actionnow.org

Action Now, rallied at National City Bank on February 11th, 2010 because National City broke the promise they gave to the Lopez-Camacho Family at the last rally on February 4th, which was to have a face to face meeting to work out a loan modification. Instead of meeting with her to work something out, they refused to help her.

Maria Lopez and Raoul Camacho live with their two children on the 4700 block of South Loomis. They received a mortgage with National City Bank and were able to make their payments until Mr. Camacho lost his job, which is when they applied for a loan modification. The bank denied them the loan modification because they said that the family didn’t have sufficient income. Ms. Lopez still has a job and can make payments if they are reduced to an affordable amount. If the Lopez-Camacho Family is given a loan modification then the bank will continue to receive payments on their $135,000 mortgage. If the National City forecloses on their home, then the bank will own a vacant property worth only $67,000.

National City Bank used to own First Franklin, which is a notorious predatory lender. Together they were responsible for $68 billion in subprime loans from 2005-2007, and were the fourth biggest subprime lender.[1] National City also engaged in lending relationships with four of the country’s largest payday lending businesses.[2]

National City specifically targeted Latino communities with high-cost subprime loans as a part of their “National Dream” program. According to The Columbus Board of Realtors, National City’s National Dream Program was to be used when the borrower has very little cash, has little or non-traditional credit, or has unverifiable secondary income.

“Not all borrowers of subprime loans qualified only for this type of loan. Some qualified for prime credit but were steered into subprime loans or chose them. Many mortgage lenders and brokers did not make bankable loans. They failed to verify borrowers’ income, charged borrowers excessive interest rates and fees, and conducted other poor lending practices. In effect, they set up many borrowers for failure.”[3]

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[1] The Center For Public Integrity, “Who’s Behind The Financial Meltdown?” http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/economic_meltdown/

[2] Miller, Jay “National City sheds light on links with subprime lending outfits.” Crain’s Cleveland Business. 2004

[3] Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, “The CRA and Subprime Lending: Discerning the Difference,” Banking and Community Perspectives, Issue 1, 2009

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