A
new Chase website honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and declares: "the
values he espoused are the values that JPMorgan Chase also tries to
stand for around the world."
But as the bank wraps itself in the King brand, Chase
planned to kick Helen Bailey (a 78-year-old grandmother who marched for
civil rights and spent her life working with disabled children) out of
her house on February 15th -- right in the middle of Black History Month.
Occupy Nashville is fighting back. And they know that enough publicity on Chase's hypocrisy will embarrass the bank into letting Ms. Bailey keep her home.
Nearly 50,000 Change.org members have already spoken out, and Chase
moved back Ms. Bailey's foreclosure back one month in response -- more
people can speak out now and stop it completely.
Helen and her
attorney have struggled to find any solution that would stop Chase's
drive to foreclose. When Helen asked to modify her high-interest loan,
Chase refused. When Helen found another lender who'd buy the home for
just $9,000 less than what Chase said the home was worth, letting her
live there for free, Chase refused. When Helen found someone else who'd
buy her home and let Helen rent it, Chase refused again.
This isn't an isolated incident. A former Chase banker — James Theckston — told Nick Kristof of the New York Times that
his bank repeatedly pushed dangerous subprime mortgage loans on
minority borrowers, then tried to cover up the racial disparity. Now,
25% of all minority borrowers are in foreclosure or deeply behind on
payments. It's a crisis.
But it's one of our best opportunities to fight back.
You can help Occupy Nashville keep Ms. Bailey in her home, and
highlight the growing movement of communities standing up to
foreclosures.
Thanks for being a change-maker,
Jess and the Change.org team

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