FHFA, Remove the Roadblocks to Recovery for Millions of Struggling Americans

Today American Friends Service Committee joined the Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes Atlanta in an effort to deliver a letter and petitions to Georgia Congressmen John Lewis, David Scott, and Hank Johnson. Similar deliveries are happening in 15 states today concerning the very serious issue of our governments approach to housing; more specifically Fannie Mae and Freddy Macs unwillingness to work with struggling Americans.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created as government sponsored enterprises (GSEs) with the mission of expanding access to homeownership and affordable housing. After the housing bubble burst in 2008, Fannie and Freddie were bailed out with $180billion of tax-payer funds and placed under the conservatorship of the newly established Federal Housing Finance Agency. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which together are now 79% tax payer owned, own or control over half of all mortgages- over 90% of new mortgages- in the United States.

In the time since the crisis began the FHFA, under the leadership of acting director Ed DeMarco, served as a roadblock in the path to recovery, instituting policies that harm families, hurt communities, and violate federal law. For example, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have refused to offer principal reduction for underwater homeowners, a move that according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) would save the federal government $2.8 billion, pump $101.7 billion back into the economy, and prevent tens of thousands of foreclosures.Additionally, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have refused to allow buybacks of homes post-foreclosure or accept rent from former homeowners, choosing to sell the homes to investors for pennies on the dollar instead. These are just a few examples of current polices in place at the FHFA that continue displace families and destroy communities across our city and as an organization dedicated
to housing justice in Atlanta, we see this impact firsthand every day.

Today, with the help of the American people, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have returned to profitability, earning the US Treasury billions of dollars. In January, after a two year campaign to remove acting FHFA director Ed Demarco, North Carolina Congressman Mel Watt- was confirmed as the new permanent director of the FHFA, signaling the possibility for changes at the agency. While some progress has been made, for many struggling homeowners, relief is not coming fast enough. The changes we are calling for immediately include:
• Accepting rent from tenants and former owners after foreclosure
• Providing loan modifications that include principal reduction to the current market value
• Selling homes back to occupants post-foreclosure at the current market value
• Donating vacant homes to community organizations to create affordable housing
• Putting more than $570million into the National Housing Trust Fund that has been withheld by Mr.
Watt’s predecessor, Ed DeMarco.
• Reject legislation or proposals that would mandate discrimination by federal agencies against mortgage
loans made in communities that may implement local principal reduction programs.

After delivery a letter and a petition to pressure Mel Watt, we also left petitions with each congressman that were for individual local housing justice campaigns that were in their perspective districts. I hope you will consider signing each of those petitions!
Nancy Daniells
Zannie Jackson
Nazim Abdul-Latif

Thousands Of Georgians Rally Against HB87/SB40 At The Capitol!!

What a day! Thousands of Georgians came together today to rally at the capitol against HB87/SB40.

State Reps. Matt Ramsey and Sen. Jack Murphy, both Republicans, have sponsored legislation that would require employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of new hires. Legislation also would authorize law-enforcement officers to check the immigration status of anyone they suspected of being undocumented. The bills would also make it a crime to assist anyone that's undocumented and it's vague enough that it could be interpreted that simply giving someone a ride to church or the store could be an arrestable offense.

The Fact that Arizona is taking a timeout from their historic anti-immigrant legislation amid concerns from business leaders that the issue is hurting the state's struggling economy seems to have caused no pause to republican's who are pushing the bill. This seems ironic because I keep hearing Georgia republicans posture themselves as the party of "common sense" and "fiscally responsible".

When one simply scratches the surface in the search for the real motives behind this bill the obvious conclusion is pretty scary. It appears to be scapegoat legislation targeted at one of the seeming least powerful voices in the state. The law makers who are crying for the passage of this bill are willing to further assault Georgia's already struggling economy in an effort to rally their base by stirring up fears based on made up "facts" that literally seemed pulled out of the stratosphere.

Immigrants, students, members of the civil rights community, representatives of labor, faith and business communities, and other everyday Georgians banded together to demand Governor Deal commit to veto harmful, anti-immigrant legislation

The message at the capitol was clear, Georgia can't afford this terrible legislation. Dozens of speakers addressed the crowd of over 5,000 including Congressman John Lewis, a leader of the 1960s civil rights movement. He said that he was arrested dozens of times while working alongside Martin Luther King Jr. "I was beaten, left bloody, but I didn't give up and you must not give up," he said to loud cheers.Indigo Girls performed their song "Shame on You" with lyrics adapted for the rally.

Indigo Girls also made an appearance, performing their song "Shame on You" with changed up lyrics just for the rally.


We were especially proud of all the high school students from several of the schools we've been working with that got permission to skip school to attend. After the rally they came to the office for a strategy session on ways to mobilize against hb87/sb40 on their campus.

The rally was called by the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and supported by dozens of organizations across the state. It was a great day to be at the capitol. At one point, I believe the crowd made so much noise the gold dome shook.

Thanks Kelly Azabache Core for hooking me up with the pics!


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee