Protesting the Closure of the W. Onondaga St. Walgreens

Twiggy Billue of Jubilee Homes speaking against the closure of Walmart at 522 W. Onondaga St.

Members of Syracuse United Neighbors, Jubilee Homes and the West Onondaga Street Alliance held a noon-time protest on February 2nd about the closure of the Walgreens store on W. Onondaga St. near South Ave.

The store is due to close on February 21st. This is a very large corner lot in the middle of a rebuilding neighborhood. We understand that the trend nationally is away from brick and mortar stores, with pharmacies relying on the internet. But we will not allow this rushed closing to be paired with an unplanned future.

Children, families, senior citizens and people with disabilities live in this neighborhood. They rely on the services Walgreens provides–especially its pharmacy. The people working at this store are mostly city residents who rely on their pay to survive. We will not allow anyone to be blindsided by this closure.

Merely taping a photocopied notice to the front door stating that the store will close in less than a month is not enough. Our groups will fight for our neighborhood.

Jubilee Homes has built over 100 owner-occupied stores in this neighborhood, as well as spearheading the campaign to bring a Price Rite supermarket to South Ave. Pathfinder Bank is rehabbing the old AAA building right next door to Walgreens into a spectacular new bank branch. New York State recently awarded the city a $10 million grant to assist the business corridors along both W. Onondaga St. and South Ave.

Our groups will work together to bring Walgreens and the city to the table to discuss the future of this building. Walgreens claims that its vision is “to be the leading partner in reimagining local healthcare and wellbeing . . .” We will hold them to their word.

SUN Fights & Wins: $400,000 And Counting!

What does SUN do to stop the predatory lenders that are taking advantage of low-income families? We fight for our neighborhoods! And SUN wins!

In the merger frenzy of recent years, Citifinancial bought the country’s worst predatory lender, The Associates. Groups like SUN, working together under the banner of National People’s Action (NPA), started an intense organizing campaign to bring Citifinancial to the table. NPA groups across the country were determined to end the high interest rates and hidden fees used by The Associates to scam low-income homeowners out of their houses. Our neighborhoods would be destroyed if these practices were continued by Citifinancial.

The hard organizing work by neighborhood groups resulted in a May 2003 agreement that obligated Citifinancial to review all loans submitted to them by SUN and other NPA groups and to repair the loans where necessary.

As of August 16th 2004, SUN has submitted 47 loans to Citifinancial for review. 20 families have had their loans repaired and 19 are waiting for Citifinancial’s response. The results have been incredible. Families have had points and fees waived or reimbursed. Interest rates have been reduced. Some families have had loans partially or completely written off.

In total, SUN has helped families save over $400,000 in fees, interest modifications and loan write -offs. And that’s just half the families we submitted for review! What SUN is most excited about is the number of foreclosures that were avoided as a result of these loan repairs. Modifications were made that extended the term of the loan, lowered the interest rate and brought the loan current. This enabled the family to afford their payment and keep their home.

SUN doesn’t just work with Citifinancial borrowers. If you, or anyone you know, is having a hard time making their monthly mortgage payment, call Kelly Obit at the SUN office at 476-7475.

Organizing To End Predatory Lending

SUN’s Banking Committee held an exciting public meeting on Thursday May 27th. Over 100 residents from the south and near-west sides of the city heard about our victories in fighting predatory lending.

Predatory Lending is any loan that seeks to take advantage of the borrower and steal the equity in their home. These modern day loan sharks come at families at every stage of the process:
1) When a family applies for a loan–Crooked appraisers inflate the value of the house, making it impossible to refinance or get a home equity loan for repairs.
2) When your loan is approved– The loan often has outrageously high interest rates and hidden fees.
3) When you pay on the loan–servicing corporations play games to get you to pay late fees and for services you don’t need.

Working with a coalition of neighborhood groups from around the country under the banner of National People’s Action, SUN has been able to win for Syracuse agreements with both CitiFinancial and Fairbanks Capital Corp..

