FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 13, 2011
CONTACT:
Derek Newton, ACLU of Florida, (786) 363-2737; media@aclufl.org
Will Matthews, ACLU National, (212) 549-2582 or 2666; media@aclu.org
FT. MYERS – The American Civil Liberties Union, along with the Lee County NAACP, will host a community forum Thursday April 14 at 6 p.m. that will address the impact of the nation’s foreclosure crisis on communities of color.
One week after filing a groundbreaking lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the “mass foreclosure docket” in Lee County, Florida, representatives of the ACLU and the Lee County branch of the NAACP will discuss how the disproportionate targeting of people of color by subprime lenders has a sweeping and lasting impact on entire neighborhoods and communities.
Statistics show that borrowers of color are more than 30 percent more likely to receive high-priced, subprime loans than white borrowers, even after accounting for differences in creditworthiness. And because many neighborhoods across Florida and the nation continue to be racially segregated, entire neighborhoods are impacted by those loans and resulting foreclosures.
Estimates suggest that properties on the same block as a single foreclosed property decline in value by as much as 1.13 percent. In low and moderate income areas, property values decline by nearly 1.5 percent after one property is foreclosed upon, and nearly 2 percent with each additional foreclosure. The Center for Responsible Lending reports that by the end of 2012, African American and Hispanic communities will be drained of $194 and $177 billion, respectively, in these indirect “spillover” losses alone.
The ACLU’s lawsuit charges that the foreclosure court system in Lee County systematically denies homeowners a fair opportunity to defend their homes against foreclosure.
WHAT:
A community forum in Lee County, FL addressing the impact of the nation’s foreclosure crisis in communities of color.
WHO:
Dennis D. Parker, Director of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, Larry Schwartztol and Rachel Goodman, attorneys with the ACLU Racial Justice Program, Maria Kayanan, staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida, Howard Simon, Executive Director of ACLU of Florida and James Muwakkil, President of the Lee County Branch of the NAACP will lead the conversation.
WHEN:
Thursday, April 14, 2011 6 p.m.
WHERE:
Southwest Florida Enterprise Center
3903 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Ft. Myers, FL, 33916
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