Erard Campaign Calls for Immediate Passage of the Michigan Moratorium Act
In the wake of the U.S. Congress' recent maneuver to shift responsibility for the banking industry's bad-faith lending practices to working U.S. tax payers, Matt Erard, Socialist/Green candidate for 53rd District State Representative, renewed his call upon the Michigan State Legislature to immediately pass the Michigan Moratorium Act, which would impose an emergency moratorium on all home foreclosures throughout the state of Michigan.
The act was introduced earlier this year as Senate Bill 1306 by State Senator Hansen Clarke and as House Bill 5857 by State Representative Shanelle Jackson. The Senate version of the bill would establish a two-year moratorium on foreclosures, while the House version would establish a one-year moratorium. Erard contended that it is imperative that legislators ensure that final version of the bill reflect the language of the Senate version, as such relief would need to last for two years, at the very least, to provide an essential window of opportunity for the tens of thousands of Michigan families currently facing foreclosure actions.
Pointing to the extensive research conducted by the Michigan Moratorium NOW Coalition, whose grassroots organizing efforts led to the introduction of the two bills, such a moratorium already has an established precedent in Michigan. In the 1930s, Michigan was among 25 states to pass a five year moratorium on foreclosures. Not only was the bill successfully enacted by the Michigan State Legislature, but was upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
With 7.1% of Michigan homes now facing foreclosure and a state unemployment rate now at 8.9% under the deceptively under-counting Labor Department figures, current conditions now compel emergency economic relief for Michigan workers more than at any time since the Great Depression. Such relief must not only include a moratorium on home foreclosures, Erard argued, but also numerous other emergency measures addressed in his campaign program, such as a massive state public works program, statewide socialized health care, a 100% capital flight tax, and greatly expanded unemployment compensation.
Erard further noted that nearly 250 homes have fallen into foreclosure since July in the 53rd District alone. This same period since July also marks the first time in recent memory that Ann Arbor's unemployment has risen above the national average - now standing within the city at 6.9%. As Ann Arbor Realtor Missy Caulk recently wrote in her local real estate blog, "to those of us who live in Ann Arbor, we have always thought we were exempt from the rest of the state of Michigan when it came to the housing industry downturns. Not this time...Most of foreclosed homes in Ann Arbor and in the State of Michigan are due to homeowners either loosing their jobs or being transferred and not being able to sell their homes for what they owe."
By all present indications, the hundreds of 53rd district residents now facing home foreclosures cannot look to their elected Representative in Lansing as a potential source of relief. Despite numerous appeals to her office from the Moratorium NOW coalition, not only has Democratic Representative Rebekah Warren failed to sponsor the House version of the Michigan Moratorium Act, she's given no public indication that she would support any kind of statewide moratorium on home foreclosures for any length of time. Erard suggested that Warren's reluctance to provide such desperately needed relief to her constituents can be traced to a whole different set of conflicting interests. Having received tens of thousands in campaign contributions from such entities as as the Michigan Bankers Association, Michigan Association of Realtors, MORBAN (Mortgage Lenders), University Bank, and Lasalle Investment Management, support for such a measure would be intolerable to her foremost constituency.
Committee to Elect Matt Erard for 53rd District State Rep. (Ann Arbor)
The act was introduced earlier this year as Senate Bill 1306 by State Senator Hansen Clarke and as House Bill 5857 by State Representative Shanelle Jackson. The Senate version of the bill would establish a two-year moratorium on foreclosures, while the House version would establish a one-year moratorium. Erard contended that it is imperative that legislators ensure that final version of the bill reflect the language of the Senate version, as such relief would need to last for two years, at the very least, to provide an essential window of opportunity for the tens of thousands of Michigan families currently facing foreclosure actions.
Pointing to the extensive research conducted by the Michigan Moratorium NOW Coalition, whose grassroots organizing efforts led to the introduction of the two bills, such a moratorium already has an established precedent in Michigan. In the 1930s, Michigan was among 25 states to pass a five year moratorium on foreclosures. Not only was the bill successfully enacted by the Michigan State Legislature, but was upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
With 7.1% of Michigan homes now facing foreclosure and a state unemployment rate now at 8.9% under the deceptively under-counting Labor Department figures, current conditions now compel emergency economic relief for Michigan workers more than at any time since the Great Depression. Such relief must not only include a moratorium on home foreclosures, Erard argued, but also numerous other emergency measures addressed in his campaign program, such as a massive state public works program, statewide socialized health care, a 100% capital flight tax, and greatly expanded unemployment compensation.
Erard further noted that nearly 250 homes have fallen into foreclosure since July in the 53rd District alone. This same period since July also marks the first time in recent memory that Ann Arbor's unemployment has risen above the national average - now standing within the city at 6.9%. As Ann Arbor Realtor Missy Caulk recently wrote in her local real estate blog, "to those of us who live in Ann Arbor, we have always thought we were exempt from the rest of the state of Michigan when it came to the housing industry downturns. Not this time...Most of foreclosed homes in Ann Arbor and in the State of Michigan are due to homeowners either loosing their jobs or being transferred and not being able to sell their homes for what they owe."
By all present indications, the hundreds of 53rd district residents now facing home foreclosures cannot look to their elected Representative in Lansing as a potential source of relief. Despite numerous appeals to her office from the Moratorium NOW coalition, not only has Democratic Representative Rebekah Warren failed to sponsor the House version of the Michigan Moratorium Act, she's given no public indication that she would support any kind of statewide moratorium on home foreclosures for any length of time. Erard suggested that Warren's reluctance to provide such desperately needed relief to her constituents can be traced to a whole different set of conflicting interests. Having received tens of thousands in campaign contributions from such entities as as the Michigan Bankers Association, Michigan Association of Realtors, MORBAN (Mortgage Lenders), University Bank, and Lasalle Investment Management, support for such a measure would be intolerable to her foremost constituency.
Committee to Elect Matt Erard for 53rd District State Rep. (Ann Arbor)
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