SUN was privileged to have Inez Killingsworth, one of the co-chairpersons of National People’s Action and a long-time community activist from Cleveland, Ohio on hand to explain the national agreements and how local families can work with SUN to improve their mortgage loans.

People at the meeting were able to hear from top officials from Citifinancial’s offices in N.Y.C. commit to reviewing all loans submitted by SUN. These same officials toured our neighborhoods with SUN’s Banking Committee and committed to working with SUN to find a way to provide more funding for homeownership and home repairs.

If you have a loan with either of these companies, call SUN at 476-7475 today. SUN will get your loan reviewed and you may be able to have the terms of the loan renegotiated.

SUN was also happy to announce two more targets for our ongoing campaign to end predatory lending. HSBC bank has purchased one of the worst loan shark lenders in the country–Houshold Finance Corp. SUN is calling on local officials to meet with SUN and negotiate a similar agreement to repair the loans of families that have been ripped off by Household Finance.

SUN also announced that we will pursue justice for the families that have been abused by Fred Hawkins, owner of Joshua Herman Associates. Many families purchased shoddy homes with loan shark financing, crooked appraisals and shyster legal advice–all provided by Mr. Hawkins. Sheila Golden, an owner of a Fred Hawkins-sold home, energized the crowd with her determination to bring these parasites to justice. Many people rose to their feet when asked if they had dealt with Mr. Hawkins or his cronies. Those sleazeballs’ days are numbered!

Mayor Announces New Foreclosure Intervention Program

There are many reasons why there are so many vacant houses on the south and near-west sides of Syracuse. One reason is an explosion in the number of bank foreclosures. A SUN study of records filed in the County Clerk’s office showed 308 families losing their homes since November of 2001–that’s one family every three days.

At a press conference held at SUN’s office, Mayor Driscoll, SUN and Home Headquarters officials announced that the Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention program is open for business.

SUN has been campaigning for over two years to bring a comprehensive foreclosure prevention program to Syracuse. In Rochester, a program that offers budget counseling and loan renegotiation helps save the homes of 89% of its client families.

Mayor Matt Driscoll committed to funding a similar program for Syracuse in his February 2004 State of the City address. $200,000 of Community Development funds will finance the program over the next two years.

SUN will not receive any funding, but will assist Home Headquarters in promoting the program, making referrals and serving on its advisory board.

IF YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME–CALL ANGELICA AT 474-1939 extension 246. Call as soon as you know you may miss a mortgage payment. The key to saving your home is to ACT NOW!

JP Morgan Chase: Just Pimps, Moochers & Crooks

20 SUN members protested today at the main branch of JP Morgan Chase downtown at 1 Lincoln Center. SUN wants JP Morgan Chase to live up to its obligations under the federal Community Reinvestment Act–if you take deposits from neighborhood residents, you must make loans in those neighborhoods.

This action is part of a coordinated Day of Action against JP Morgan Chase during its attempts to buy Bank One and become the nation’s second largest bank. Over the next three days groups affiliated with National People’s Action (N.P.A.) in cities like Cincinnati, Chicago, Cleveland, Springfield (IL), Des Moines and Wichita will all be confronting JP Morgan Chase and demanding a meeting with President Bill Harrison.

At one time, JP Morgan Chase was the number one lender in SUN’s neighborhoods on the south and near-wet sides of the city. But in the fall of 2003, JP Morgan Chase decided to eliminate salaried mortgage officers from their Community Development department. Since this change, JP Morgan Chase has not made a single loan in the ten census tracts that make up SUN’s area.

At a March 5th meeting with SUN and other N.P.A. groups, Mark Willis, the head of JP Morgan Chase’s Community Development department stated that it is against the bank’s corporate policy to sign CRA agreements with community organizations to increase lending in low-income neighborhoods.

SUN and N.P.A. never give up. We need good banks that are committed to making loans in low-income neighborhoods. Right now, JPMC means “Just Pimps Moochers & Crooks”