Today’s announcement of a multi-state mortgage servicing settlement must be the first, not final, step to providing restitution for families who were devastated by the reckless banking practices that crashed our economy.  NOTE: If you want help determining if you are eligible, fill out ACCE's tell your story link

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This post originally appeared at California Progress Report at http://www.californiaprogressreport.com/site/preventing-foreclosures-its-time-banks-pick-tab

By Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), PICO California

Last week, Attorney General Kamala Harris once again refused to accept the terms of a $25 billion multistate settlement with the nation’s largest banks over their foreclosure practices. As a diverse coalition of community and faith-based groups, unions, students and progressive organizations, ReFund California commends Attorney General Harris for standing firm in her commitment to secure a strong settlement for the millions of families who have lost their homes due to the reckless conduct of the nation’s largest banks. Without a meaningful amount of principal reduction, transparency, and enforcement, the settlement was too weak for California. Attorney General Harris’s leadership on this issue, including launching her own investigation in California, no doubt contributed to the Obama Administration’s decision to launch a new federal mortgage investigation unit.

Action: Click her to sign ACCE's letter to Freddie Mac CEO Charles Haldeman

On Monday, a disturbing report came out on NPR’s “Morning Edition" that disclosed that Freddie Mac, a taxpayer-owed mortgage company, whose mission is “to expand opportunities for homeownership,” invested millions into mortgage securities that profited when homeowners were unable to refinance.

Freddie Mac CEO Charles Haldeman bet against homeowners such as Arturo de los Santos of Riverside, who last month launched a public campaign to save his home from unfair foreclosure by JP Morgan Chase and Freddie Mac. An ex-Marine, Arturo has lived in the home for about ten years with his wife and four kids. Last month, Art and his family took the courageous step of re-occupying their home after being foreclosed on and he is fighting to get Freddie Mac to negotiate a fair modification with a principal reduction.