Block clubs join L.A. campaign for moratorium

The housing crisis in California sets the record for the nation in the number of foreclosures. There were more than 400,000 in 2007 alone, a 75-percent increase over 2006. The hardest-hit areas in the state include Los Angeles, with its large working-class Latin@ and Black communities, which were targeted by mortgage lenders with subprime loans.

As a result, some have estimated that any economic gains made by Black people in this country in previous decades have been washed away by the foreclosure crisis.

Given this reality it is no surprise that people are organizing a fightback campaign against the banks and the apathy of city and state officials here.

Inspired by the Ad Hoc National Network to Stop Foreclosures and Evictions, which is holding actions in D.C. this week, community leaders and block associations in South Central Los Angeles are organizing on a block-by-block and neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis to push the City Council to adopt a resolution calling for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.

Since a meeting with the Harvard Boulevard Block Club in South Los Angeles, participants have been building for a larger meeting at a community center to involve other block clubs, community, church and union leaders, and Neighborhood Delegate Councils. The goal is to get a resolution from the City Council demanding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declare California to be in a state of emergency, with the intent of declaring a moratorium.

Coordinator Joe Crosby said that organizing for the community’s interest is nothing new to his block association. “We started this block club in 1987 and have had petitions on establishing neighborhood review boards to monitor the LAPD [Los Angeles Police Department] and we’ve had speakers from the SCLC [Southern Christian Leadership Council] and we try to get the information out.”

Asked if using the block association to push this resolution has promise, Crosby responded: “It has all the promise because these neighborhood councils and block clubs were voted for about eight years ago to advise the politicians and organize the people. They are partly funded by the government and affect the whole city.”

According to the resolution, the devastating effect of the housing crisis on California has not only been on families losing their homes but on the economic health of whole communities hit hardest by these evictions.

The resolution points to the unprecedented increase in poverty due to the housing crisis and the health effects associated with homelessness that constitute a serious risk, especially to children.

“We believe that federal, state and local government have a responsibility to the people of this state and should treat this crisis no differently than any epidemic,” said Maggie Vascassenno, a member of the International Action Center, one of the leading organizations pushing for the resolution.

“The California Emergency Act makes it clear that local government has the responsibility of demanding the governor take action with economic assistance and the use of any public or private resources to insure that no one is put at further risk and assistance be guaranteed to those who have already been devastated by this crisis. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court in the past has upheld the right of states to proclaim moratoriums on foreclosures. So we don’t see why officials in this state are not screaming at the top of their lungs to make the governor move,” concluded Vascassenno.

“Walking every day,” says Crosby, “I see foreclosure signs more and more. For sale signs are all over the neighborhood. So many people feel ashamed, as if it’s their fault. There are so many seniors who didn’t know about the rising interest rate on their loans and were talked to in such a way that they thought they were getting a normal loan. The people selling it to them didn’t care. They just wanted their commission.

“I know people who were paying their rent on time with the option to buy and now they are messed up, too, because the owner lost the house. Then, as soon as you move out, you’ve got to pay way more money. So this crisis affects everyone. It’s happening so often you can hear every hour, especially on the Black radio stations, these moneymaking gimmicks where marketers advertise foreclosed homes.

“It’s going to take organizing from the bottom by people losing their home to make anything happen. Otherwise the politicians won’t do anything,” stated Crosby.