• About Us
  • Archives
  • SWG Registration
Samrack Media
Mahiga Homes
  • Home
  • ALL NEWS
  • Diaspora
  • Africa
    • AFRICA
    • KENYA
  • BUSINESS
    • BUSINESS
    • INVESTMENTS
    • REAL ESTATE
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • Politics
  • Health
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
  • Religion
  • People
    • PEOPLE
    • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
  • Obituaries
  • Videos
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • ALL NEWS
  • Diaspora
  • Africa
    • AFRICA
    • KENYA
  • BUSINESS
    • BUSINESS
    • INVESTMENTS
    • REAL ESTATE
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • Politics
  • Health
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
  • Religion
  • People
    • PEOPLE
    • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
  • Obituaries
  • Videos
  • Events
No Result
View All Result
Samrack Media
No Result
View All Result

Rise in Mass. foreclosures adds urgency to push for local mitigation powers

samrack by samrack
August 17, 2016
in 2016, Africa, Diaspora, Kenya, Kenya Diaspora News, News, U.S Diaspora
A A
0
Rise in Mass. foreclosures adds urgency to push for local mitigation powers
Share this
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmailWhatsAppLinkedIn
Grace Ross of Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending (right) and Esther Ngotho (left) of Beverly testified Tuesday in favor of a bill that seeks to allow cities and towns to establish pre-foreclosure programs. (Antonio Caban — State House News service)

Rise in Mass. foreclosures adds urgency to push for local mitigation powers

BOSTON >> Arguing that the current rate of foreclosures is worse than anything Massachusetts has seen since the run up to the American Revolution in 1763, activists and homeowners Tuesday pushed the Legislature to clarify the rights of municipalities to try to prevent foreclosures and minimize their damage.

VIDEO: Advocates push bill aimed at minimizing foreclosures

Passage of a one-sentence bill (H 4553) filed late last month by Springfield Rep. Jose Tosado would give cities and towns the clear authority necessary to use their health and safety powers to implement programs like pre-foreclosure mediation without expanding the rights of municipalities, supporters said.

“Except where explicitly denied by the General Laws, municipalities shall have authority to enact laws for the purpose of ensuring the safety and security of residents by minimizing foreclosures and ensuring the upkeep of vacant properties and those in foreclosure,” the bill reads in its entirety.

Grace Ross, coordinator for the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending, said the bill would allow cities like Worcester and Lynn to again run pre-foreclosure mediation programs that are on hold following a Supreme Judicial Court decision that questioned the cities’ authority to establish such programs.

“This bill is not actually authorizing the municipalities to do anything,” Ross told the Joint Committee on Housing. “The issue is that when Springfield tried to pass ordinances a question got sent to the SJC about whether municipalities could pass ordinances or not related to foreclosures.”

Springfield in 2011 enacted two city ordinances related to homes left vacant by the wave of foreclosures that followed the 2008 economic collapse. Six banks that held mortgages on properties in Springfield challenged the legality of the ordinances and the case was decided by the SJC in December 2014.

In the decision written by Justice Francis Spina, the SJC concluded that “the foreclosure process is wholly a matter of State regulation absent an expression of a clear intent to allow local regulation.”

Close to 80 lawmakers wrote a letter to House Speaker Robert DeLeo late last month requesting that language be added to the municipal modernization bill, which was then in conference committee, to clarify municipalities’ rights.

“Municipalities have created foreclosure-preventative programs mutually beneficial to banks, homeowners and the community. Lynn’s Pre-Foreclosure Mediation program had a 97% success rate for mutually agreed upon affordable loan modifications while operating; Worcester protected ~800 foreclosed properties and kept them ‘up to code’ while in foreclosure,” the letter read. “The SJC decision put these and other programs on hold until we in the Legislature act.”

Rep. Denise Provost, who circulated the letter among her colleagues, told the committee Tuesday that she can stand on her front porch and see seven foreclosure-involved buildings in her Somerville neighborhood, some of which have fallen into disrepair during the foreclosure process.

“Pre-foreclosure mediation has shown … to be very successful and it makes a lot of sense to allow cities and towns to have this means for dealing with the foreclosed properties in their communities, rather than simply suffering from blight and coming to us for the authority to deal with blighted properties.”

Esther Ngollu, a Beverly resident, told the committee that she has been trying for a decade to get the bank to sit down with her and agree to a loan modification so she can keep her house.

“I got a predatory mortgage two years after I immigrated into this country and I’ve been fighting for my home for about 10 years,” she said. “I have tried to apply for modification for more than 10 times within a period of 10 years.”

Along with Provost, Reps. Timothy Toomey of Cambridge and Carmine Gentile of Sudbury also testified in favor of the bill. Tosado did not attend Tuesday’s hearing.

Gentile, a Democrat, said the programs that would be OK’d by the bill could be “a tool to reduce urban blight by minimizing vacant store fronts, allowing lenders and businesses to possibly resolve matters without foreclosure to both parties’ benefit and to the municipality and neighborhood’s benefit.”

The number of foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts increased 13.1 percent in June, marking 28 straight months of year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts, and that trend is expected to prevail through the end of the year, The Warren Group reported earlier in August.

Lenders filed 1,002 petitions to foreclose in June, up from the 886 petitions filed in June of last year. A petition is the first step in the foreclosure process and involves the lender filing a notice of intent to foreclose with the state’s Land Court.

