Largest Village In New York Closes Chase Account To Protest Foreclosures

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

The Village of Hempstead, a relatively low-income, minority-heavy municipality on Long Island, pulled its money out of JP Morgan Chase bank on Tuesday as part of a statewide campaign protesting the bank's dismal mortgage modification record.

"It's important that Chase and all the big corporate banks start to heed the minority communities," Hempstead Mayor Wayne Hall said in an interview. "There's a lot of power in the minority communities. If we all stick together and start withdrawing our money out of these big banks and start putting it into more favorable banks, Chase will review its procedures for modifications."

Nearly one in every four U.S. homeowners with mortgages -- or 10.8 million people -- currently owe more on their home than it's worth. In Hempstead, almost 4 percent of homes are in the foreclosure process, according to Dealbook, a rate four times Nassau County average. While data on Chase loans in Hempstead are hard to come by, in nearby New York City, only six percent of the 1,027 borrowers with Chase mortgages who asked for help in the past year were granted a permanent modification, according to a report released recently by the Center for New York City Neighborhoods. Moreover, a full 80 percent of these homeowners have not even received an offer for a loan modification.

Chase's national modification record is not much better. Of 233,653 trial modifications started by Chase under the Obama administration's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) launched in 2009, the bank now has just 71,657 active permanent modifications, according to the latest data from the Treasury Department.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/05/largest-village-in-new-yo_n_845249.html

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Marginal, but Awesome!

[villager]

1. voting for the choices they offer, while refusing to withhold your economic participation is useless

...for affecting change.

The latter, in fact, is the thing that actually scares them.

[aquart]

4. How does that relate to Hempstead?

[villager]

5. well, if I must spell it out: They did something more effective than voting. they withdrew

...their cash from one of the institutions with its pinchers in Washington, and deep in the economy...

[riderinthestorm]

2. Kick for more exposure. We closed our Chase acct last year. Scumbags. nt

[elleng]

3. Excellent! Putting their money where their mouths are!!!

[baldguy]

6. Hempstead has 50,000 people in it.

It's not a small, rural community.

[virgogal]

7. And it also has gang problems and high crime. Sad.

[marmar]

8. And that relates to the point of the post how?

nt

[defendandprotect]

11. As the right wing rises, everywhere will have gang problems and high crime -- !!

That's what the right wing is all about --

[K8-EEE]

9. Everybody: TRANSFERRING DEBT is very powerful tool in today's economy

If you owe on your credit cards from Chase or B of A, try to transfer that debt to a Credit Union credit card, or, a Union-sponsored credit card (we got an IATSE.)

Believe me all the banks WANT YOUR DEBT; you will probably get a much better rate at a community bank, credit union, or union credit card!

[Sherman A1]

14. While I agree with the idea of transferring the debt, I would suggest

keeping that Chase CC account open and using it for minor purchases on a regular basis. Pay those off each month and use their money for short term loans. They have a rewards program that isn't too bad and you can use it to your benefit. I use my CC for every purchase I can and pay them off each month. The banks game the system to their advantage as much as they can, I believe we should do the same if possible.

[BonnieJW]

17. But for every charge on your CC,

merchants pay that institution a fee, so they are still making money off your credit card even if you pay it off every month. The only way to hurt the banks is to close your account or not use the cards.

[Sherman A1]

23. I disagree with your assessment

Unfortunate or not, the merchant fee is built into the retailer pricing structure, so you are paying the same price using CC or cash for the goods or service. You will have to make the choice as to what is of greater benefit, for the merchant to receive that percentage or for you to float the dollars using the bank's money and perhaps (depending upon the card program) receive some rewards or bonus. Personally I like Me a whole lot more than I like either the bank or the merchant and try to game the system in my favor whenever possible. You will have to make your own decisions about what is best for you.

[LanternWaste]

26. I imagine we all must decide on whether

I imagine we all must decide on whether convenience or conviction is our more compelling self-director...

[Sherman A1]

29. Indeed, but I am not suggesting convenience over conviction

The two are not mutually exclusive, I am suggesting using their system to your best benefit. I am not providing debt from which they will benefit (consequently I have no debt to move). Yes, they will get some merchant fees, but I use their money for 30-45 days. I would think I probably don't do them a whole lot of good. Your view may be different.

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. You might be surprised what merchants will do for you if you ask for a cash discount.

[Sherman A1]

31. Their agreements with CC companies pretty much

prohibit them from doing cash discounts or at least they did when I ran a store. If they do they are in violation of those agreements and their ability to accept those CC's is threatened. Being that CC's are a good portion of how business is conducted, merchants are generally not going to jeopardize that payment stream. I won't say that it does not happen, I am certain it does, but I would not ask a merchant to put themselves in that position.

[Pacifist Patriot]

32. Depends upon how they process the order.

They cannot charge any additional fee for using a credit card as payment. That definitely violates their agreement. Allowing a discount when a customer pays cash amounts to essentially the same thing, but is much harder to verify. I have found merchants quite agreeable with respect to charging less for cash up front. Then again, I don't regularly shop at mass retailers and chain stores (though I have gotten some of them to do it too.) Hey, I'm Scottish. I'll haggle over anything, I'm not shy. :-)

[mwooldri]

19. Chase has my mortgage, USDA backed at fixed low APR.

Since we qualified for our mortgage and got our home, the financial situation for our family has worsened significantly. We couldn't re-finance into anything remotely similar even if we wanted to. Plus when I thought house prices have hit the floor - turns out I am wrong. Still going down. Good job we're buying the home as a permanent family home, not for an investment.

As for credit cards, pah - Chase wouldn't give me one of their plastics even if I asked nicely.

[defendandprotect]

10. Wow -- that's thinking!! Trust the credit unions will get some of it??

[lucca18]

12. As someone originally from...

West Hempstead, I wish them well...Hang in there Hempstead!!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

13. A good move

Totally agree with credit union customers - you can talk to a real person....IN THIS COUNTRY!

[onehandle]

15. Morning kick. nt

[lonestarnot]

16. Kfucking A!

[yodermon]

18. MLK said this in his last speech.

But not only that, we've got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take your money out of the banks downtown and deposit your money in Tri-State Bank. We want a "bank-in" movement in Memphis. Go by the savings and loan association. I'm not asking you something that we don't do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We are telling you to follow what we are doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies here in the city of Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an "insurance-in."

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm

[femrap]

20. Put your money where

your heart is! Good for them.

[katty]

21. $ talks - bravo

[AnneD]

22. In light of the fact that....

voting has not solved our problems, this is the answer.

They don't listen to our vote, let our money do the talking. More of it please.

[DesertDiamond]

24. Hampstead rocks it!! We need more of this!!!

[road2000]

25. Good for that town! n/t

[benld74]

27. I just re-financed to get away from them myself!!

[RoccoR5955]

28. I wonder how many people who live in Hempstead, work for Chase.

They have a huge presence in NYC, only a short ride away on the LIRR, commuter railroad. I am certain that there are many wall streeters who live out that way too. Not to mention, Hempstead is quite the RepubliCON stronghold, not far from Peter King's district.
Weird.