#COVID-19 foreclosure defense

[mfi-miami]

CFPB Reports Show Covid Mortgage Forbearances Are Current

CFPB Reports Show Data That Most Pandemic Mortgage Forbearances Prior To March 2021 Are Current Or Are Closed CFPB Reports shows good news for homeowners with mortgage forbearance in March 2021. Homeowner in forbearance were either current or had their forbearance closed as of March 2023. The CFPB Office of Research released data confirming the information. Congress passed the CARES Act in…

[wedesignyouny]

How Can I Evict My Tenant?

How Can I Evict My Tenant?

What landlords in New York need to know before trying to evict a tenant.

If you live in New York, you may* be able to evict a tenant under the following conditions:

Non-payment of rent

Damage of rental property

Failure to follow other tenant obligations listed in your lease

Sale or foreclosure of the property

Withdrawal from the rental market

*During the COVID-19 pandemic, New York launched an eviction and foreclosure moratorium. This moratorium is currently slated to end August 31, 2021, but may be extended depending on circumstances.

Non-payment of rent

If you simply want the money that is due to you**, you can start a “non-payment action.” You first have to send your tenant a 14 Day Written Demand – a letter, sent via UPSP Certified Mail. In this letter you spell out to the tenant that unless the back rent is paid in full, they have 14 days to move out or else eviction proceedings will begin. Until this letter is sent (and received by the renter), you won’t be able to start the eviction process.

**If your tenant is behind in their rent due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they may be eligible for The New York State Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP). https://otda.ny.gov/programs/Emergency-Rental-Assistance/

If, however, you want the tenant out for any other reason, you will need to start a “Holdover Action.”

Holdover Actions

What you do next depends on why you want to evict a tenant.

If the tenant is damaging the property or is doing anything against the agreements in the lease, you must send a “Notice to Cure” – a letter detailing what you want them to stop doing and a deadline to fix things. If the deadline passes without the problem being “cured”, you then need to serve the tenant a “Termination Notice” noting a deadline for them to leave the property.

If you need the tenant to leave because you are selling the property, it’s being foreclosed, or you want to move in a relative instead, each of these have their own mandates with different notices, different timelines, and different ways they are handled in court. You can see some of your options here. https://www.ny-bankruptcy.com/services/landlord-tenant-defense/

What to do first

Call a lawyer who works specifically New York Landlord-Tenant Litigation.

New York is a tenant-friendly state. Landlords must follow multiple regulations, and if at any point they skip or ignore the rules, their eviction cases can be thrown out of court. Plus, the rules are slightly different between New York City and the rest of the state. And there are a lot of them. Do not try to do this yourself.

Ronald D.Weiss, P.C. has been handling these types of cases for years. He can guide you through the process, handle all the paperwork, and if things end up in court, he will be there on your side. Call him at 631-271-3737 for a free consultation on what is the best way to get the resolution you want.

For more information on New York State and New York City laws, check out Fact Sheet #32 - Eviction, from the NYS Department of Homes and Community Renewal. https://hcr.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/05/fact-sheet-32-05-2021.pdf

Contact the Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C.

EMAIL OR CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION:

📞 : (631) 271-3737

📧 : Weiss@Ny-Bankruptcy.Com

🌎 : https://www.ny-bankruptcy.com/

MELVILLE MAIN OFFICE LOCATION

📍 : 734 Walt Whitman Rd #203, Melville, NY 11747

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Real penalties for covid evicters

The CDC's eviction moratorium in an incredibly important piece of public-health law: people facing homelessness may not shelter in place when they're sick, and people who are rendered homeless are at risk of both contracting and spreading covid.

Despite this, many states and cities have treated the moratorium as a suggestion, not a binding law, and, of course, it's hard to get justice when you've just been evicted (the CDC seems to have brought *zero* enforcement actions against violators).

That's why the latest interim rule from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is so important: it affirms the CDC rule and makes many other parties liable for its violation, including, notably, landlords' lawyers and debt collectors.

https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_debt_collection-practices-global-covid-19-pandemic_interim-final-rule_2021-04.pdf

As Adam Levitin writes for Credit Slips, this is a very big deal indeed, because in addition to expanding liability, it also expands who has a right to seek redress.

https://www.creditslips.org/creditslips/2021/04/evictions-in-violation-of-cdc-moratorium-may-violate-fair-debt-collection-practices-act.html

Under the CDC rule, only the government could punish evicters, but CFPBs rule come wiht a "private right of action." This means evicted people can seek redress for people who break the law to render them homeless, including lawyers representing lawbreaking landlords.

CFPB rules come under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, which also provides for statutory damages, actual damages, attorneys' fees, and class actions.

Levitin: "How many attorneys are going to want to assume this risk to further a foreclosure for a client? I suspect that an informed attorney will be much more inclined to counsel the client to follow the CDC moratorium."

It's a good example of how important a private right of action. It's why private right of action is a major sticking point in proposals for a national privacy law: the commercial surveillance industry does not want you to have recourse to legal self-defense.

Europe's flawed but crucial GDPR includes a private right of action, which is why Digital Rights Ireland is able to bring a mass action lawsuit against Facebook over its 500,000,000-user data-breach.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/16/where-it-hurts/#sue-facebook

Without a private right of action, people who've been harmed, even maimed or killed, by corporations have to petition DAs and Attorney Generals to take up their case, while private rights of action allow everyday people to seek justice on their own.

That's why private right of action scares the shit out of corporate lobbyists and why they've spent decades running a disinformation campaign aimed at ending it ("tort reform"), pushing lies like "The McDonald's Coffee Lawsuit."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9DXSCpcz9E

Private right of action is especially important when it comes to housing. The collapse of the defined-benefits pension system has forced everyday people to gamble in a rigged stock market as a hedge against a starving and homeless retirement.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/30/meme-stocks/#stockstonks

Many everyday, middle-class Americans rely on their homes as a retirement piggy-bank, which sets up an unresolvable contradiction in American finance policy. To keep home-owners solvent, politicians have to take every possible step to make housing as expensive as possible.

When you put it that way, it's obvious why this is such a bad idea: housing is a human right and a necessity for human thriving. Policies that seek to make housing expensive ("increase property values") are as indefensible as policies to make food as expensive as possible.

So: if you own a house, you get a tax subsidy (a direct way of increasing property values). The tenants you rent it to don't get that subsidy (an indirect means to increase tax as it pushes renters into home ownership, bidding up prices).

https://prospect.org/justice/widely-beloved-tax-deduction-really-just-benefits-well-off-exacerbates-inequality/

Converting the human right to shelter into an asset that is its owner's best hope for a dignified old age distorts all kinds of policy, pushing otherwise decent people to block high-density housing because increasing housing supply decreases the value of their assets.

It sets parents to war against their children, who have to compete for the dwindling supply of available housing, or rent under conditions that favor landlords.

But (as with market-based 401k pensions), the property investment game is rigged in favor of the super-rich, who use "mom-and-pop" investors as human shields for policies that benefit private equity ghouls.

In many places in America, your landlord is almost certainly a Wall Street fund, not a nice old couple who bought "income property" for their retirement.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-housing-invitation/

Wall Street landlords spin rental income into bonds, and secure high ratings for them by turning housing into deadly slums with high payments and low costs, backstopped by evictions, once unheard of in America, now a national (and racist) epidemic.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/08/forced-out

When you hear about the CDC eviction moratorium, you might picture a retiree renting out the family home after downsizing to a condo. But the median American landlord is a faceless, remorseless Wall Street fund engaged the wholesale destruction of cities and their residents.

America needs lots of housing. To get there, America needs a social safety net, a guarantee of a decent retirement for people who work hard all their lives - not a seat at a table in a rigged stock-market casino, nor a chance to destroy their kids' chances at a decent home.

Image: Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985)

"State highway officials moving evicted sharecroppers away from roadside to area between the levee and the Mississippi River, New Madrid County, Missouri"

Library of Congress:

https://www.loc.gov/resource/fsa.8a10435/

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Employers, insurers push to make virtual visits regular care (AP) Make telemedicine your first choice for most doctor visits. That’s the message some U.S. employers and insurers are sending with a new wave of care options. Amazon and several insurers have started or expanded virtual-first care plans to get people to use telemedicine routinely, even for planned visits like annual checkups. They’re trying to make it easier for patients to connect with regular help by using remote care that grew explosively during the COVID-19 pandemic. Advocates say this can keep patients healthy and out of expensive hospitals, which makes insurers and employers that pay most of the bill happy. But some doctors worry that it might create an over-reliance on virtual visits. “There is a lot lost when there is no personal touch, at least once in a while,” said Dr. Andrew Carroll, an Arizona-based family doctor and board member of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Landlords and renters both struggling (Washington Post) In the covid economy of 2021, the federal government has created an ongoing grace period for renters until at least July, banning all evictions in an effort to hold back a historic housing crisis that is already underway. More than 8 million rental properties across the country are behind on payments by an average of $5,600, according to census data. Nearly half of those rental properties are owned not by banks or big corporations but instead by what the government classifies as “small landlords”—people who manage their own rentals and depend on them for basic income, and who are now trapped between tenants who can’t pay and their own mounting bills for insurance, mortgages and property tax. According to government estimates, a third of small landlords are at risk of bankruptcy or foreclosure as the pandemic continues into its second year.

Pandemic baby bust unprecedented in Bay Area, California history (San Francisco Chronicle) U.S. residents are having fewer babies this year. And California’s birth rates in January and February—around the time when early pandemic babies would be due—declined by 15% compared to the same period last year, the steepest year-over-year decline for those months since at least 1960, according to a Chronicle analysis. We used data from California’s Health and Human Services department, which collects monthly birth totals per county. We found that the state’s births declined from nearly 70,000 in the first two months of 2020 to fewer than 59,000 in the same period in 2021.

