Hoping to succeed where Washington has largely failed, New York City’s comptroller, John C. Liu, and six large unions plan to begin a campaign on Wednesday to press the biggest banks to do more to prevent foreclosures in the New York area.
Liu said the group would send Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, among others, a letter that criticizes them for dragging their feet on modifying mortgages that are underwater or delinquent, and that urges them to do “everything possible” to avert foreclosures.
Depending on the response the coalition members get, they might move pension funds and bank deposits to other institutions, according to union officials.
“The federal programs in place just aren’t having a desired effect,” Mr. Liu said in an interview on Tuesday. “People are losing their homes. It continues to be a drag on our regional economy.”
In the letter, a copy of which was provided in advance to The New York Times, Mr. Liu and the presidents of six of New York’s most powerful unions will ask the banks to immediately name a high-level official to handle appeals of borrowers who are denied mortgage loan modifications.
Their letter criticizes the banks for “unanswered phone calls, delays in the modification process and multiple requests for homeowners to resend paperwork already submitted.”
“Banks like you can do more,” the comptroller and union presidents write.
The coalition will officially announce the effort a news conference on Wednesday. The unions involved are the United Federation of Teachers, the 1199 health care workers union, the Transport Workers Union, the District Council 37 municipal employees union, the New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, and Local 32BJ of the service employees union.
The group said that 265,000 mortgages in New York State — 13 percent of all mortgages in the state — are past due or already in the foreclosure process.
The officials ask the banks what efforts they have undertaken to respond promptly to customers’ requests about modifying mortgages and to suspend foreclosures while evaluating a borrower’s eligibility for loan modification.
(Source: NY Times)
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and what effort has the unions done to help their scribers. Did the forget the dues due for the last 2 years etc etc. Unions head live high on the hog and go after other people. Put your money for your mouth is, Help these people also