed homeowners going forward, to 3 years.

Please make a call now to Governor Patrick, or send a fax, calling on him to veto S1987.  (See suggested text below.)

Next, consider doing any or all of these:
• Call other people you know who feel strongly about homeowners’ rights, the foreclosure issue and saving our neighborhoods and ask them to make the call.
• Request that the leadership of your organizations  endorse this call and participate in mobilizing members to make the call.
• Alert your members and colleagues by putting out this request on your Facebook page, Twitter, email list and blog.

617-725-4005: Call the Governor and tell him – “Veto S1987! This outrageous bill slashes homeowners’ right to sue to regain their illegally foreclosed home to 1 year and it doesn’t do anything to actually clear the titles to foreclosed homes. There are currently 65,000 MA homeowners in foreclosure who deserve this 300 – year old historic right to maintain their home from the illegal actions of banks during the foreclosure crisis.”

OR

617-727-9725: Fax the Governor – with your name, your town (and fax# or address, asking for a response). Tell him: “Veto S1987! This outrageous bill slashes homeowners’ right to sue to regain their illegally foreclosed home to 1 year and it doesn’t do anything to actually clear the titles to foreclosed homes. There are currently 65,000 MA homeowners in foreclosure who deserve this 300 – year old historic right to maintain their home from the illegal actions of banks during the foreclosure crisis.”


This past Thursday at the State House, MAAPL fought the title insurers’ anti-homeowner bill that would restrict our right to sue and regain our illegally foreclosed homes in the Legislature. This bill, S1987, strips foreclosed homeowners of their long-standing property right to sue and regain title to their home if it was illegally foreclosed on. That’s 65,000 homes and families affected–and that number is growing–across the state. Read this Fact Sheet (Word file) on the bill.

Thanks to strong action from MAAPL members and supporters, last Thursday night House leadership had to resort to undemocratic tactics after midnight, turn their backs on their very own 10-year window compromise amendment, and ignore a very loud voice vote of “No!” from Representatives in order to pander to the title insurers’ desires.

With the passage of S1987, the 20 year window to sue is primed to slam down to only one year. But it still is open; we’re poised to stop this bill, and we are organized! The governor has been watching the anti-foreclosed homeowner rights bill, and he is sympathetic to us. Bring him firmly onto our side. Urge him to veto the bill. If you have a story about your own, or a family member’s or friend’s foreclosure, tell that story too–and ask them to call the governor as well.

The fight is not over! We took a bad bill that legislative leadership meant to pass silently and quickly, made the entire House of Representatives aware of why it was bad, and forced leadership to bully the bill through.

We are powerful! Let the governor hear our voices–call today and ask him to veto S1987! Tell him we have the votes to sustain that veto. Last week we exercised our muscle – let’s show them some more! Call now! Tell your friends, family and co-workers! Governor Patrick has until August 11th to act, BUT he could act any day!

Call Governor Patrick now–617-725-4005–and urge him to stand with us to protect Massachusetts homeowners’ right to sue to regain their home!

About MAAPL

The Mass. Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL) is a coalition of over 60 housing counseling agencies, legal services groups, social service agencies, and community-based social action groups that have joined together to address the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts. MAAPL collects and distributes timely information on the foreclosure crisis and its effects to the public and to its member groups, drafts and supports legislation that provides important protections to homeowners and tenants facing foreclosure and eviction, documents the impact of the foreclosure crisis on local communities, networks with related organizations throughout the Commonwealth, and provides tools and information to help people navigate the legal system and advocate on their own behalf more effectively when challenging a foreclosure or eviction in court
This entry was posted in Current News, Take Action! and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.