As Foreclosures Surge, More Localities Demand LaRouche's HBPA

April 27, 2009 (LPAC)—RealtyTrac reported April 22 that over 800,000 homes were in foreclosure actions in the first quarter of 2009 across the U.S., with the 26 cities with the highest rates of foreclosure all falling in four states: California, Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. In California, 4.2% of the state's homes went into foreclosure action during these three months alone. Those numbers, pushed up by the expiration of a foreclosure moratorium which had been in effect under Federal agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are expected to dramatically increase in line with the rapid rise in unemployment.

The responsibility for the suffering has to be placed squarely on Rep. Barney Frank's desk, due to his sabotage of the only possible solution—LaRouche's Homeowners and Bank Protection Act (HBPA).

In response, many more localities are breaking through the political logjams which have prevented the passage of resolutions demanding that Congress pass the HBPA, the 2007 measure which would erect a firewall of protection for homeowners, including freezing foreclosures, and for the banks (including writing off speculative "assets" such as derivatives speculation).

During the week of April 20, two city councilmen introduced a call for implementation of the HBPA into the Cleveland City Council. Cleveland is the second-largest city in Ohio, and sits in the middle of the industrial rust belt, where the state's unemployment rate is at an (official, thus understated) 25 year high of 9.4%. In the city, one in 22 households is in foreclosure. In Ohio as a whole, 10 cities have already passed the HBPA, the largest of which is Toledo.

March and April have also seen a number of other locations take action. Four more small cities in Texas have passed the HBPA resolution, bringing the total in that state to 18. On March 17, Niagara County, N.Y.—a suburb of Buffalo—passed the resolution. And on April 6, the city councils North Chicago, Ill., and the Los Angeles suburb of Lynwood, Calif. approved the resolution.

Active debates on the HBPA are ongoing in numerous state legislatures, including Nevada and Kentucky, but pressure is expected to be growing on the city level in coming weeks, since many state legislatures have closed their legislative agendas.