Zoom Court Is Changing How Justice Is Served (The Atlantic) Last spring, as COVID‑19 infections surged for the first time, many American courts curtailed their operations. As case backlogs swelled, courts moved online, at a speed that has amazed—and sometimes alarmed—judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys. In the past year, U.S. courts have conducted millions of hearings, depositions, arraignments, settlement conferences, and even trials—nearly entirely in civil cases or for minor criminal offenses—over Zoom and other meeting platforms. As of late February, Texas, the state that’s moved online most aggressively, had held 1.1 million remote proceedings.

Mexico City metro overpass collapses onto road; 20 dead (AP) An elevated section of the Mexico City metro collapsed and sent a subway car plunging toward a busy boulevard late Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring about 70, city officials said. Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum said 49 of the injured were hospitalized, and that seven were in serious condition and undergoing surgery. The overpass was about 5 meters (16 feet) above the road in the southside borough of Tlahuac, but the train ran above a concrete median strip, which apparently lessened the casualties among motorists on the roadway below. “A support beam gave way,” Sheinbaum said, adding that the beam collapsed just as the train passed over it.

El Salvador’s judiciary (Foreign Policy) Lawmakers in El Salvador voted to remove five influential Supreme Court judges and the attorney general over the weekend in a move U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has noted with “grave concern.” The motions to remove the officials passed with a supermajority in El Salvador’s legislature, now ruled by President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party following a sweeping victory in February’s elections. Addressing the international community on Twitter Bukele dismissed rebukes over the move. “With all due respect: We are cleaning house … and this doesn’t concern you,” Bukele said.

‘Hospitals are full’ as Argentina COVID-19 cases hit 3 million (Reuters) Argentina coronavirus cases hit 3 million on Sunday since the pandemic began, as medical workers said hospitals were full to capacity despite toughened government measures to bring down the spread of infections. The government of President Alberto Fernandez this week unveiled a new round of tougher restrictions as a second wave of infections has battered the country, filling up intensive care units and setting new daily records for cases and deaths. Marcela Cid, owner of a business on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, said that Argentines were increasingly “locked into a situation” that while necessary, was of little help to anyone trying to move beyond the pandemic.

EU proposes reopening external borders (AP) In an announcement sure to be welcomed by travelers worldwide, EU officials on Monday proposed easing restrictions on visiting the 27-nation bloc as vaccination campaigns across the continent gather speed. Travel to the European Union is currently extremely limited except for a handful of countries with low infection rates. But with the summer tourist season looming, the bloc’s European Commission hopes the new recommendations will dramatically expand that list. The Commission hopes the move will soon allow travelers reunite with their friends and relatives living in Europe and support the bloc’s economy this summer. Under the Commission’s proposal, entry would be granted to all those fully vaccinated with EU-authorized shots. Coronavirus vaccines authorized by the European Medicines Agency, the bloc’s drug regulator, include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Indian leader’s party takes electoral hit amid virus surge (AP) India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered a resounding defeat in a key state election on Sunday, indicating his Hindu nationalist party’s political strength may be slipping as the country struggles to contain an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was unable to dislodge West Bengal state’s firebrand chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, after a hard-fought campaign. His party also failed to win in two southern states, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. But the BJP secured a second term in the northeastern state of Assam and an alliance with regional parties led it to victory in the union territory of Puducherry. Even before the current virus surge, Modi’s party faced stiff challenges in these local legislative elections. Following the disappointing results, Modi stands weakened but faces no threats to staying on as prime minister until his term ends in 2024.

Formal Withdrawal from Afghanistan Begins (AP) US and NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan formally began the withdrawal phase over the weekend, a process that is expected to last through the summer and officially end Sept. 11. Roughly 3,000 US troops and 7,000 coalition troops remain in the country, along with a reported 18,000 Pentagon-employed contractors. The exit has been framed as nonconditional—meaning ongoing attacks by the Taliban against the Afghan government won’t delay the withdrawal. Many have questioned the ability of the Afghan National Army to provide security against the Taliban absent international forces. Despite assurances by Afghan officials, Taliban forces have established themselves across most of the country. Afghan forces control an estimated one-third of the country’s districts, with the Taliban controlling about 10%, and nearly half—areas that include a total of roughly 14 million people—currently contested.

Chinese man crosses Taiwan Strait by rubber dinghy, seeking ‘freedom and equality’ (Washington Post) A Chinese man appeared to sail undetected through the highly militarized Taiwan Strait in a rubber dinghy, fleeing his native China for Taiwan in search of “freedom,” according to Taiwan’s Coast Guard Administration. The man, identified only by his surname, Zhou, left Shishi county in Quanzhou, a port city in Fujian province, at 10 a.m. on Friday, arriving more than 10 hours later at Taichung port on Taiwan’s western coast, Taiwan’s Coast Guard said on Monday. Officials said they were still investigating Zhou’s journey over the 100-mile stretch of sea between China and Taiwan, which is patrolled by hundreds of Chinese and Taiwanese coast guard ships and naval vessels. Coast Guard officials, relaying Zhou’s account of his journey, told reporters he had traveled in a rubber raft measuring 8.8 feet by 5 feet that he bought on the Chinese e-commerce site Taobao and fitted with an outboard motor. The incident has prompted concerns about the security of the contentious waterway at a time when military observers worry that long-standing tensions between the governments of China, Taiwan and the United States, which is committed to defending Taiwan, could boil over into military conflict.

Australia warns its citizens of jail and $50,000 fine if they return from India (Washington Post) Even in the pandemic era of closed borders, Australia’s latest travel restriction stands out: Anyone, including Australian citizens, who arrives in the country after visiting India in the previous 14 days can face up to five years in jail, a $50,000 fine or both. On Monday, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison defended the move. Australia had seen a sevenfold increase in the percentage of people traveling from India who tested positive for the coronavirus, the prime minister told Sydney’s 2GB radio station. The decision to threaten even Australian citizens with jail time if they return home from India during its record-breaking coronavirus surge is a significant escalation of border restrictions for Australia, an island nation that had already mandated strict controls at its borders throughout the pandemic.

DR Congo declares state of siege over eastern bloodshed (Reuters) Militants killed at least 19 people, including 10 soldiers, in raids on two villages in the east of Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday, hours after President Felix Tshisekedi declared a state of siege in two provinces. A surge in attacks by armed militias and inter-communal violence in the east have killed more than 300 people since the start of the year as government troops and U.N. peacekeepers struggle to stabilize the situation. The most recent attacks took place early on Saturday when militants raided two villages in North Kivu’s regional hub of Beni, local authorities said. Tshisekedi had declared a state of siege in North Kivu and Ituri provinces on Friday.

[iceflame14rulez]

Here's an idea, and, it may sound crazy, so bear with me... why don't we have an electoral debate where ALL the candidates for presidency are able to participate? There were at least four people up for presidency, not two in the 2020 election. There are at least four parties, if not more, in the United States, not two. Trump and Biden were up for presidency, obviously, but there were more people on the ballot.

To those of you who don't know, the libertarian candadate, Jo Jorgensen, had this platform, which the media covered very little of.

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Healthcare and social security

Jorgensen supports a free-market healthcare system financed by individual spending accounts that could keep any savings, which she believes would increase healthcare providers' incentive to compete by meeting consumer demand for low-cost services. She opposes single-payer healthcare, calling it "disastrous".

Jorgensen supports replacing Social Security with individual retirement accounts.[25] In the final debate of the primaries, candidate Jacob Hornberger accused Jorgensen of "support[ing] the welfare state through Social Security and Medicare". In response, she called Social Security a "Ponzi scheme" and said she would allow people to opt out of the program on her first day in office. But she emphasized the constitutional inability of a president to unilaterally end the program without Congress's support, as well as the need for the government to fulfill existing Social Security obligations. Under Jorgensen's plan, those who opt out would put 6.2% of their payroll taxes in individual retirement accounts and receive prorated Social Security benefits for existing contributions as zero-coupon bonds for retirement.

Criminal justice and drug policy

Jorgensen opposes federal civil asset forfeiture and qualified immunity. She opposes the war on drugs and supports abolishing drug laws, promising to pardon all nonviolent drug offenders. She has urged the demilitarization of police.

Foreign policy and defense

Jorgensen opposes embargoes, economic sanctions, and foreign aid; she supports non-interventionism, armed neutrality, and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from abroad.

Immigration, economics, and trade

Jorgensen calls for deregulation, arguing that it would reduce poverty. She supports cutting government spending to reduce taxes.

Jorgensen supports the freedom of American citizens to travel and trade, calls for the elimination of trade barriers and tariffs, and supports the repeal of quotas on the number of people who can legally enter the United States to work, visit, or reside. In a Libertarian presidential primary debate, Jorgensen said she would immediately stop construction on President Donald Trump's border wall. During another primary debate she blamed anti-immigration sentiment on disproportionate media coverage of crimes by immigrants. She argued that immigration helps the economy and that the blending of cultures is benificial.

COVID-19

Jorgensen has characterized the U.S. government's response to the COVID-19 pandemic as overly bureaucratic and authoritarian, calling restrictions on individual behavior (such as stay-at-home orders) and corporate bailouts "the biggest assault on our liberties in our lifetime".

