Overcoming a foreclosure, Cohen promises to be a "fierce advocate"

10.22.10 - 4:02 pm | Sarah Phelan |

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D10 candidate Malia Cohen deserves kudos for publicly confronting rumors that she was facing a foreclosure--and for vowing to be a strong advocate, in future.

“I first addressed the rumors publicly a month ago,” said Cohen, who returned to the topic of her foreclosure earlier this week at a San Francisco Housing Coalition candidate night.

You can watch the entire proceedings of the Housing Coalition’s candidate night by clicking on the video clip at the end of this post.

But what Cohen personally told me today not only typifies many of the foreclosure horror stories that have been making national headlines. It also illustrates the abysmal lack of local leadership on this issue--and that's something that Cohen says she'll change.

"During the apex of the economic boom, I was the recipient of a predatory loan,” Cohen explained. “I bought a house in the Bayview in 2006 and started the process to modify my home loan. It took one year to get the banks to answer my questions, my paperwork has been lost, and I have a housing counselor I’m working with.”

“Months ago, I got word that my foreclosure has been rescinded and the property is back in my name, so I look forward to being a housing advocate, if elected,” Cohen continued."Because what the housing crisis has done locally has been to decimate and destabilize our local neighborhoods.”

She notes that 1400 homes have already been lost in the Bayview, and another 1200 are currently teetering on the edge, but so far efforts to reform foreclosure laws have failed in the California legislature.

“Senator Mark Leno proposed SB 1275, which laid out a homeowner’s Bill of Rights, but the bank lobby was too strong,” Cohen said.

‘It’s such a helpless feeling, it’s been a nightmare, “ Cohen continued. "And once again there was no leadership locally to protect our interests, which is another reason why Malia Cohen is in this race. I am going to work hard to advocate on behalf of the community. It’s a crime the amount of money that was transferred out of the Latino and African American community during this crisis. Someone needs to be held accountable.”

Elections

Comments

Malia

I met Malia and liked her.

Good for her for being up front.

Posted by D10 on Oct. 22, 2010 @ 4:42 pm

Up front? She took

Up front?

She took advantage of the 'won't check your data' loophole that Goldman-Sachs under Larry Summers pushed through Congress. What that means is that unscrupulous lenders went to people like Malia and encouraged them to lie about their income. She knew she was lying. That's fraud.

What about the 'pasties' her supporters affixed to the DCCC slate card on her behalf? More fraud.

But wait, the DCCC and Haaland and the Labor Council are your allies so it's not fraud at all. No, she's the 'victim' of a predatory loan, not someone trying to rip-off the U.S. taxpayer.

Tony Kelly for D-10

Posted by Guest h. brown on Oct. 22, 2010 @ 6:22 pm

She is a dirt politician

How about she confronts the fact that she put a sticker over that young mans face!

Posted by Not in my neighborhood on Oct. 22, 2010 @ 6:58 pm

Go Malia! She will Stand up

Go Malia! She will Stand up for homeowner rights!

Working Healthy Safe for D-10!!!

Posted by Guest on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 12:33 am

!!!!

I am suspicious of your aggressive use of exclamation marks.

Posted by Guest on Oct. 25, 2010 @ 12:14 pm

Doesn't add up

Public records indicate her condo was back in the bank's name as of an August 9 foreclosure sale.

Posted by Guest on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 8:18 am

Everyone's a victim...

Here's the problem. She bought a house in 2006 and then what happened? She bought a house and immediately started to modify the loan? WTF? "Predatory" implies that there was something illegal about the loan. She's a college graduate. She's been working with lawyers at City Hall for the past decade. She's not smart enough to get someone to read a contract before she signs it? From where I sit it's pretty obvious what happened. She bought a house she couldn't afford, lost it to foreclosure, and is trying to blame someone else for her mistake. Supervisor? No. Professional victim? She gets my vote.

Posted by Guest on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 10:32 am

Priceless

SHE'S GOING TO FIGHT FOR DEADBEATS WHO DON'T PAY THEIR MORTGAGE.?

And presumably not for people who do pay theirs.

Posted by TomF on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 10:35 am

There have been 1,400 homes

There have been 1,400 homes in San Francisco lost foreclosure in 08 & 09. Currently, there are over 2,200 homes citywide that are in some stage of default. These numbers do not take into consideration the homes lost in 2010.

