Martha Rojas gave a big smile and hugged Lindoria Horn when she saw her at LA City Council today.
The two SEIU members met when Lindoria reached out for help. She was facing foreclosure on the house where she lives with her teenage daughter. “I was upside down on my loan,” she said. “I thought I’d let the bank take it.”
Now the LA City gardener-caretaker is trying to modify her loan and keep her house, and the City of Los Angeles is ready to help other people like her.
The City Council voted 13-0 today for new rules holding banks accountable to help the city recover from its budget crisis. The rules require banks to do more to prevent foreclosures, increase lending to small businesses, and renegotiate interest deals on municipal debt that are costing taxpayers up to $19 million a year. That would help reduce the budget deficit that is threatening huge cuts at LA’s parks, public safety and neighborhood.
Fact Sheet: Banks Do Your Part
“We have a lot of SEIU members and Los Angeles residents that we’re helping to stay in their homes. Banks need to start modifying loans — we are their customers. It’s so unfair that they don’t help more families stay in their homes and stay together. The children are the ones that suffer the most,” said SEIU member Martha Rojas.
“Banks need to help the people that really need it,” added LA City gardener Lindoria Horn.
Click here for our Fact Sheet: Banks Do Your Part