Jorgensen opposes government mask mandates, considering mask-wearing a matter of personal choice. She argues that mask-wearing would be widely adopted without government intervention because market competition would drive businesses to adopt either mask-required or mask-optional policies, allowing consumers the freedom to choose their preferred environment. Jorgensen has invoked the analogy of dollar voting to argue that consumer preferences would shape businesses' policies on face masks in the absence of a government mandate.

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The Green party's candadate, Howie Hawkins, was ALSO up for presidency. This was his platform.

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COVID-19 EMERGENCY MEASURES FOR THE DURATION OF THE CRISIS

Medicare to Pay for COVID-19 Testing and Treatment and All Emergency Health Care. Defense Production Act to Rapidly Plan the Production and Distribution of Medical Supplies and a Universal Test, Contact Trace, and Quarantine Program to Safely Reopen the Economy. An OSHA Temporary Standard to Provide Enforceable PPE Protection for Workers. $2,000 a Month to All Adults Over Age 16 and $500 per Child. Loans to All Businesses and Hospitals for Payroll and Fixed Overhead To Be Forgiven If All Workers Are Kept on Payroll. Moratorium on Evictions, Foreclosures, and Utility Shutoffs. Cancel Rent, Mortgage, and Utility Payments; Federal Government Pays Those Bills; High-income People Pay Taxes on this Relief. Suspend Student Loan Payments with 0% Interest Accumulation. Federal Universal Rent Control. Aid to State and Local Governments Sufficient to Keep Essential Services Running. A 10-Year, $42 Trillion Ecosocialist Green New Deal for Economic Recovery through a Just Transition to 100% Clean Energy by 2030. Universal Mail-in Ballots for the 2020 General Election.

PEACE POLICIES

Pledge No First Use of Nuclear Weapons. Unilaterally Disarm to a Minimum Credible Deterrent. Negotiate with Nuclear Powers to Enact the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. End the Endless Wars—US Troops Home. Cut the Military Budget by 75%. Invest the Savings in a Global Green New Deal. Use Diplomacy and International Law to Promote Peace, Human Rights, and Democracy.

ECONOMIC BILL OF RIGHTS

Job Guarantee. Guaranteed Minimum Income Above Poverty. $20 Minimum Wage. Affordable Housing for All through Universal Rent Control and Public Housing. Medicare for All—A Community-Controlled National Health Service. Lifelong Free Public Education—Pre-K through College. Secure Retirement—Double Social Security Benefits

POLITICAL DEMOCRACY

Ranked-Choice National Popular Vote for President. Proportional Representation in Congress. End Party Suppression—Fair Ballot Access. End Voter Suppression—Restore the Preclearance Provision to the Voting Rights Act. Right to Vote Constitutional Amendment. Automatic Voter Registration. Voting Rights for Felons. Auditable Paper Balloting. Full Public Campaign Finance. We The People Amendment to End the Corporate-Personhood and Money-Is-Speech Legal Doctrines. DC Statehood

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Had i known about this, about them, I would have proudly voted for Jorgensen or Hawkins, because, instead of being "the lesser of two evils", they actually sound like someone we genuinely need right now. We need to stand up for the people not getting their voices heard. I want a presidential election that has EVERYONE'S voice heard. To those of you who have been oppressed, beaten down, and learned to cope with being ignored just because someone didn't like what you had to say, you need to help the other candidates get their voices heard in the future. I don't know about you, but I want a United States that is concerned about the true freedom of speech, one which is fair and actually willing to hear what all our people have to say.

It's a dream that even Martin Luther King Jr. had. He saw the oppression of African Americans, and spoke out about having a dream that everyone could be heard.

When our country was founded, we were all immigrants. Everyone came from another place, even those we call Native Americans. Why is it that today, people are being rejected simply for needing to take refuge from a government abuser in some other country? We have lost sight of what our great nation is all about. We need to have our voices heard.

The next time there's a government position to replace, remember what I had to say. We are not sheep, who are to be headed toward the majority just because it's easy. We are human beings. We need to stop this suppression of the people's voices. We need to stand up to the government, to the media, to let everyone be heard.

Our nation is on the verge of a civil war, in part due to the oppression of the people. If you want to be heard, you need to stand up for what you believe in. Violence isn't necessary, but your right to free speech is. DO NOT LET THEM SUPPRESS YOUR VOICE.

EDIT: I would like to add, that in order for our POLITICAL voices to be heard, there is still something we need to change. If you would like to hear what is needed, there's a list of videos on the subject. If you really want to have your voices heard, we need to start here, with ranked voting. For more information, click this link.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

January 14, 2021

Heather Cox Richardson

“Come Wednesday, we begin a new chapter.”

So said President-Elect Joe Biden tonight as he laid out a plan for a $1.9 trillion emergency vaccination and relief package to get the country through and past the coronavirus. The Trump administration created no federal program for the distribution of the coronavirus vaccine, leaving us woefully behind where we need to be to get our population vaccinated. And the virus is spreading fast. Over the past week, we have had an average of almost 250,000 new cases a day of coronavirus, with daily deaths on either side of 4000. We are approaching 390,000 recorded deaths from Covid-19.

Biden’s plan calls for $50 billion to ramp up Covid-19 testing, including rapid tests, and to help schools and local governments establish regular testing systems. It calls for an investment of $30 billion in the Disaster Relief Fund to make sure it can provide supplies for the pandemic.

It starts by addressing the pandemic, for both Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris believe that until people are comfortable circulating again, the economy will not rebound. But the plan also calls for federal support to rebuild the economy, a reflection of the ongoing crisis that in the last week led 965,000 Americans to turn to unemployment insurance for the first time, joining more than 5 million who have already filed claims.

The plan calls for $1400 stimulus checks for individuals, expanded unemployment benefits through September, an end to eviction and foreclosure until September 30, $30 billion to help people meet payments for rent or utilities, and a $15 minimum wage. Biden is calling for aid for child care, a $3 billion investment in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and $350 billion for state, local, and tribal governments to support front line workers.

Biden laid out his ambitious plan even as fallout continued from the January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C., when Trump supporters tried to overturn his victory in the 2020 election. Today the FBI continued to track down and arrest rioters, while the pro-Trump faction of the Republican Party continued its attempt to wrest control from establishment Republicans.

But while Republican lawmakers are calling for “unity” to deflect attention from the riot and to avoid accountability, Biden used this speech, at this time, to calm tensions and call for unity to move all Americans forward.

He emphasized, as he always does, that he wants to be a president for all Americans, not just those who voted for him, and that if we work together we can accomplish anything. He tried to appeal to disaffected Republicans by highlighting his plan to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, as well as to create new, well-paying jobs in new fields and in long delayed infrastructure projects. To reach out to religious voters who were horrified last week by the vision of those who self-identify as Christians calling for the death of Vice President Mike Pence, Biden emphasized the morality in the plan: a good society should not let children go to bed hungry.

He made a sharp contrast with the current president, not only by sharing an actual plan to confront real problems, but also by empathizing with Americans who have lost loved ones to the pandemic and who are hurting in the stalled economy. ���Every day matters, every person matters,” he said.

But Biden’s plan is far larger than a way to address our current crisis. It outlines a vision for America that reaches back to an older time, when both parties shared the idea that the government had a role to play in the economy, regulating business, providing a basic social safety net, and promoting infrastructure.

That vision was at the heart of the New Deal, ushered in by Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the Great Crash of 1929 and the Depression that followed it illustrated that the American economy needed a referee to keep the wealthy playing by the rules. Government intervention proved so successful and so popular that the Republican Party, which had initially recoiled from what its leaders incorrectly insisted was communism, by 1952 had adopted the idea of an activist government. Republican President Dwight Eisenhower added the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to the Cabinet on April 11, 1953, and in 1956 signed into law the Federal-Aid Highway Act, which began the construction of 41,000 miles of interstate highways.

While this system was enormously popular, reactionary Republicans hated business regulation, the incursion of the federal government into lucrative infrastructure fields, and the taxes it took to pay for the new programs (the top marginal tax rate in the 1950s was 91%). They launched a movement to end what was popularly known as the “liberal consensus”: the idea that the government should take an active role in keeping the economic playing field level.  

The liberal consensus was widely popular, these “Movement Conservatives” turned to the issue of race to break it. After the Supreme Court unanimously declared racial segregation in schools unconstitutional in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, Movement Conservatives warned that an active government was not defending equality but redistributing the tax dollars of hardworking white men to grasping minorities through social programs.

By 1980, Movement Conservatives were gaining power in the Republican Party by calling for tax cuts and smaller government, slashing regulations and domestic programs even as they poured money into the military and their tax cuts began moving money upward. By the 1990s, Movement Conservatives had gained the upper hand in the party and, determined to take the government back to the days before the New Deal, were systematically purging it of what they called “RINOs”—Republicans in Name Only. They would, they said, make the government small enough to drown it in a bathtub.

As they dragged the country toward the right, Republicans pulled the Democrats from the New Deal toward reforms Democratic lawmakers hoped could attract the voters they had lost to the Republicans. “The era of big government is over,” President Bill Clinton famously said, although he continued to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from Republican cuts.

The Democratic defense of an active government was popular—people actually like government regulation, social welfare programs, and roads and bridges. But Republicans continued to be determined to get rid of the liberal consensus once and for all, insisting that true liberty would free individuals to organize a booming economy. Trump’s administration was the culmination of two generations of Republican attempts to dismantle the New Deal state.

