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Project No One Leaves (PNOL) is a Boston non-profit tenants' rights organization which provides legal education to people living in foreclosed homes to enable them to understand and protect their legal rights. The group was established in 2008 by members of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau who specialized in housing law in response to a perceived spike in foreclosures and mass evictions in low-income Boston neighborhoods.
Project No One Leaves (PNOL) began in January 2008 with the establishment of a Foreclosure Task Force of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau by Harvard Law School students Nick Hartigan and David Haller. [1]
In September of that same year Project No One Leaves was formally launched, [1] with Hartigan and Haller being joined by Tony Borich, another Harvard student affiliated with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the oldest student-run legal aid organization in the United States. [2] The trio were concerned about an uptick in foreclosures and evictions meted out against low-income Bostonians due to the subprime mortgage crisis and set out to inform the occupants of foreclosed homes of their legal rights under the state laws of Massachusetts. [2]
Project No One Leaves makes use of newly filed foreclosures in the area to create a database of affected residences. [2] Residents are then contacted in person by volunteers with the project, which include students at Harvard Law School and eight other Boston-area law schools and colleges, [2] as well as undergraduates and members of concerned community groups. In 2009, more than 1,000 people living in foreclosed properties were contacted by Project No One Leaves and informed of their legal rights, with a view to helping keep victims of foreclosure in their own homes. [2]
Canvassers encourage residents to attend meetings of City Life/Vida Urbana to meet others in similar straits and help interested individuals to make contact with Harvard Legal Aid's Foreclosure Task Force and other legal aid organizations. [3] This grassroots contact enables legal action to be taken against those mortgage-holders who are in violation of the law. Law students have won a series of cash settlements by those banks which have failed to keep the properties they hold in satisfactory condition for habitation. [2]
Working together, Project No One Leaves volunteers, City Life community organizers, and other groups work to pressure banks holding foreclosed properties to resell the assets to community lender Boston Community Capital (BCC), which mortgages or sometimes rents them to the original occupants at the current deflated market rate. [4] BCC makes its money by charging a 25 percent premium on its purchase price. [5] Residents are thus allowed to stay in their current dwelling on a more affordable fixed-rate mortgage, while banks are able to expeditiously turn over their foreclosed properties for somewhat more than they would typically expect. [5]
In the 13 months between May 2010 and June 2011, BCC purchased a total of 55 properties containing a total of 125 residential units. [5] Plans are in place for the future purchase and resale of hundreds of more homes, primarily in working class areas of Boston. [5]
Over its first three years of its existence, Project No One Leaves has grown, with additional chapters sprouting in Boston and elsewhere in the United States, including Miami. [6]
In November 2010, Project No One Leaves organized a national conference in which lawyers and community organizers from 15 states came to Boston to learn about the foreclosure resistance model espoused by the organization. [7]
The joint activities of Project No One Leaves and City Life have attracted national attention via the PBS News Hour, [8] the New York Times, [4] National Public Radio, [9] and the Huffington Post. [10]
Project No One Leaves has also received recognition from national housing organizations, such as the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty. [11]
In April 2009 Project No One Leaves founders Dave Haller and Nick Hartigan received the Outstanding Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association in recognition of their excellence in clinical legal work. [1]
Project No One Leaves and Boston Community Capital saw their national stature further elevated in April 2010 when chairman of the Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke cited their efforts as an example of how "local communities are meeting the challenges of tough times" in a public speech. [5]
A mortgage is a legal instrument which is used to create a security interest in real property held by a lender as a security for a debt, usually a loan of money. A mortgage in itself is not a debt, it is the lender's security for a debt. It is a transfer of an interest in land from the owner to the mortgage lender, on the condition that this interest will be returned to the owner when the terms of the mortgage have been satisfied or performed. In other words, the mortgage is a security for the loan that the lender makes to the borrower.
Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan.
