From: YNCLAN NERY <verynery@aol.com> Date: June 23, 2019 at 10:58:54 AM EDT To: Very Nery <verynery@aol.com>, jacobs@jakelegal.com Subject: The press release
Affordable Housing Fight Brings Maui to Miami to Battle Predatory Lenders on Eve of Democratic Debates
(Miami, FL June 23, 2019) - Maui and Miami are near the top of every list of American vacation paradises. But the two majority-minority communities share something else -- an affordable housing crisis of epic proportions.
Now both communities are coming together to fight a common enemy -- the banking industry that targeted their vulnerable homeowners with bad loans and waves of foreclosures that have only contributed to the crisis in Florida and Hawaii.
As Democratic candidates for president take the stage in Miami this week, a delegation from Maui isjoining Miami officials to discuss legal actions taken in both jurisdictions to hold Wall Street banks accountable. With them will be Bruce Jacobs, a foreclosure defense attorney who has taken on the banks in multi-billion-dollar lawsuits.
Miami Commission Chairman Ken Russell sponsored a resolution this month creating the “Foreclosure Sanctions Affordable Housing Trust Fund” to receive any monetary sanctions awarded in Florida stemming from Mr. Jacobs’ cases in a special account dedicated to addressing affordable housing in Miami and across the state.
This comes on the heels of the city’s recent favorable ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court allowing it to seek damages under the Fair Housing Act for predatory lending targeting communities of color with subprime loans and a massive sweep of expedited foreclosures that devastated the city’s tax base by hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Miami is ground zero for the affordability crisis,” said Chairman Russell. “We’re looking at every option to help our residents and make sure our most vulnerable communities are not priced out of paradise.”
Maui County Council Chairwoman Kelly King is exploring her county's options of following suit with a similar resolution that could retain Mr. Jacobs as special counsel to pursue sanctions in cases related to fraudulent foreclosure and other misconduct relating to mortgage loans. The people of Maui County and Hawaii have spent the last 25 years battling to compel Bank of America to honor its commitment to fund 50 million in special FHA-247 loans.
“This bold action could accelerate Maui County’s affordable housing solutions in a significant way,” said Chair King. “Financial institutions as big as Bank of America — which has more than trillion in assets – need to be held accountable to the rule of law.”
“Local communities across the country are no longer waiting for the federal government to take action on housing,” said Bruce Jacobs. “Maui and Miami are taking on the banks directly. Sometimes change has to come from the ground up.”
WHO: Miami City Commission Chairman Ken Russell, Maui County Council Chair Kelly King(via video), Attorney Bruce Jacobs, affected South Florida homeowners
WHAT:
WHEN: Tuesday, June 25, 2019 at 4pm EDT
WHERE: Miami City Hall 3500 Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove