Housing Comes First

Victory Starts In The Streets

Predatory Lenders saturate neighborhoods with advertisements on television, radio and direct mail. To fight back, we have to go door-to-door in neighborhoods threatened by these loan sharks.

Here's two great examples in the news recently of groups beating the streets:

Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Richmond, Virginia declared September 30th, "Sign Swiping Day" in the city. They organized folks to go throughout neighborhoods taking down advertisements for predatory lenders off of phone poles and other public places.

College students in Dayton, Ohio helped the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center distribute over 1,000 information packets door-to-door in neighborhoods with high rates of mortgage foreclosure. The information would direct them to call a foreclosure hotline set up by the housing center.

Of course, the follow up that community organizers need to do is get these homeowners educated and angry enough to fight for change, not just passively accept social services--but it's a start.

posted by Phil @ 6:11 AM