A secured loan is a loan in which the borrower pledges some asset as collateral for the loan, which then becomes a secured debt owed to the creditor who gives the loan. The debt is thus secured against the collateral, and if the borrower defaults, the creditor takes possession of the asset used as collateral and may sell it to regain some or all of the amount originally loaned to the borrower. An example is the foreclosure of a home. From the creditor's perspective, that is a category of debt in which a lender has been granted a portion of the bundle of rights to specified property. If the sale of the collateral does not raise enough money to pay off the debt, the creditor can often obtain a deficiency judgment against the borrower for the remaining amount.
OneWest Bank, a division of CIT Bank, N.A., is a regional bank with over 60 retail branches in Southern California. OneWest Bank specializes in consumer deposit and lending including personal checking and savings accounts, Money Market accounts, CDs, and home loan products. OneWest also offers small business checking, savings, CD and Money Market accounts as well as small business loans and treasury management products.
Equity stripping, also known as equity skimming, is a type of foreclosure rescue scheme. Often considered a form of predatory lending, equity stripping became increasingly widespread in the early 2000s. In an equity stripping scheme an investor buys the property from a homeowner facing foreclosure and agrees to lease the home to the homeowner who may remain in the home as a tenant. Often, these transactions take advantage of uninformed, low-income homeowners; because of the complexity of the transaction, victims are often unaware that they are giving away their property and equity. Several states have taken steps to confront the more unscrupulous practices of equity stripping. Although "foreclosure re-conveyance" schemes can be beneficial and ethically conducted in some circumstances, many times the practice relies on fraud and egregious or unmeetable terms.
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or alternatively by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged. The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property through a process known as mortgage origination. This means that a legal mechanism is put into place which allows the lender to take possession and sell the secured property to pay off the loan in the event the borrower defaults on the loan or otherwise fails to abide by its terms. The word mortgage is derived from a Law French term used in Britain in the Middle Ages meaning "death pledge" and refers to the pledge ending (dying) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure. A mortgage can also be described as "a borrower giving consideration in the form of a collateral for a benefit (loan)".
Mortgage discrimination or mortgage lending discrimination is the practice of banks, governments or other lending institutions denying loans to one or more groups of people primarily on the basis of race, ethnic origin, sex or religion.
City Life/Vida Urbana commonly known as "City Life," is a social justice group in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1973, a group of local residents and activists with roots in the civil rights, feminist and anti-Vietnam War movements founded the Jamaica Plain Tenants Action Group, now City Life/Vida Urbana. Since 2008, City Life has focused on preventing evictions of both former owners and renters resulting from a rise in foreclosures. City Life/Vida Urbana is currently based in Jamaica Plain, with satellite memberships in East Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Quincy, and Worcester.
A legal clinic is a legal aid or law school program providing services to various clients and often hands-on-legal experience to law school students. Clinics are usually directed by clinical professors. Legal clinics typically do pro bono work in a particular area, providing free legal services to clients.
Loan modification is the systematic alteration of mortgage loan agreements that help those having problems making the payments by reducing interest rates, monthly payments or principal balances. Lending institutions could make one or more of these changes to relieve financial pressure on borrowers to prevent the condition of foreclosure. Loan modifications have been practiced in the United States since The 2008 Crash Of The Housing Market from Washington Mutual, Chase Home Finance, Chase, JP Morgan & Chase, other contributors like MER's. Crimes of Mortgage ad Real Estate Staff had long assisted nd finally the squeaky will could not continue as their deviant practices broke the state and crashed. Modification owners either ordered by The United States Department of Housing, The United States IRS or President Obamas letters from Note Holders came to those various departments asking for the Democratic process to help them keep their homes and protection them from explosion. Thus the birth of Modifications. It is yet to date for clarity how theses enforcements came into existence and except b whom, but t is certain that note holders form the Midwest reached out in the Democratic Process for assistance. FBI Mortgage Fraud Department came into existence. Modifications HMAP HARP were also birthed to help note holders get Justice through reduced mortgage by making terms legal. Modification of mortgage terms was introduced by IRS staff addressing the crisis called the HAMP TEAMS that went across the United States desiring the new products to assist homeowners that were victims of predatory lending practices, unethical staff, brokers, attorneys and lenders that contributed to the crash. Modification were a fix to the crash as litigation has ensued as the lenders reorganized and renamed the lending institutions and government agencies are to closely monitor them. Prior to modifications loan holders that experiences crisis would use Loan assumptions and Loan transfers to keep the note in the 1930s. During the Great