Homeowners

Mar 1 2012

Joined by President Pro Tem Steinberg and Speaker Perez

SACRAMENTO—Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced Wednesday the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, which is designed to protect homeowners from unfair practices by banks and mortgage companies and to help consumers and communities cope with the state’s urgent mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

Joined by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, Harris announced her sponsorship of six bills designed to guarantee:

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 3 2011

Activist group succeeds in getting restitution for two of its members

Just under a dozen distressed homeowners affiliated with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) gathered in front of a sporting goods store in Koreatown within walking distance of three businesses alleged to have defrauded two of their members of cash paid out for loan modifications that did not materialize.

Nov 1 2011

Lower tax bill

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Los Angeles County homeowners have until Nov. 30 to ask for a reassessments in hopes of cutting their property tax bill, the county assessor said today.

Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez urged property owners to ask for a free review of residential and commercial properties to see if they are eligible for reduced property taxes.

“Property values have dropped in nearly every area of Los Angeles County,” Noguez said.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 29 2011

One group launches a protest movement

In the wake of another swell in the number of foreclosures in California (as conveyed by RealtyTrac, the online foreclosure listing), a recent report declared that the plight of home-buyer defaults has cost the state in excess of $130 billion, with an estimated $78 billion lost in homeowner equity just in Los Angeles.

Aug 18 2011

Thousands of homeowners victimized

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—California Department of Justice officials raided a Calabasas law firm as part of an investigation into alleged legal fraud that may have touched thousands of victims, the state attorney general said today.

Nineteen DOJ agents and other state authorities seized computers, client files and 16 bank accounts Wednesday from the law firm of Kramer & Kaslow.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.