But now, the dangers of gutting our government and empowering private business to extremes have become only too clear. For four years, we have watched as a few privileged business leaders got rid of career government employees and handed their jobs to lackeys. The result has been a raging pandemic and a devastating economic collapse, as money has moved dramatically upward. Even before the pandemic, the Trump administration had added 50% to the national debt despite cuts to domestic programs. In the 2020 election, Trump offered more of the same. Americans rejected him and chose Biden.

Biden’s speech tonight marked a resurrection of the idea of an activist government as a positive good. He is calling for the government to invest in ordinary Americans rather than in the people at the top of the economy, and is openly calling for higher taxes on the wealthy to fund such investment. “Asking everyone to pay their fair share at the top so we can make permanent investments to rescue and rebuild America is the right thing for our economy,” he said. Unlike the New Dealers and Eisenhower Republicans of the mid-20th century, though, Biden’s vision is not centered on ensuring that a white man can take care of his family. It is centered on guaranteeing a fair economy for all, focusing on an idea of community that highlights the needs of women and children.

The idea of a government that supports ordinary Americans rather than the wealthy was first articulated by Abraham Lincoln in 1859 and was the system the Republicans first put in place during the Civil War. They paid for the programs with our first national taxes, including an income tax. After industrialists cut back that original system, Republican Theodore Roosevelt brought it back, and after it lapsed again in the 1920s, his Democratic cousin Franklin rebuilt it in such a profound way that it shaped modern America. With that system now on the verge of destruction yet again, Biden is making a bid to bring it back to life in a new form.

It is a new chapter indeed, but in a very traditional American story.

—-

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[foreclosurelawyer1]

The Lane Law Firm | Foreclosure Lawyer

The requirements for foreclosure of real estate in Texas depend on the home loan that is being foreclosed upon. There are several types of home mortgages, the most common of which are purchase cash loan and a home equity lending.

A purchase cash loan is exactly what it sounds like-- a loan to purchase a home. In a "conventional loan," the home borrower/buyer usually makes a deposit and gets a home mortgage for the remainder of the purchase price. Many consumers are unable to make a down payment of 10% or 20%, so they need to turn to alternative financing sources. These might consist of government-guaranteed FHA, VA, or USDA loans where the borrower/buyer makes a marginal or no deposit and the government assures the loan, so the home mortgage lending institution is assured of settlement.

House owners might likewise borrow as much as 80% of the equity in their house by getting a home equity loan or home equity line of credit. There are several limitations on equity loaning in Texas. If a lending institution is foreclosing on an acquisition cash lien (whether it is a very first lien or 2nd lien), there is a two-action procedure that should be complied with:

Firstly, the lending institution must send a letter to the borrower(s) that informs him/her that the loan remains in default, which the customer does not resolve the default, the lending institution intends to accelerate the remainder of the loan and foreclose on the building. This is generally called a Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate. "Accelerate" means that the loan provider is calling the cosigned promissory note due. Upon acceleration, the borrower currently owes the entire principal balance plus any accrued interest and collection expenses. How much notice the lender is required to give is handled by the loan records. Most residential mortgages need 30 days notification, yet maybe as brief as 20 days depending upon the notice requirement.

Secondly, the lending institution needs to send the actual foreclosure notice. In Texas, that notice is called a "Notice of Trustee's Sale." The loan provider must offer at least 21 days notification of the sale, which starts on the day of mailing of the notice, not the invoice date. A home mortgage lending institution may only expropriate on real property on the first Tuesday of the month (unless the first Tuesday falls on a federal vacation such as New Years Day or Self-reliance Day). Numerous servicers wait until the lending remains in default a minimum of 60 or 90 days overdue before starting the actual legal foreclosure procedure.

When it comes to a home equity loan, including home equity lines of credit (HELOC) and reverse mortgages, there is an added step to foreclose the loan. After the lending institution sends out the one month Notice of Default and the Intent to Accelerate letter, the lending institution needs to apply to an order enabling the repossession in the state area court in the area where the property is located. The application must be offered to the customer, and the consumer has 38 days from the mailing of the application to file a return. If the customer submits feedback to the application, the court needs to set a hearing on the application. Once the application is granted, the lending institution still has to send out the real repossession notification, so the process takes an absolute minimum of 89 days (30 days, plus 38 days, plus 21 days). The practical reality is that the procedure might take several much more months.

Your house is your castle, a safe house for you and also your family members. If you are dealing with foreclosure because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a divorce, job loss, a hospital stay or fatality, it intimidates the stability of your residence life. As soon as the foreclosure procedure has begun, you commonly have simply a couple of short months to act before your property is auctioned. The financial institutions have legal representatives to protect their legal rights ... so do you!

We understand you wish to slow the foreclosure procedure or quit it entirely. At The Lane Law Firm, our foreclosure lawyer Texas provides strong defense depiction to house owners in Houston, Dallas/ Fort Worth, San Antonio, Austin, and throughout the majority of Texas.

If you have any kind of inquiry pertaining to the repossession process or exactly how to resolve your situation, The Lane Law Firm texas foreclosure lawyer can help. Our passion is assisting customers in turning around their tough circumstances-- precisely as we have done for numerous customers since 2009. We provide free of cost, personal consultations, so call us today.  Visit our website https://www.lanelaw.com/foreclosure/

Contact us:

713-804-7596

The Lane Law Firm | Foreclosure Lawyer

6200 Savoy Dr Ste 1150, Houston, TX 77036

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[ravnlghtft]

Our country is now facing its worst crisis in modern history. We are in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic that could lead to the death of hundreds of thousands of Americans and infect millions of others, and we are entering an economic downturn that could be worse than the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Last week, 3.3 million Americans filed for unemployment. This week that number doubled to 6.6 million claims — ten times higher than any other week on record. It is certain that well over 10 million people have lost their jobs — more than in the Wall Street crash of 2008.

In this unprecedented moment in modern American history, it is imperative that we respond in an unprecedented way. And that means that Congress must pass, in the very near future, the boldest piece of legislation ever written in modern history.

There are many, many issues that must be addressed in our response to this pandemic, and working together, we will make sure they are addressed.

But today, I am outlining a set of six core provisions that must be included in the next legislation Congress passes to support working people in this country during this horrific crisis. Please read them and add your name to say that you agree:

1. Addressing the Employment Crisis and Providing Immediate Financial Relief

There is little doubt in my mind that we are facing an economic crisis that could be even worse than the Great Depression. The St. Louis Federal Reserve has projected that 47 million more people may become unemployed by the end of June, with unemployment reaching 32 percent. In my view, we must make sure that every worker in America continues to receive their paycheck during this crisis and we must provide immediate financial relief to everyone in this country.

An important precedent for that approach was taken in the recent stimulus package in which grants were provided to the airlines for the sole purpose of maintaining the paychecks and benefits of some 2 million workers in that industry through September 30. We must expand that program to cover every worker in America and we must make it retroactive to the beginning of this crisis. This is not a radical idea. Other countries, such as the UK, Norway, Denmark, France, and others have all come up with similar approaches to sustain their economy and prevent workers from losing their jobs.

Our primary goal during this crisis must be to prevent the disintegration of the American economy. It will be much easier and less expensive to prevent the collapse of the economy than trying to put it back together after it collapses.

To do this, we must also begin monthly payments of $2,000 for every man, woman, and child in our country, and guarantee paid family leave throughout this crisis so that people who are sick do not face the choice of infecting others or losing their job.

2. We Must Guarantee Health Care to All

Let’s be clear: we were facing a catastrophic health care crisis before the pandemic, and now that crisis has become much, much worse. Already, 87 million people are uninsured or underinsured. Layoffs will mean tens of millions of people more will lose their current insurance — which will result in countless deaths and bankruptcies. Already in the last two weeks, an estimated 3.5 million people have lost their employer-sponsored insurance.

And as the pandemic grows, we are seeing more and more reports of people who have delayed treatment due to concerns about cost. In this pandemic, uninsurance will lead to deaths and more COVID-19 transmissions.

Therefore, during this crisis, Medicare must be empowered to pay all of the deductibles, co-payments and out-of-pocket healthcare expenses for the uninsured and the underinsured. No one in America who is sick, regardless of immigration status, should be afraid to seek the medical treatment they need during this national pandemic. Let me be clear: I am not proposing that we pass Medicare for All in this moment. That fight continues into the future. But, for the moment, we must act boldly to make sure everyone can get the health care they need in the coming months.

3. Use the Defense Production Act to Produce the Equipment and Testing We Need

Unbelievably, in the United States right now, doctors and nurses are unnecessarily putting their lives on the line treating people suffering from the coronavirus because they lack personal protective equipment like masks, gloves, and surgical gowns. The CDC has directed health professionals to use homemade gear like bandanas or scarves and some workers at the VA are being told to re-use one surgical mask for a week at a time. HHS estimated that our country needs 3.5 billion masks in response to this crisis.

President Trump has utilized the Defense Production Act thousands of times for the military and for enforcement of his immigration policies, yet he has resisted using its power to save lives during the pandemic. That is unacceptable. We must immediately and forcefully use the Defense Production Act to direct the production of all of the personal protective equipment, ventilators and other medical supplies needed.

We must also utilize this power to produce antibody tests so we can begin figuring out who has already contracted the virus and has developed some immunity to COVID-19.

In addition, OSHA must adopt a strong emergency standard to protect health care workers, patients, and the public during this crisis. We must crack down aggressively on price gougers and hoarders, and use any means necessary to secure supplies.

4. Make Sure No One Goes Hungry

Even before this crisis hit, one in every seven kids in America was going hungry and nearly 5.5 million seniors in our country struggled with hunger. Already in this crisis we see lines at food banks and growing concern that our most vulnerable communities and those recently unemployed may struggle to feed their families.

As communities face record levels of food insecurity, we must increase SNAP benefits, expand the WIC program for pregnant mothers, infants, and children, double funding for the Emergency Food Program (TEFAP) to ensure food banks have food to distribute, and expand Meals on Wheels and School Meals programs. When necessary, we must also develop new approaches to deliver food to vulnerable populations — including door-to-door drop offs.

5. Provide Emergency Aid to States and Cities

Even as state and local employees like police officers, firefighters and paramedics work on the front lines of this pandemic, states and cities that pay their salaries are facing enormous budgetary pressures.

Congress must provide $600 billion in direct fiscal aid to states and cities to ensure they have the personnel and funding necessary to respond to this crisis. In addition, the Federal Reserve must establish programs to provide direct fiscal support and budgetary relief to states and municipalities.

6. Suspend Monthly Payments

Even before this crisis, half of the people in our country were living paycheck to paycheck. In America today, over 18 million families are paying more than 50 percent of their income on housing. Now, with growing unemployment, families are facing financial ruin if we do not act quickly and boldly.

That’s why we must suspend monthly expenses like rent, mortgages, medical debt and consumer debt collection for 4 months. We must cancel all student loan payments for the duration of this crisis, and place an immediate moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and utility shut-offs.

Brothers and sisters: In this unprecedented moment in our history it is easy to feel like we are alone, and that everyone must fend for themselves. But that would be a mistake and a terrible tragedy. Now, more than any other moment in our lives, we must remember that we are all in this together — that when one of us gets sick, many more may get sick. And when my neighbor loses their job, I may lose my job as well.

[strike-back-now-info]

Don't let the Main Street media lie to and do your own research folks.

Don't let the Main Street media lie to you and do your own research folks. https://t.co/zCB4bG7pV4This Timeline Shows Who Acted, When, and How! Just for the record, here is the COMPLETE timeline of the corona (China) virus including all of the actions that were taken by the Trump Administration and the CDC.Don't let anyone tell you that the administration wasn't on top of this: December 31: China reports the discovery of the coronavirus to the World Health Organization. January 6: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel notice for Wuhan, China due to the spreading coronavirus. January 7: The CDC established a coronavirus incident management system to better share and respond to information about the virus. January 11: The CDC issued a Level I travel health notice for Wuhan, China. January 17: The CDC began implementing public health entry screening at the 3 U.S. airports that received the most travelers from Wuhan – San Francisco, New York JFK, and Los Angeles. January 20: Dr. Fauci announces the National Institutes of Health is already working on the development of a vaccine for the coronavirus. January 21: The CDC activated its emergency operations center to provide ongoing support to the coronavirus response. January 23: The CDC sought a “special emergency authorization” from the FDA to allow states to use its newly developed coronavirus test. January 27: The CDC issued a level III travel health notice urging Americans to avoid all nonessential travel to China due to the coronavirus. January 29: The White House announced the formation of the Coronavirus Task Force to help monitor and contain the spread of the virus and provide updates to the President. January 31: The Trump Administration: Declared the coronavirus a public health emergency. Announced Chinese travel restrictions. Suspended entry into the United States for foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the coronavirus. January 31: The Department of Homeland Security took critical steps to funnel all flights from China into just 7 domestic U.S. airports. February 3: The CDC had a team ready to travel to China to obtain critical information on the novel coronavirus, but were in the U.S. awaiting permission to enter by the Chinese government. February 4: President Trump vowed in his State of the Union Address to “take all necessary steps” to protect Americans from the coronavirus. February 6: The CDC began shipping CDC-Developed test kits for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus to U.S. and international labs. February 9: The White House Coronavirus Task Force briefed governors from across the nation at the National Governors’ Association Meeting in Washington. February 11: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expanded a partnership with Janssen Research & Development to “expedite the development” of a coronavirus vaccine. February 12: The U.S. shipped test kits for the 2019 novel coronavirus to approximately 30 countries that lacked the necessary reagents and other materials. February 12: The CDC was prepared to travel to China but had yet to receive permission from the Chinese government. February 14: The CDC began working with five labs to conduct “community-based influenza surveillance” to study and detect the spread of coronavirus. March 3: The White House announced President Trump donated his fourth-quarter salary to fight the coronavirus. vaccine and to develop a treatment for coronavirus infections. February 24: The Trump Administration sent a letter to Congress requesting at least $2.5 billion to help combat the spread of the coronavirus. February 26: President Trump discussed coronavirus containment efforts with Indian PM Modi and updated the press on his Administration’s containment efforts in the U.S. during his state visit to India. February 29: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed certified labs to develop and begin testing coronavirus testing kits while reviewing pending applications. February 29: The Trump Administration: Announced a level 4 travel advisory to areas of Italy and South Korea. Barred all travel to Iran. Barred the entry of foreign citizens who visited Iran in the last 14 days. March 3: The CDC lifted federal restrictions on coronavirus testing to allow any American to be tested for coronavirus, “subject to doctor’s orders.” March 3: The White House announced President Trump donated his fourth-quarter salary to fight the coronavirus. March 4: The Trump Administration announced the purchase of $500 million N95 respirators over the next 18 months to respond to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. March 4: Secretary Azar announced that HHS was transferring $35 million to the CDC to help state and local communities that have been impacted most by the coronavirus. March 6: President Trump signed an $8.3 billion bill to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The bill provides $7.76 billion to federal, state, & local agencies to combat the coronavirus and authorizes an additional $500 million in waivers for Medicare telehealth restrictions. March 9: President Trump called on Congress to pass a payroll tax cut over coronavirus. March 10: President Trump and VP Pence met with top health insurance companies and secured a commitment to waive co-pays for coronavirus testing. March 11: President Trump: Announced travel restrictions on foreigners who had visited Europe in the last 14 days. Directed the Small Business Administration to issue low-interest loans to affected small businesses and called on Congress to increase this fund by $50 billion. Directed the Treasury Department to defer tax payments for affected individuals & businesses, & provide $200 billion in “additional liquidity.” Met with American bankers at the White House to discuss coronavirus.March 13: President Trump declared a national emergency in order to access $42 billion in existing funds to combat the coronavirus. March 13: President Trump announced: Public-private partnerships to open up drive-through testing collection sites. A pause on interest payments on federal student loans. An order to the Department of Energy to purchase oil for the strategic petroleum reserve.March 13: The Food & Drug Administration: Granted Roche AG an emergency approval for automated coronavirus testing kits. Issued an emergency approval to Thermo Fisher for a coronavirus test within 24 hours of receiving the request. March 13: HHS announced funding for the development of two new rapid diagnostic tests, which would be able to detect coronavirus in approximately 1 hour. March 14: The Coronavirus Relief Bill passed the House of Representatives. March 14: The Trump Administration announced the European travel ban will extend to the UK and Ireland. March 15: President Trump held a phone call with over two dozen grocery store executives to discuss on-going demand for food and other supplies. March 15: HHS announced it is projected to have 1.9 million COVID-19 tests available in 2,000 labs this week. March 15: Google announced a partnership with the Trump Administration to develop a website dedicated to coronavirus education, prevention, & local resources. March 15: All 50 states were contacted through FEMA to coordinate “federally-supported, state-led efforts” to end coronavirus. March 16: President Trump: Held a teleconference with governors to discuss coronavirus preparedness and response. Participated in a call with G7 leaders who committed to increasing coordination in response to the coronavirus and restoring global economic confidence. Announced that the first potential vaccine for coronavirus has entered a phase one trial in a record amount of time. Announced “15 days to slow the spread” coronavirus guidance.March 16: The FDA announced it was empowering states to authorize tests developed and used by labs in their states. March 16: Asst. Secretary for Health confirmed the availability of 1 million coronavirus tests and projected 2 million tests available the next week and 5 million the following.March 17: President Trump announced: CMS will expand telehealth benefits for Medicare beneficiaries.Relevant Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act penalties will not be enforced. The Army Corps of Engineers is on ”standby” to assist federal & state governments. March 17: President Trump spoke to fast-food executives from Wendy’s, McDonald’s, and Burger King to discuss drive-thru services recommended by CDC March 17: President Trump met with tourism industry representatives along with industrial supply, retail, and wholesale representatives. March 17: Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin met with lawmakers to discuss stimulus measures to relieve the economic burden of coronavirus on certain industries, businesses, and American workers. March 17: Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced a partnership between USDA, Baylor University, McLane Global, and Pepsi Co. to provide one million meals per weak to rural children in response to widespread school closures. March 17: The Treasury Department: Contributed $10bil through the economic stabilization fund to the Federal Reserve’s commercial paper funding facility. Deferred $300 billion in tax payments for 90 days without penalty, up to $1mil for individuals & $10mil for business. March 17: The Department of Defense announced it will make available to HHS up to five million respirator masks and 2,000 ventilators. March 18: President Trump announced: Temporary closure of the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential traffic. Plans to invoke the Defense Production Act in order to increase the number of necessary supplies needed to combat coronavirus. FEMA has been activated in every region at its highest level of response. The U.S. Navy will deploy USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy hospital ships. All foreclosures and evictions will be suspended for a period of time.March 18: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper confirmed: 1 million masks are now immediately available. The Army Corps of Engineers is in NY consulting on how to best assist state officials.March 18: HHS temporarily suspended a regulation that prevents doctors from practicing across state lines. March 18: President Trump spoke to: Doctors, physicians, and nurses on the front lines containing the spread of coronavirus. 130 CEOs of the Business Roundtable to discuss on-going public-private partnerships in response to the coronavirus pandemic.Posted by Dan Cirucci at 5:38 PM  

[mfi-miami]

Federal Foreclosure Moratorium Extended For Final Time

Federal Foreclosure Moratorium Extended For Final Time

Biden Extends Federal Foreclosure Moratorium For Final Time. No More Extensions After August 1st. The Biden administration has extended the federal foreclosure moratorium for another 30 days. The administration also stated that no further extensions would be give after August 1, 2021.  The White House said the moratorium extension includes loans underwritten by the USDA, VA and HUD. Federal…

[wedesignyouny]

Some Updated Information on Post-Pandemic Foreclosure Defenses

Some Updated Information on Post-Pandemic Foreclosure Defenses

If you live in New York, you may be confused with all the changing rules affecting foreclosures during and after the pandemic. If you’re going through the foreclosure process, here is some information you should know about possible foreclosure defenses.