Depression, loan transfers, loan assumption, and loan bail out programs took place at the state level in an effort to reduce levels of loan foreclosures while the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Federal Trade Commission, Comptroller, the United States Government and State Government responded to lending institution violations of law in these arenas by setting public court records that are legal precedence of such illegal actions. The legal precedents and reporting agencies were created to address the violations of laws to consumers while the Modifications were created to assist the consumers that are victims of predatory lending practices. During the so-called "Great Recession" of the early 21st century, loan modification became a matter of national policy, with various actions taken to alter mortgage loan terms to prevent further economic destabilization. Due to absorbent personal profits nothing has been done to educate Homeowners or Creditors that this money from equity, escrow is truly theirs the Loan Note Holder and it is their monetary rights as the real prize and reason for the Housing Crash was the profit n obtaining the mortgage holders Escrow. The Escrow and Equity that is accursed form the Note Holders payments various staff through the United States claimed as recorded and cashed by all staff in real-estate from local residential Tax Assessing Staff, Real Estate Staff, Ordinance Staff, Police Staff, Brokers, attorneys, lending institutional staff but typically Attorneys who are also typically the owners or Rental properties that are trained through Bankruptcies'. that collect the Escrow that is rightfully the Homeowners but because most Homeowners are unaware of what money is due them and how they can loose their escrow. Most Creditors are unaware that as the note holder that the Note Holder are due an annual or semi annual equity check and again bank or other lending and or legal intuitions staff claim this monies instead. This money Note Holders were unaware of is the prize of real estate and the cause of the Real Estate Crash of 2008 where Lending Institutions provided mortgages to people years prior they know they would eventually loose with Loan holders purchasing Balloon Mortgages lending product that is designed to make fast money off the note holder whom is always typically unaware of their escrow, equity and that are further victimized by conferences and books on HOW TO MAKE MONEY IN REAL STATE - when in fact the money is the Note Holder. The key of the crash was not the House, but the loan product used and the interest and money that was accrued form the note holders that staff too immorally. The immoral and illegal actions of predatory lending station and their staff began with the inception of balloon mortgages although illegal activity has always existed in the arena, yet the crash created "Watch Dog" like HAMP TEAM, IRS, COMPTROLLER< Federal Trade Commission Consumer Protection Bureau, FBI, CIA, Local Police Department, ICE and other watch dog agencies came into existence to examine if houses were purchased through a processed check at Government Debited office as many obtained free homes illegally. Many were incarcerated for such illegal actions. Modifications fixed the Notes to proper lower interest, escrow, tax fees that staff typically raised for no reason. Many people from various arenas involved in reals estate have been incarcerated for these actions as well as other illegal actions like charging for a modification. Additionally Modifications were also made to address the falsifications such as inappropriate mortgage charges, filing of fraudulently deeds, reporting of and at times filing of fraudulent mortgages that were already paid off that were fraudulently continued by lenders staff and attorneys or brokers or anyone in the Real Estate Chain through the issues of real estate terms to continue to violate United States Laws, contract law and legal precedence where collusion was often done again to defraud and steal from the Note Holder was such a common practice that was evidence as to why the Mortgage Crash in 2008 occurred for the purpose of winning the prize of stealing from Homeowners and those that foreclosed was actually often purposefully for these monies note holders were unaware of to be obtained which was why Balloon mortgages and loans were given to the staff in the Real Estate Market with the hope and the expectation that the loan holders would default as it offered opportunity to commit illegal transactions of obtaining the homeowners funds. While such scams were addressed through modifications in 2008. The Market relied heavily on Consumers ignorance to prosper, ignorance of real estate terms, ignorance on what they were to be charged properly for unethical financial gain and while staff in real estates lending arenas mingled terms to deceive y deliberate confusion consumers out of cash and homes while the USA Government provided Justice through President Obama's Inception and IRS Inception of Modifications which addressed these unethical profits in Reals Estate. It was in 2009 that HARP, HAMP and Modifications were introduced to stop the victimization of Note Holders. Taking on the Banks that ran USA Government was a great and dangerous undertaking that made America Great Again as Justice for Consumers reigned. Legal action taken against institutions that have such business practices can be viewed in State Code of Law and Federal Law on precedent cases that are available to the public. Finally, It had been unlawful to be charged by an attorney to modify as well as for banking staff to modify terms to increase a mortgage and or change lending product to a balloon in an concerted effort to make homeowner foreclose which is also illegal, computer fraud and not the governments intended purpose or definition of a modification. There are reputable companies that are trained to assist with foreclosure defense and home retention options. In addition, hud.gov offers a variety of non-profit agencies that offer assistance.
