| September-October 2003 | Issue 196 |
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Fairbanks folly continues, more steps taken |
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| Two months after reneging
on commitments made during a public meeting sponsored by NPA affiliate
the East Side Organizing Project (ESOP), Fairbanks has requested a
meeting with NPA leadership to discuss the “concept of an agreement!”
On Tuesday, Oct. 28 NPA representatives will fly to New York to meet with Fairbanks CEO James Ozanne, Fairbanks General Counsel and Executive Vice President Gregg Harmer and a PMI Group Board member (PMI Group is the majority owner of Fairbanks, a privately owned company). Stay tuned for the result of that meeting! When NPA struck back this summer, they hit hard! Fairbanks had been jacking up costs in NPA neighborhoods with unnecessary costs for far too long and NPA responded. In the last issue of Disclosure we reported that NPA had made several gains in combating the predatory servicing practices of Fairbanks. Though not the originators of the loans they service, Fairbanks had been misapplying fees, withholding payments, and charging unnecessary fees to its users. Through the implementation of the Hot Spot Card process, homeowners have been reimbursed thousands in fees and many have staved off foreclosure. Many of NPA’s groups have continued the fight at the local level. After their first planning meeting with abused Fairbanks customers, Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN) is ready for an action-packed month. SUN has generated a list of 100 borrowers in the city of Syracuse from the county clerk’s office records. A public meeting is planned for November. On Nov. 7, SUN will meet with M&T Bank to demand that they fire Fairbanks as their servicing company. On Nov. 12, SUN is headed to their Attorney General's Office to demand that he work with them to fight predatory lending in its neighborhoods. SUN plans to hold him accountable for his commitments made to work with them on this issue. In Des Moines, the Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) has 20 new member families because of the Fairbanks campaign. On Oct. 9, CCI leadership met with the Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. Miller committed to send a letter to Harmer encouraging him to meet with CCI, send a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) about problems Iowa families are having. Miller also committed to push for appropriately tough enforcement and to send someone from his office to the meeting with Harmer. The CCI Task Force has sent a letter to Harmer asking for a meeting in late November/early December. |
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Disclosure
is published by the National Training
and Information Center. 312-243-3035 |
