*NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION*
BREAK UP WITH BANK OF AMERICA ON VALENTINES DAY
FEB 14th, 2009: MASS DAY OF ACCOUNT CLOSURES
STOP ALL EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES!
STOP FINANCING COAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE!
Contact: valentinesday@risingtideboston.org
This Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2009, join Rising Tide Boston (RTB) in demanding that Bank of America stop its funding of the dirty and deadly coal industry and demanding, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana, that the Bank stop its unjust foreclosures and evictions of working families. Closing your account with Bank of America (BOA) is an important step in bringing closure to this unhealthy relationship. In Boston, we are planning a day of coordinated bank account closures in at least two locations, and encourage people in other places to organize something similar.
*NATIONAL CALL TO ACTION*
BREAK UP WITH BANK OF AMERICA ON VALENTINES DAY
FEB 14th, 2009: MASS DAY OF ACCOUNT CLOSURES
STOP ALL EVICTIONS AND FORECLOSURES!
STOP FINANCING COAL AND CLIMATE CHANGE!
Contact: valentinesday@risingtideboston.org
This Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2009, join Rising Tide Boston (RTB) in demanding that Bank of America stop its funding of the dirty and deadly coal industry and demanding, in solidarity with City Life/Vide Urbana, that the Bank stop its unjust foreclosures and evictions of working families. Closing your account with Bank of America (BOA) is an important step in bringing closure to this unhealthy relationship. In Boston, we are planning a day of coordinated bank account closures in at least two locations, and encourage people in other places to organize something similar.
It is completely within Bank of America's power to stop evicting people from their homes, and such a step wouldn't be unprecedented. Mortgage giant Fannie Mae recently announced a moratorium on evictions of tenants in foreclosed houses after facing pressure from housing justice activists. Now is [the] time to let BOA know in no uncertain terms that we won't allow them to push any of us or our neighbors out of our homes, and that we're certainly not going to trust them with our money.
Soledad Lawrence, a community organizer with City Life / Vida Urbana says that the racist foreclosure crisis is "like Katrina without the water." We will not allow Bank of America's predatory lending practices to displace poor people and people of color in our city or anywhere. The same working-class communities that are most oppressed by the economic system these greedy banks support are now facing the worst effects of the environmental devastation that it causes. While communities in Boston continue to struggle in the face of the ongoing disaster of foreclosures and evictions, communities in Appalachia are fighting back against the disaster of the coal industry, which is poisoning their water and displacing them from their homes. Climate change is a social justice issue, and we must build alliances now to confront the corporations who put profit before people and the planet.
Recently, Bank of America attempted to salvage its relationship with the movements working to end mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR) by releasing a statement on its Coal Policy, in which the bank failed to commit to a timeline or any concrete action to halt their financing of MTR. In this "policy", BOA touts "advanced technologies such as carbon capture and storage" as solutions to climate change. BOA does not seem to understand that we need is a livable planet that hasn't been turned into an overheated toxic wasteland, not token gestures or promises to support false solutions. The recent devastating coal-ash spill in Tennessee is a reminder that we already have enough ongoing and imminent disasters from the coal industry- we don't need any more. BOA's first step should be the immediate cancellation of loans to destructive corporations such as Peabody Energy, Massey Energy, Arch Coal, Dominion, and all others involved with mountaintop removal and trashing the climate.
We encourage everyone who does business with Bank of America to take time this Valentine's Day to tell them "it's over between us." In Boston, we're encouraging people to pledge ahead of time, so we can know how many people to expect and let them know which branch we will be at. Even if you don't have a bank account at Bank of America, you can still participate at a support rally. We are calling on social and environmental justice groups around the country to work together organize account closings in their communities on this day. Without our money, greedy banks cannot continue to destroy the planet and exploit marginalized communities.
For help organizing a day of mass account closings in your town, or to make a pledge to close your account in the Boston area, write to: ValentinesDay@RisingTideBoston.org.
Stay tuned to www.RisingTideBoston.org for some suggestions or logistical support.
For information about City Life/Vida Urbana, check out www.clvu.org.
Please, provide more information
I don't follow these issues, but I have a BoFA checking account, and I might be convinced to close it. Could someone provide a link to firsthand sources about these issues?
What is mean by "unjust foreclosures and evictions?" How is BoFA being racist? What specifically is predatory about their lending practices? Are there people paying their mortgage but still getting foreclosed? Aren't there laws against this?
Is there any evidence that BoFA has any real power over the coal industry? If BoFA closed all of their coal accounts, wouldn't the coal companies just find another bank?
What ties these two issues together?
Bank of America must be held accountable
Nick,
Bank of America took ownership of Countrywide Financial Corp. (the grimiest of the mortgage companies) last January to become the nation's largest mortgage lender, and new arbiter of the tens of thousands of Countrywide mortgage swindles.
http://newsroom.bankofamerica.com/index.php?s=press_releases&item=7956
Back in October, I posted BoA's forced eviction of the Esquivel family in Boston. BoA carried out that forced eviction preventing extended family members from purchasing back the house at the appraised value and refusing tenancy and rent. Here's that earlier post with video.
http://worcester.indymedia.org/node/40431
In Worcester, the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team is seeing tenants' rights trampled on and on-going foreclosures by BoA and others.
Re: Bank of America -- where's the evidence?
I don't see a problem with anything you presented here.
Purchasing a company with a shady history isn't necessarily bad. If there is evidence those mortgages are swindles and Bank of America assumed liability when they purchased Countrywide, they should be prosecuted for fraud. It seems unlikely there's fraud but not enough evidence to prosecute. Do you have any evidence of such a strange scenario?
I think we agree banks shouldn't give mortgages to people who can't afford them. It follows that if the bank forecloses on a rented property, it shouldn't be forced to sell to the current tenants if it doesn't feel they're fit. In the long run, that would mean more people with houses they can't afford and higher costs for people who do pay their mortgage.
Evictions stink, but I don't see any evidence that forcing banks to take on clients they see as a risk is an effective policy to deal with it. Even if it were an effective policy, the way to enact it would be through government regulation. Protesting a particular bank isn't going to be effective.
Educational info
Nick,
There's nothing "strange" about the unfolding scenario at all.
If you haven't been following the news to understand the whole background of the foreclosure crisis you can find back-up materials that give a good history of predatory lending at the Massachusetts Alliance Against Predatory Lending's (MAAPL)site.
http://www.maapl.info/background.html
Anyone unfamiliar with the economic history which led to the current crisis can also get an overview at,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_lending
The Esquivel family was ready to purchase the property. Bank of America chose not to sell it to them. One thing we're seeing is in Worcester right now is banks taking cash payments from investors over the higher offers of people approved for mortgages. Stuff like that is just adding to the decimation of our neighborhoods. And is crappy behavior by banks.
Still Nothing on BofA
After skimming all of the documents on the MAAPL page, and looking at the wikipedia page, I can't find any specifics on Bank of America other than they refused to voluntarily change the terms of mortgages.
There's nothing there implying Bank of America was racist or involved in swindles. Nothing related to the coal industry. Nothing I can find falls under the list of predatory lending practices on the wikipedia. I want to believe that the big corporation is evil, but I can't find the evidence.
It's pretty difficult for me to fault BofA for refusing to take on risk to preserve a neighborhood. It would be great if they took on some riskier mortgages to preserve neighborhoods, but I also don't want them taking on loans they see as a risk because that's exactly what got us into this crisis in the first place. In the long run, that will drive housing costs up and that will cause more hardships and foreclosures.