The 2010 United States foreclosure crisis, sometimes referred to as Foreclosure-gate or Foreclosuregate, refers to a widespread epidemic of improper foreclosures initiated by large banks and other lenders. The foreclosure crisis was extensively covered by news outlets beginning in October 2010, and several large banks—including Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup—responded by halting their foreclosure proceedings temporarily in some or all states. The foreclosure crisis caused significant investor fear in the U.S. A 2014 study published in the American Journal of Public Health linked the foreclosure crisis to an increase in suicide rates.
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. (MERS) is an American privately held corporation. On October 5, 2018, Intercontinental Exchange and MERS announced that ICE had acquired all of MERS. MERS is a separate and distinct corporation that serves as a nominee on mortgages after the turn of the century and is owned by holding company MERSCORP Holdings, Inc., which owns and operates an electronic registry known as the MERS system, which is designed to track servicing rights and ownership of mortgages in the United States. According to the Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve, The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, MERS is an agent for lenders without any reference to MERS as a principal.
A strategic default is the decision by a borrower to stop making payments on a debt, despite having the financial ability to make the payments.
A mortgage servicer is a company to which some borrowers pay their mortgage loan payments and which performs other services in connection with mortgages and mortgage-backed securities. The mortgage servicer may be the entity that originated the mortgage, or it may have purchased the mortgage servicing rights from the original mortgage lender. The duties of a mortgage servicer vary, but typically include the acceptance and recording of mortgage payments; calculating variable interest rates on adjustable rate loans; payment of taxes and insurance from borrower escrow accounts; negotiations of workouts and modifications of mortgage upon default; and conducting or supervising the foreclosure process when necessary.
The National Community Stabilization Trust is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization that facilitates the transfer of foreclosed and abandoned properties from financial institutions nationwide to local housing organizations to promote property reuse and neighborhood stability. According to U.S. Banker, the Stabilization Trust was "created to act as a middleman between cities looking to acquire abandoned properties and the lenders looking to unload them."
Squatting in the United States is the unauthorized use of real estate. Historically, squatting occurred during the California Gold Rush and when colonial European settlers established land rights. There was squatting during the Great Depression in Hoovervilles and also during World War II. Shanty towns returned to the US after the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and in the 2010s, there have been increasing numbers of people squatting foreclosed homes using fraudulent documents. In some cases, a squatter may be able to obtain ownership of property through adverse possession.
A bank walkaway is a decision by a mortgage lender to not foreclose on a defaulted mortgage, or to not complete foreclosure proceedings. These are sometimes referred to as abandoned foreclosures or stalled foreclosures, though this latter term is also used more broadly when the foreclosure process has stalled for other reasons.
Frank Spruill Alexander is an American legal scholar, serving as the Sam Nunn Professor of Law at the Emory University School of Law. He is also General Counsel for Center for Community Progress.
Occupy Homes or Occupy Our Homes is part of the Occupy movement which attempts to prevent the foreclosure of people's homes. Protesters delay foreclosures by camping out on the foreclosed property. They also stage protests at the banks responsible for the ongoing foreclosure crisis, sometimes blocking their entrances. It has been compared to the direct action taken by people to prevent home foreclosures during the Great Depression in the United States.
Elyse Cherry is the chief executive of BlueHub Capital, a community development financial institution. She is known for her work in community development, affordable housing, and LGBTQ activism.