Rev. Jesse Jackson, Faith Leaders Call For Congressional Action on Foreclosure Crisis, Bank Lending

Impact from Foreclosure Crisis Expanding, Churches Feeling the Pain As Thanksgiving Comes

Washington, DC – Dozens of faith leaders today joined Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., in calling for congressional action to address the foreclosure crisis and to strengthen and enforce the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), in order to stabilize communities nationwide that have been devastated by home and job losses. The faith leaders convened for a National Emergency Faith Leadership Summit called “Turning Pain Into Power,” at the Shiloh Baptist church in Washington, DC. The National Community Reinvestment Coalition and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition organized the pre-Thanksgiving summit.

“This is the most critical civil rights issue of our time. We’ve been hit with a massive scheme to profit off of homeowners,” Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr., founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, told faith leaders. “Banks ran amok, because there was no oversight to ensure the integrity of the system. It’s time to return some integrity to the system, to help homeowners and to strengthen and enforce CRA.”

“As Thanksgiving comes around, we face the prospect of homeowners becoming homeless, of the middle class becoming the working poor,” said John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “It’s unconscionable that we’ve let malfeasant and abusive behavior by financial institutions ruin the lives of millions of Americans. Congress has unfinished business to protect the interests of blue-collar Americans. We’re demanding that they help homeowners facing foreclosure, and we’re demanding that they expand and strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act to cover the most abusive lenders, the mortgage lenders that targeted our communities and caused the foreclosure crisis.”

“Thousands of churches are also facing financial difficulties nationwide,” said Rev. Jackson. “During the housing and credit boom, churches were expanding and lenders saw them as an easy target. Many churches were given loans to help them expand. Unfortunately, as members of the church lose their jobs and, in many cases, their homes, donations have dried up and memberships have declined, making it more difficult for the church to stay current on payments to the lender. The most solid institution in our communities is the church, but now they are in trouble.”

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About the National Community Reinvestment Coalition:

About the Rainbow PUSH Coalition

The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization protecting, defending and expanding civil rights to improve economic and educational opportunity. The organization is headquartered at 930 E. 50th St. in Chicago. For more information about the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, please visit  http://www.rainbowpush.org/ or call (773) 373-3366