The challenge is that we need policymakers that understand the "true" complexity of the problem and that's able to galvanize the resources that needs to be brought to bare on the problem. San Francisco is a city full of advocates that have advocated for the wrong thing! Namely, loan mods and trying the shame the banks into doing something...This is a failed approach!!!

What's needed is the Socially Responsible Investment Capital provided by APD Solutions, (www.apdsolutions.com) to assist with buying the defaulted loans and foreclosed homes in order the stabilize the communities of S.F. hit hard by this crisis. APDS will provide a minimum of $5MM in matching funds assuming the city can find $5MM of its own to bring to the table.

Advocacy is fine but, we needs politicians that make things happen to address the challenges face by District 10. I have introduced APDS to several policymakers in S.F. but, it has been one that has seriously looked into the matter....

Ed Donaldson
District 10 Candidate

Posted by Guest on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 5:10 pm

ED Come on, Please -

Ed you claim to be so much for the community and so much for District 10 and against Shipyard re-development, but if I'm not mistaking, you work for the redevelopment agency.

Posted by Guest on Oct. 29, 2010 @ 11:21 pm

Be real, These are 'Liars

Be real,

These are 'Liars Loans' and you had to be willing to lie to get one. Carol Ruth Silver and Joe Blue and Myrna Lim made a bundle off them.

Posted by Guest h. brown on Oct. 24, 2010 @ 7:16 pm

"I was the victim"

of a loan she signed for and immediately attempted to modify to suit her circumstances?

Why'd she take the loan out in the first place? Why didn't she read the paperwork? Is she planning on following the same policies (not reading what she's signing and blaming other for her mistakes) if she's on the Board?

Lame.

Posted by Lucretia Snapples on Oct. 25, 2010 @ 8:11 pm

Forgive me for saying this

Forgive me for saying this but Ed should take a finance class and forget higher office. Do the math. What's the average foreclosed mortgage? $300,000? He's going to raise $10 million. This plan's going to buy 33 houses. Ed - you're killing me. The City should get out of the housing business, not deeper into it. We don't need any more government. No more studies, no more committees, no more wasteful spending of our decreasing tax revenue. In case you hadn't noticed, we're broke. BROKE. We spend more than we take in. It's bad enough now - the citizens are treated like ATM machines. The government, Ed, has turned against us. Don't encourage them by suggesting they buy some houses.

Posted by Guest on Oct. 25, 2010 @ 10:34 pm

Ed Donaldson was the first

Ed Donaldson was the first D10 candidate to address the growing rash of foreclosures in D10 and D11:

http://www.sfbg.com/2009/05/13/saving-southeast?page=0,0

That's because he had his boots on the ground and could see the carnage first hand that was playing out in the city's poorest sectors.The problem was that taken as a whole, San Francisco didn't seem to be faring so badly from a foreclosure perspective. But if you separated D10 and D11 from the rest of the city, a very different picture emerged: at the time 700 homes were being foreclosed, a number that has since doubled, and many of these homeowners were seniors. Some of them had even decided to refinance after mortgage consultants came to their church, at the invitation of their pastor.

Donaldson's point in 2008 was that the city should try to negotiate with the banks and at the very least ensure that these homes weren't lost to rampant speculation. As he told me at the time, it would probably take a decade for the city to finance and build 700 affordable new homes, so why not try to hang out to these ones and make them part of our housing stock.

It was a good idea then, and it still is today, even though now we have a rash of Tea Party-style rantings to contend with...

Posted by sarah on Oct. 26, 2010 @ 10:26 am

malia hates renters

She wants to eliminate rent control, while forcing tenants to pick up the tab to keep foreclosure "victims'' in their homes.
What a nightmare she is.

Posted by molly on Jan. 31, 2011 @ 4:57 am

Victim?

Typical politician. Take some ownership for your problems. Victim my ass! The last thing D10 needs is someone that is not willing to take ownership for their own actions. And for those of you who applaud her...what world do you live in? She has a freaking law degree but yet she can't read a loan document? Victim?!!! Disgusting.

Don't mistake me for some tea partier...I'm pretty damn liberal.

Posted by AdamF on Feb. 13, 2011 @ 9:57 am