ACORN Wants Moratorium and Tougher Laws against Predatory Lending

Pressure is building for industry and government officials to stop the wave of home foreclosures spawned by the subprime lending crises. The consumer group ACORN is the latest group to call for a halt in foreclosure proceedings.

Earlier this month, the NAACP and other civil rights groups called for a six-month moratorium on foreclosures that result from subprime loans.

ACORN this week launched what it calls a grassroots campaign to unite homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, often due to predatory lending.

ACORN leaders say they hope to bring together thousands of families to win major policy changes from lenders and government officials — including a one-year moratorium on foreclosures from predatory loans.

“We are going to go door-to-door and family-by-family. We will connect people in danger of foreclosure to sources of help, and we will organize these homeowners to fight back to save their homes from the predatory lenders,” said ACORN President Maude Hurd.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Minnesota has signed legislation the group says will provide important new protections for homeowners against predatory loans. Minnesota ACORN leader Paul Satriano celebrated a five-year effort to pass the law, calling it, “a model for states around the country responding to the foreclosure crisis.

Among the major points of the ACORN campaign is a proposal to state attorneys general to seek injunctions to stop foreclosure proceedings caused by predatory loans. The plan also calls for tougher laws against predatory lending.

The group says predatory lending has lead to an epidemic of foreclosures. Last year there were 1.2 million foreclosure filings, a large increase from the 900,000 foreclosures that were filed in 2005. This year, foreclosure filings are expected to reach 1.5 million.

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