What Happened to Foreclosure Procedures During the Moratorium?

During the height of the pandemic in the US, all foreclosure cases pretty much stopped in their tracks. The CARES (Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act helped keep homeowners with federally backed mortgages from being foreclosed upon during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and those with private mortgages were helped by most of the court systems shutting down and then dealing with a multi-year backlog. Even once the federal foreclosure moratorium expired (in the Fall of 2021), New York state extended its moratorium until this past January 15, 2022.

What was AO262/21?

Administrative Orders (AO) come from the Chief Administrative Judge of the New York State Unified Court System. AO262/21was the order to stay most foreclosure cases in New York and was signed off on September 9, 2021. (see Administrative Order of The Chief Administrative Judge of The Courts AO262)Mandates in AO262/21included:

If you completed a Hardship Declaration (stating that you were behind on payments due to COVID) your case would be stayed until the end of the moratorium.

If your lenders think you lied on your Hardship Declaration, they have the right to a hearing to prove their case.

Foreclosure conferences should continue, and settlements should be encouraged (click here to learn more about Foreclosure Conferences).

Foreclosure auctions should continue, following local COVID protocols.

Other foreclosures not covered by the moratorium can proceed as normal.

Most of AO262/21expired when the New York foreclosure moratorium ended on January 15, 2022, but two important mandates were left active: Foreclosure Conferences and Local Foreclosure Auction Rules.

How Do Foreclosure Auctions Work?

What happens in the foreclosure process is that if you are unable to come to a settlement with your lender within your conferences, and the court sides with your lender, the next step is a foreclosure auction. The court will assign a Referee (a court-appointed lawyer) who will:

Report to the court on exactly what is owed to the lender.

Publish a Notice of Sale in the local newspaper four weeks before the auction date.

Run the auction on the date of the sale.

Foreclosure auctions are handled at a county level, and each has its own specific rules (you can find a master list of County Supreme Courts here).

Can You Still Stop a Foreclosure in the Auction Phase?

Right up until your property is sold in the auction, your foreclosure lawyer can still fight to stop the foreclosure. One of the tools your attorney can use to buy you more time to settle your debt is the knowledge of how local auction rules work. Your foreclosure lawyer can stay a sale with an Order to Show Cause if there is even a single step that is handled incorrectly.

Court Appointed Referees

The court will assign a Referee (a court-appointed lawyer) who will handle the foreclosure auction. The Referee needs to fill out a specific form with mandated details. For example, in Suffolk County, the Request for Foreclosure Auction Date form includes:

Index Number

Title of the action

Town Hall where the auction is to take place

Plaintiff’s attorney

Referee’s name and Telephone Number

1st Choice Requested date and time for the auction

OPTIONAL: Alternative date and time (to be considered if 1st Choice is unavailable)

If any of this information is missing or proven incorrect, your foreclosure attorney will be able to stay the sale until it the form is completed correctly.

Scheduling & Timing

Unlike Suffolk County, which has several locations for its foreclosure auctions, Nassau County only uses one location, making the scheduling and timing of the auctions extremely important. As per Nassau County Rules Governing Public Foreclosure Auctions:

Auctions must be scheduled 30 minutes apart on the hour and half-hour on any date certain between the hours of 2:00 pm and 4:30 pm Monday through Friday (exclusive of court holidays) on the north side steps of the Nassau County Supreme Court, 100 Supreme Court Drive, Mineola, NY 11501.

If you any reason the Referee schedule the foreclosure auction incorrectly, your foreclosure attorney will be able to stay the sale until the timing is corrected.

Notices & Publications

Once a date and time are scheduled for the foreclosure auction, this information must be published. This includes posting the information on the court’s website, printed in local newspapers, and sent directly to all parties involved in the foreclosure procedure. From the rules in Kings County (Brooklyn):

A Notice of Sale must be submitted to the Foreclosure Department at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the auction. A copy of the Notice of Sale must simultaneously be sent to the owner of the equity of redemption at both his/her last known address and the property address. An affidavit of service of such notice shall be presented to the clerk on or before the auction sale.

If the notice is not published at the correct deadline, is not posted where it should be posted, or is not sent to all parties, your foreclosure attorney will be able to stay the sale until the posting is corrected.

Safety Protocols

Many county and district courts follow the New York State Unified Court System COVID-19 Protocols (recently updated on June 15, 2022), but some have specific rules when it comes to foreclosure auctions. In Queens, the courts are still following strict COVID-19 protocols including:

Temperature Screening – must be under 100°F.

Answering COVID questions –

have you had a fever, cough, shortness of breath, or any flu-like symptoms?

have you tested positive for COVID-19 (or been in close contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19)?

Face coverings – no one without a mask will be allowed inside the courthouse.

Even on the day of your foreclosure auction, if your foreclosure attorney can prove that mandated safety protocols are not being followed, the auction can be canceled, and the entire auction process will have to start over from the beginning.

Pursuant to the requirements of AO 262/21 for local NYS Supreme Courts to have their own rules regarding foreclosure sales during a period where Covid-19 is still a lingering risk, the Supreme Courts (among others) for Queens, Brooklyn, Nassau County, and Suffolk County New York (see links to each court’s rules) each have implemented their own local Covid 19 Rules for the Conduct of Foreclosure Sales designed to regulate the timing, frequency, notice, conduct, mask requirements and other details of such sales. The rules state and/or imply that if a foreclosure sale cannot follow these rules it would need to be postponed.

Your foreclosure attorney should be able to review every step of the auction process, from the Referee’s paperwork to the on-site auction protocols, and can stop the foreclosure process in its tracks if something isn’t right. Even immediately after the sale, if the buyer doesn’t have the right payments or paperwork on hand, the sale can be canceled and the auction rescheduled, giving you additional time to negotiate.

What to Do Next

All the moratoriums are over, and the courts are active again. If you have received notice that your home may be in danger of being foreclosed upon, you need to get a foreclosure attorney on your side as soon as you can. Reach out to New York foreclosure attorney Ronald D. Weiss, P.C. for a free consultation. He can tell you what you need to know about the foreclosure process in New York and help you get your case started. Call 631-212-1046 and take the first step to a fresh start.

Contact the Law Office of Ronald D. Weiss, P.C.

EMAIL OR CALL FOR A FREE CONSULTATION:

📞 : (631) 271-3737

📧 : Weiss@Ny-Bankruptcy.Com

MELVILLE MAIN OFFICE LOCATION

📍 : 734 Walt Whitman Rd #203, Melville, NY 11747

[seriousbusinessforhumans]

Jan 20

Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce and Requiring Mask-Wearing

1. Biden says you've got to wear a fucking mask on federal property. The order also encourages state and local officials to do the same, kicking off Biden's 100 day masking challenge.

Executive Order on Organizing and Mobilizing the United States Government to Provide a Unified and Effective Response to Combat COVID-19 and to Provide United States Leadership on Global Health and Security

2. Biden creates the position of a COVID-19 Response Coordinator. The role, filled by Jeff Zients, will report directly to Biden.

Letter to His Excellency António Guterres

3. Biden says we are rejoining the World Health Organization, goddamnit. Dr. Anthony Fauci has been named the head of the American delegation

Proclamation on the Termination Of Emergency With Respect To The Southern Border Of The United States And Redirection Of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction 

4. This order halts the construction of Trump's unhinged and expensive wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

Preserving and Fortifying Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)

5. Biden wants Dreamers to keep on dreamin'...It also asks Congress to create legislation that gives the 700,000 Dreamers permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship.

Executive Order on the Revision of Civil Immigration Enforcement Policies and Priorities

6. Biden undoes Trump's expansion of immigration enforcement. 

Proclamation on Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to The United States

7. Biden puts an end to the so-called Muslim ban. The White House also promises to improve the screening of visitors through information-sharing with other countries. 

Reinstating Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians

8. Biden wants Liberians whose immigration status has expired to stay. 

Executive Order on Ensuring a Lawful and Accurate Enumeration and Apportionment Pursuant to the Decennial Census

9. This order overturns a Trump administration plan to exclude non-citizens from the census count.

Pausing Federal Student Loan Payments

10. directed the Acting Secretary of Education to put a hold on federal student loan payments and collection until at least September 30, keeping the interest rate at 0%. 

Extending Pandemic Eviction Moratorium and Foreclosures

11. This order will expand the eviction and foreclosure moratorium to March 31.

Paris Climate Agreement 

12. Biden says we care about the environment. 

Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis

13. Biden cancels the Keystone XL pipeline (to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's chagrin) and directs federal agencies to review and reverse more than 100 of Trump's actions on the environment. This order also places a temporary moratorium on the oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, undoes a decision to slash national monuments, and re-establishes a working group on the social cost of greenhouse gases.

Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation

14. Biden makes sure queers can be queer at work. This order reinforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requiring the government not to discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation. It also directs federal agencies with protections against sex discrimination to interpret those protections to also include discrimination on the basis of gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, consistent with the Bostock v. Clayton County Supreme Court ruling in 2020. 

Executive Order On Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

15. Biden revokes Trump's 1776 Commission. The order also directs federal agencies to advance racial equity in their departments.

Executive Order on Revocation of Certain Executive Orders Concerning Federal Regulation

16. Biden reverses Trump's new regulations implemented before he left office. This order undoes Trump's regulatory approval process to give federal agencies more tools to fight the pandemic, climate change, racial justice...

Executive Order on Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel

17. Biden requires all executive branch appointees to sign a pledge promising to "restore and maintain public trust in government." Appointees must pledge not to interfere with the independence of the Department of Justice, not use their appointments for personal gain, and invokes a two year lobbying ban.

Regulatory Freeze Pending Review

The President has to communicate his plan for managing the Federal regulatory process at the outset of his Administration.

A National Day of Unity

Today, we celebrate the triumph of democracy after an election that saw more Americans voting than ever before in our Nation’s history, and where the...

Jan 21

Executive Order on Promoting COVID-19 Safety in Domestic and International Travel

18. You have to wear the damn masks on planes and trains. 

Executive Order on Improving and Expanding Access to Care and Treatments for COVID-19

19. This one directs Health and Human Services to back-up research that looks into "the most promising treatments for COVID-19 and future high-consequence public health threats."

Executive Order on Ensuring a Data-Driven Response to COVID-19 and Future High-Consequence Public Health Threats

20. The Biden administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic will be based in science and data and FACTS. 

Memorandum to Extend Federal Support to Governors’ Use of the National Guard to Respond to COVID-19 and to Increase Reimbursement and Other Assistance Provided to States

21. The Departments of Defense and Homeland Security are now ordered to assist governors' responses to COVID-19 with the deployment of the National Guard. A sexy little item for states stressing about budgets: "FEMA shall fund 100 percent of the cost of activities associated with all mission assignments for the use of the National Guard."

Executive Order on a Sustainable Public Health Supply Chain

22. Government departments can use the fuckin' Defense Production Act to fulfill supply chain issues.

Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery

23. We're getting a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, baby! This is another one of those things we knew about a while ago, considering it was built into his transitional advisory board, but now it's official. 

Executive Order on Supporting the Reopening and Continuing Operation of Schools and Early Childhood Education Providers

24. The Education Department needs to work with the Department of Health and Human Services to reopen schools safely. The departments will create "Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices". 

Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety

25. Fuck the old standards, the Labor Department must issue new COVID-19 safety guidelines to employers. They've got two weeks to come up with them!

Executive Order on Establishing the COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board and Ensuring a Sustainable Public Health Workforce for COVID-19 and Other Biological Threats

26. "COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board" is in the works and it will implement a "Government-wide, unified approach" to "promote COVID-19 diagnostic, screening, and surveillance testing." 

Jan 22

Executive Order on Economic Relief Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic

27. Nearly eight million Americans have still not received either their $1200 or $600 stimulus checks from last year. This order asks the Treasury Department to hurry the hell up, calling on them to examine their delivery structure to make sure everyone gets their money on time. It also expands food stamps, increasing the amount of money families get for food each month.

Executive Order on Protecting the Federal Workforce

28. Biden lays the groundwork so the minimum wage for federal workers can raise to $15 an hour...The order also restores collective bargaining and other worker protections revoked by Trump. 

[mongoose232323]

All Of Pres. Joe Biden’s Key Executive Orders

In One Chart

From The Article

As people and markets around the world adjust to having Joe Biden as U.S. president, a key factor is what the veteran Democratic politician is aiming to accomplish without having to work with Congress.

Biden is making use of executive orders that affect health care (XLV) the energy sector (XLE) and other areas.

Below is a table showing orders that he signed on Wednesday, his first day in office, as well as other executive actions that have come Wednesday and Thursday — or are expected Friday afternoon.

Key Biden Executive Actions

Subject

Type of action

Date

Re-engage with World Health Organization

End withdrawal process

Jan. 20

Create position of COVID-19 response coordinator

Executive order

Jan. 20

Rejoin Paris climate agreement

Sign an "instrument"

Jan. 20

Revoke permit for Keystone XL pipeline, pause energy leasing in ANWR

Executive order

Jan. 20

Ask agencies to extend eviction/foreclosure moratoriums

Request

Jan. 20

Ask Education Dept. to extend student-loan pause

Request

Jan. 20

Launch an initiative to advance racial equity, end "1776 Commission"

Executive order

Jan. 20

Revoke order that aims to exclude undocumented immigrants from census

Executive order

Jan. 20

Preserve/fortify DACA, which helps "Dreamers"

Memorandum

Jan. 20

Require masks/distancing on all federal property and by federal workers

Executive order

Jan. 20

Reverse travel ban targeting primarily Muslim countries

Executive order

Jan. 20

Stop construction of border wall

Proclamation

Jan. 20

Combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity

Executive order

Jan. 20

Require ethics pledge for executive-branch personnel

Executive order

Jan. 20

Modernize and improve regulatory review

Memorandum

Jan. 20

End "harsh and extreme immigration enforcement"

Executive order

Jan. 20

Extend protection from deportation for Liberians in U.S.

Memorandum

Jan. 20

Revoke certain executive orders concerning federal regulation

Executive order

Jan. 20

Freeze any new or pending regulations

Memorandum

Jan. 20

Fill supply shortfalls in fight vs. COVID-19 with Defense Production Act, other measures

Executive order

Jan. 21

Increase FEMA reimbursement to states for National Guard, PPE

Memorandum

Jan. 21

Establish “COVID-19 Pandemic Testing Board,” expand testing

Executive order

Jan. 21

Bolster access to COVID-19 treatments and clinical care

Executive order

Jan. 21

Improve collection/analysis of COVID-related data

Executive order

Jan. 21

Mount vaccination campaign amid goals such as 100 million shots in 100 days

Directives

Jan. 21

Provide guidance on safely reopening schools

Executive order

Jan. 21

OSHA guidance for keeping workers safe from COVID-19

Executive order

Jan. 21

Require face masks at airports, other modes of transportation

Executive order

Jan. 21

Establish a “COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force”

Executive order

Jan. 21

Support international response to COVID-19, “restore U.S. global leadership”

Directive

Jan. 21

Ask agencies to boost food aid, improve delivery of stimulus checks

Executive order

Expected Jan. 22

Restore collective bargaining power for federal workers

Executive order

Expected Jan. 22

https://apple.news/Azpo3lL07StCETyGdTAGNpA

[multipleservicelisting]

Biden aims to address ‘immediate supply shortfalls’ left behind by Trump.

President Biden prepared to spend his first full day in the White House addressing a confluence of crises, with the pandemic at the top of that list.

The Biden team said it had identified 12 “immediate supply shortfalls” in the Trump administration’s pandemic response plans, which Mr. Biden is expected to address later on Thursday when he speaks about his approach to confronting the crisis.

Some of Mr. Biden’s advisers said they were stunned by the vaccination plan — or the lack of one — that it inherited from the Trump administration, and said the Trump team failed to share crucial information about supplies and vaccine availability.

“What we’re inheriting is so much worse than we could have imagined,” Jeff Zients, the new White House Covid-19 response coordinator, said.

Mr. Biden will participate Thursday morning in the Virtual Presidential Inaugural Prayer Service. Because of the pandemic, he and Vice President Kamala Harris will watch the service from the White House Blue Room, officials said. After that, they are scheduled to receive the daily intelligence briefing prepared for the president, and then they will quickly turn to the virus, with Mr. Biden speaking about the pandemic and signing about a dozen related executive orders in the afternoon, including on mask wearing and more.

Local officials have expressed a hope that the Biden administration would step up vaccine production to make second doses available for the expanded pool of eligible people. Production of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines authorized in the United States are running flat out, and it is not clear whether the administration could significantly expand the overall supply any time soon.

Though Mr. Biden has indicated his administration would release more doses as they became available and keep fewer in reserve, he said on Friday that he would not change the recommended timing for second doses: 21 days after the first dose for Pfizer’s vaccine, and 28 days for Moderna’s.“We believe it’s critical that everyone should get two doses within the F.D.A.-recommended time frame,” Mr. Biden said while discussing his vaccine distribution plans.

The 12 supply shortfalls identified by the Biden team include N95 surgical masks and isolation gowns, swabs, reagents and pipettes used in testing — deficiencies that have dogged the nation for nearly a year. Jen Psaki, the new White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday evening that Mr. Biden “absolutely remains committed” to invoking the Defense Production Act, a Korean War-era law, to bolster supplies.

Mr. Biden also signed executive orders on Wednesday that were designed to undo signature policy initiatives of the Trump administration, including ordering officials to work to preserve the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which has protected hundreds of thousands of people who came to the country as young children from deportation. He also recommitted the United States to the Paris climate agreement, the international accord designed to avert catastrophic global warming.

Another order he signed on Wednesday requires masks to be worn on all federal property and by all federal employees. He urged all Americans to take this most basic of precautions for 100 days.

When Mr. Biden speaks about his administration’s plan to confront the virus on Thursday, he will outline a national strategy that promises to harness the broad powers of the federal government, including the aggressive use of executive authority to protect workers, advance racial equity in the pandemic response and ramp up the manufacturing of test kits, vaccines and supplies.

