Coalition Seeks Pause in California Foreclosures

Over 100 community and consumer groups led by the California Reinvestment Coalition have called upon six top mortgage lenders to declare a temporary moratorium on home foreclosures in the state.The San Francisco-based coalition said it sent letters to the chief executive officers of Bank of America, Citibank, Countrywide Home Loans, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, and Wells Fargo. "Many California homeowners are facing foreclosure because they were misled by unscrupulous mortgage brokers and lenders," said Kevin Stein, associate director of the CRC. "We are asking the largest lenders in the state to take leadership so that families can keep their homes and California's economy won't suffer." The coalition pointed to record-high foreclosure figures indicating that California recorded over 31,000 foreclosures in March, nearly triple the number of a year earlier. The CRC can be found online at http://www.calreinvest.org.