Through June this year there were 6,616 petitions filed in Massachusetts — a 24.4 percent increase from last year’s 5,316 mark, according to The Warren Group.

June also marked the fifth straight month with more than 1,000 foreclosure starts, a streak that hasn’t happened since 2012, The Warren Group said.

Source: http://www.berkshireeagle.com/

Tags: Rise in Mass. foreclosures adds urgency to push for local mitigation powers
Previous Post

First Lady thanks Kenyans, donors as Beyond Zero campaign hits target

Next Post

Weak banks a risk to Kenya’s economy, says CBK deputy governor

Related Posts

Africa Day: My Vision for Payments in Africa – Olugbenga GB Agboola
Business

Africa Day: My Vision for Payments in Africa – Olugbenga GB Agboola

June 5, 2023
Kenyan Mother and Daughter Running Successful Restaurant in the US
Business

Kenyan Mother and Daughter Running Successful Restaurant in the US

June 5, 2023
bey Muthoni: Kenyan Diaspora psychologist helping immigrant Students at VCU
Business

Abey Muthoni: Kenyan Diaspora Psychologist Helping Immigrant Students At VCU

June 3, 2023
Pastor Catherine Wairimu Ng'ang'a
Diaspora

Githurai Pastor Accused of Defrauding Kenyans in the US of Sh6.8 Million

June 3, 2023
Former Citizen TV Journalist on Verge of Becoming Homeless in the US
Business

Former Citizen TV Journalist on Verge of Becoming Homeless in the US

June 3, 2023
Safaricom’s M-Pesa License Approval in Ethiopia Paves Way for Financial Inclusion and Innovation
Africa

Safaricom’s M-Pesa License Approval in Ethiopia Paves Way for Financial Inclusion and Innovation

June 3, 2023
Next Post
Weak banks a risk to Kenya’s economy, says CBK deputy governor

Weak banks a risk to Kenya’s economy, says CBK deputy governor

Please login to join discussion
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Royal Gardens Ngong Royal Gardens Ngong Royal Gardens Ngong
ADVERTISEMENT
KIBS VILLA HOMES:(ABNB) Relax into Luxury: Monthly ABNB rates are negotiable Call:508-479-1517 / 254714428680 KIBS VILLA HOMES:(ABNB) Relax into Luxury: Monthly ABNB rates are negotiable Call:508-479-1517 / 254714428680 KIBS VILLA HOMES:(ABNB) Relax into Luxury: Monthly ABNB rates are negotiable Call:508-479-1517 / 254714428680
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest News

Africa Day: My Vision for Payments in Africa – Olugbenga GB Agboola

Kenyan Mother and Daughter Running Successful Restaurant in the US

Abey Muthoni: Kenyan Diaspora Psychologist Helping Immigrant Students At VCU

Githurai Pastor Accused of Defrauding Kenyans in the US of Sh6.8 Million

Former Citizen TV Journalist on Verge of Becoming Homeless in the US

Safaricom’s M-Pesa License Approval in Ethiopia Paves Way for Financial Inclusion and Innovation

Uhuru Changes Jubilee NDC Venue Amid Suspension

Kenyan Marathon Legend Eliud Kipchoge Awarded Ksh7.4 Million By 18-Year-Old Spanish Princess

Biden and Republicans hopeful of a deal

President Ruto Admits Losing Weight

We are grateful for your monthly or one-off donations To Samrack Media: Cash App No: 781-888-8770 $SAMRACK001

Money

New Digital Skills Helps Unemployed Kenyan Youth Earn In Cryptocurrency

New Digital Skills Helps Unemployed Kenyan Youth Earn In Cryptocurrency

by samrack
November 19, 2021
0

New Digital Skills Helps Unemployed Kenyan Youth Earn In Cryptocurrency This week sees the launch of a new initiative to equip...

A simple guide to Government Bonds investing in Kenya

A simple guide to Government Bonds investing in Kenya

by samrack
September 17, 2021
0

A simple guide to Government Bonds investing in Kenya A treasury bond (T-bond) is a medium term to long term...

Politics

Businessman Awarded Sh126 Million for Land Forcefully Taken to Build SGR

Businessman Awarded Sh126 Million for Land Forcefully Taken to Build SGR

by samrack
April 8, 2023
0

Businessman Awarded Sh126 Million for Land Forcefully Taken to Build SGR The Environment and Land Court has awarded over Sh126...

Paul Rusesabagina's daughter tweeted a photo of him smiling.

Hotel Rwanda hero and government critic arrives in US

by samrack
March 31, 2023
0

Hotel Rwanda hero and government critic arrives in US Paul Rusesabagina, an outspoken critic of the Rwandan government, has arrived...

  • About Us
  • Archives
  • SWG Registration

© 2023 SAMRACK - Diaspora News & Updates; design by: Samrack.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • ALL NEWS
  • Diaspora
  • Africa
    • AFRICA
    • KENYA
  • BUSINESS
    • BUSINESS
    • INVESTMENTS
    • REAL ESTATE
    • TECHNOLOGY
  • Politics
  • Health
    • HEALTH
    • EDUCATION
  • Religion
  • People
    • PEOPLE
    • LIFESTYLE
    • RELATIONSHIPS
  • Obituaries
  • Videos
  • Events

© 2023 SAMRACK - Diaspora News & Updates; design by: Samrack.

Page generated in 1.113 seconds. Stats plugin by www.blog.ca