Group aims to remove foreclosed homes from city streets
United by the battle cry, “You broke it, you fix it,” hundreds of people from dozens of churches and other community organizations gathered in the Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms Monday night for the formal launch of Common Ground Milwaukee’s “Faces of Foreclosure” campaign.
Common Ground Milwaukee is an organization concerned with numerous urban issues the city faces. Currently, Milwaukee finds itself in the midst of a foreclosure crisis following the subprime mortgage meltdown at the end of 2008.
Following months of research in the city, Common Ground released its foreclosed homes report on Jan. 1, which was previewed at a public hearing in November. The group held Monday’s meeting to outline its plan to pressure the three banks it says are responsible for the foreclosure crisis into action, said Paul Hull, an associate minister at Milwaukee’s Progressive Baptist Church.
According to the report, there were 1,800 bank-owned properties in the City of Milwaukee. Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank or Deutsche Bank owned 600 of those. Volunteers photographed 450 homes owned by the three banks, said Jason Butler, lead pastor at Transformation City Church.
Common Ground’s hope is to “tell bank CEOs what their banks are doing to Milwaukee neighborhoods,” said Dorota Pruski, a member of St. James Episcopal Church.
Butler readdressed a concern that dominated the November meeting — the vacated homes have become breeding grounds for crime and are sapping taxpayer dollars.
“When one neighborhood is threatened, every neighborhood is threatened,” Butler said.
Hull said it will be important for those supporting the cause to adopt an “it’s not hard, it’s time-consuming” attitude in order for the banks to hear Common Ground’s demands.
These demands include banks taking responsibility for selling foreclosed homes to speculators, paying to demolish irreparable homes and setting up a rehabilitation fund to be used on buildings that are inhabitable, he said.
Another pastor, Demetrius Williams of Community Baptist Church of Greater Milwaukee, compared Common Ground’s struggle to the stories of Robin Hood and David and Goliath because they all “reflect the struggle and reality of common people.”
In order for its efforts to be successful, Common Ground must rely on its allies to get its voice heard, said Bob Connolly, Common Ground treasurer. Connolly said these allies include Alderman Michael Murphy, State Rep. John Richards and U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore.
“People are tired of being run over by huge, wealthy institutions,” Richards said.
Murphy and Richards both spoke Monday night and announced their plans in each of their respective legislative bodies. Murphy said the Milwaukee Common Council will look into a resolution that would prevent banks with foreclosed property in Milwaukee from doing business with the city.
Richards said a bill will be introduced in the Wisconsin State Legislature later in the week that says if a bank has 100 foreclosed properties in Wisconsin, the state will discontinue its business with that institution. This would be significant because Wells Fargo operates the state’s $2 billion EdVestt fund, a savings account that helps Wisconsin families save money for college tuition, Hull said.
Following a recent Common Ground press conference in front of the Wells Fargo building downtown, both Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank issued statements saying they would work with Common Ground. Connolly said meetings are set up with representatives from each institution, where Common Ground will communicate its concerns.
“To know we’re in the game, we have to be at the table, and we haven’t been to the table,” Hull said.
