On Tuesday, June 30th, homeowners from communities across Massachusetts descended upon the statehouse to testify in support of three key foreclosure-related bills. MAAPL member organizations, including Lynn United for Change, Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team, Springfield No One Leaves and City Life/Vida Urbana, as well as city officials from Worcester and Springfield, lawyers, mediators and many other advocates and supporters attended the hearings for the bills: An Act Relative to the Relief of Mortgage Debt (S1464/H2607), An Act to Facilitate Alternatives to Foreclosure (S482/H888) and An Act Clarifying Municipal Authority Regarding Cash Sureties (S41).
“These bills represent a new offensive in the fight to end foreclosures even as foreclosure
activity in Massachusetts surges again threatening to rival the worst years of this continuing crisis, 2010 and 2011,” explained Grace Ross of the Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending, “1st quarter of this year foreclosure activity was up 77.3% over the 1st quarter a year ago, but now we know how to fix what is broken.”
Download MAAPL’s press release on the hearings ( PDF )
Following the hearings, the Boston Globe published an article on the increase in foreclosures in Massachusetts in recent months. The article, which appeared on the front page of the Globe’s Business section, ends with a quote from MAAPL coordinator Grace Ross.
Read the Boston Globe article here – Bump in Mass. foreclosures blamed on new rules