The “National Strategy for the Covid-19 Response and Pandemic Preparedness,” previewed Wednesday evening by Mr. Biden’s advisers, is an attempt to present a highly coordinated federal response that Democrats and some public health experts have long demanded and that Mr. Trump rejected, in favor of a state-controlled approach. The speed with which the Biden team can put the plan into effect is unclear, in part because of the less-than-adequate cooperation provided by the previous administration but more because of the inherent limits in private-sector production capacity that will take time to remedy.

Inheriting an economy battered by the pandemic, the Biden administration is also moving to extend a federal moratorium on evictions and has asked agencies to prolong a moratorium on foreclosures on federally guaranteed mortgages. Mr. Biden will need the cooperation of Congress, where Democrats now control both chambers, to push through a $1.9 trillion rescue package.

    Multiple Service Listing for Business Owners | Tools to Grow Your Local Business

www.MultipleServiceListing.com 

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[davidraudalesuk]

2020 Presidential Candidates: Biden vs. Trump and Their Policies

With the 2020 U.S. presidential race entering its final weeks, the October 22 debate gives voters a chance to compare the candidates and their policies. Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden stand on opposite sides of many key issues facing the nation.

Trump and Biden have different approaches to tackling taxes, health care, climate change, education, the economy, and more. Learn more about the two candidates and their economic policies so you can make an educated vote.

Key Takeaways

The U.S. presidential campaign heads into its final weeks as the last debate airs October 22.

The candidates, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, have staked out opposing positions on nearly every issue of significance.

The response to the COVID-19 crisis is front and center, but the candidates have offered competing visions of the U.S., post-pandemic.

Who Are the 2020 Vice Presidential Candidates?

Trump's running mate is current Vice President Mike Pence. As Governor of Indiana, Pence lowered taxes and increased school funding. He was a U.S. Representative for Indiana before that.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Deadlines to register to vote or request a mail-in ballot are quickly approaching, if not already passed. Check with your state for specific details.

Biden chose Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as his vice-presidential running mate. As California's Attorney General, Harris won a $25 billion settlement for homeowners hit by the foreclosure crisis.1 She also defended climate change laws and prosecuted drug cartels.

Policies: Trump vs. Biden

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

President Trump signed four laws that distributed $2.5 trillion to families, businesses, and agencies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The largest, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), provided $2 trillion to families and businesses.2

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Health Care Enhancement Act allocated $483.4 billion for small businesses, hospitals, and COVID-19 testing.3

The other two laws provided funds to federal health agencies, paid sick leave, Medicaid, and unemployment benefits.

Trump launched Operation Warp Speed to develop and distribute safe vaccines and treatments in record time.4 He used the Defense Product Act to produce 100,000 ventilators.5

Trump signed an executive order that allowed states to use previously authorized funds to pay people collecting unemployment benefits an additional $400 per week, of which $300 was federally funded.6 Another order urged federal agencies to do what they could to halt evictions, and a third allowed employers to defer payroll tax contributions until Dec. 31, 2020. He also waived interest on all student loans until Dec. 31, 2020.

Two-thirds (67%) of Americans said that the administration's response was too slow, according to a Sept. 13, 2020 poll by ABC/Ipsos.7 More than 186,000 Americans had died by the time the poll was launched.8

The New England Journal of Medicine said the U.S. didn't adequately test or provide health care workers and the general public with enough protective equipment. The administration delegated disease control to the states instead of launching a national strategy and states don't possess the same tools as the federal government. As a result, social distancing directives were inconsistent and not uniformly enforced.9

Biden plans to restore leadership for the COVID-19 response to the federal government. He would use the Defense Production Act to produce more personal protective equipment (PPE).

He promises guaranteed paid leave for anyone affected by COVID-19, allowing sick employees to stay home. He plans to expand unemployment insurance, including even those who can't look for work because of the pandemic. He would also expand the SNAP food assistance program during the crisis.

Biden's plan would require all health insurance and public health programs to cover COVID testing and treatment with no deductibles or co-payments.

Biden hopes to create a State and Local Emergency Fund to make sure governors and mayors have the federal dollars needed to boost health care resources.10

Climate Change

On June 1, 2017, Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, the international global climate effort. The formal withdrawal won't occur until Nov. 4, 2020, making it an issue in the presidential election.11 Trump has taken steps to weaken Obama-era limits on carbon emissions at U.S. power plants.

Biden plans to recommit to the Paris Agreement, restore Obama-era environmental regulations, and support key aspects of the Green New Deal. He has refused donations from fossil fuel companies. Biden’s “Clean Energy Revolution” would invest $1.7 trillion and create 10 million jobs. Specifically, it would:

Declare climate change a national security priority

Achieve net-zero emissions by 2050

End subsidies for fossil fuels

Spend $400 billion on clean energy research

Double offshore wind production by 2030

Ban offshore drilling in the Arctic and new fossil fuel permits on public lands

Set 54.5 miles-per-gallon fuel economy standards

Add 500,000 public charging stations by 2030

Restore the EV tax credit12

The Paris Agreement’s 1.5 degrees Celsius goal is only achievable if the world stopped emitting all carbon by 2030. Neither plan meets that target.

Education

Biden plans to increase federal funding for public K-12 education. He wants to triple Title I funding for low-income families to raise teachers' pay, too. He would double the number of health workers in schools. He promises universal pre-kindergarten and says that all community health centers would have early childhood development experts.13 Biden promises to make community colleges and public universities free for qualifying students. He would spend $8 billion on community college facilities, plus another $50 billion on workforce training.14

Trump has focused on providing additional federal funds to charter and private schools.15 However, in a July 2020 tweet, he threatened to cut funding from school districts that didn't reopen in person in fall 2020.

Health Care

President Trump's health care policies have focused on weakening the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act repealed the Obamacare tax on those who don't get health insurance.16 That removed the incentive for healthy people to get coverage. As healthy people drop coverage, health insurance companies may only enroll the sickest and costliest to treat, which could increase costs for everyone.17

In 2018, Trump allowed less expensive association plans and extended short-term plans to 12 months.18

 These plans cost less but are exempt from state regulations. They aren't required to offer the ACA's

10 essential benefits

. Many purchasers may not realize they aren't fully covered.

The Trump administration has also allowed states to impose work requirements on Medicaid recipients unless they had a job, were caregivers, or were in school. This has weakened the ACA provision that extended Medicaid to single childless adults.19

Through participating in enhanced Medicare Part D plans, a month's supply of insulin is available for a $35 co-pay.

In September 2020, the president announced the America First health care plan. As part of it, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced actions that would allow states to permit the importation and reimportation of pharmaceuticals (thereby reducing costs).20 It would require health centers to pass any discounts on insulin and epinephrine to their patents. As of 2020, average monthly basic Medicare Part D premiums were at their lowest levels since 2013.2122

Biden would expand Obamacare subsidies so that no one would pay more than 8.5% of their income for health insurance.

Under Biden's plan, qualified residents of the states that didn’t expand Medicaid could sign up for a free universal health plan. Universal health care lowers costs by paying for preventive care to treat chronic health conditions. That reduces the need for expensive emergency room visits later on.23

Biden also plans to lower drug prices by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices with drug corporations. He hope to also allow Americans to import prescription drugs from other countries.24

Housing

Biden would spend $640 billion on affordable housing, including $100 billion for construction and renovation. He wants to add $10 billion to Community Development Block Grants and $5 billion in annual tax credits for low-income renters. He also promises to fully fund Section 8 rental assistance.

Biden would spend $13 billion to tackle homelessness by building 400,000 units to house those without a home.25

Subsidized housing allows residents to focus on improving their job skills and education. It also provides stability during bouts of unemployment so children can remain in school.

Trump's budgets reduced funds for affordable housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has demolished public housing units. Instead, the funds are used for vouchers.26

Immigration

Trump's "America First" program promised to protect American workers from immigrants. He restricted legal immigration and reduced the number of H-1B visas granted.27 Trump restricted travel and visas from certain countries and also reduced the number of asylum seekers and refugees. He tried to overturn the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

Trump focused on immigration from Mexico, including completing the border wall. He separated families at the border and sent them to Mexico while they underwent an asylum application review.28

Biden’s proposals would undo most of Trump's immigration policies. Biden hopes to raise annual refugee admissions to 125,000 from 18,000 in 2020. Biden would also provide a road map to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who pay taxes and pass a background check.29

Biden wants to address the root cause of immigration at the Mexican border. He would provide a $4 billion aid package to Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, which are plagued by narco-trafficking and violence.30

Infrastructure Rebuilding

Biden's "Build Back Better" plan would invest $2 trillion to rebuild infrastructure, focusing on clean energy. That means more funding for public transit in any town with 100,000 or more residents. He would expand the nation’s rail system, invest in high-speed rail, and help Amtrak become fully electric. Biden would provide universal broadband, including 5G wireless. The plan would improve battery technology for electric vehicles and add charging stations.31

In 2017, Trump proposed a $1 trillion "Rebuild America's Infrastructure" plan. He included $200 billion to leverage another $800 billion in private-sector funds. Another $100 billion would go to local governments. He also promised to lower the average permit time from 10 years to two years.32 Unfortunately, this plan was never implemented.33

Jobs

As of the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (September 2020), President Trump has lost 4.6 million jobs during his term. That's a result of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession. Prior to the recession, he had created 6.6 million jobs. That's a 4.3% increase over the 152.2 million people working at the end of Obama's term.34

Biden's “Buy American” plan would create 5 million new jobs. The government would spend $400 billion to buy U.S. products and services. Another $300 billion would fund research and development, including half for clean energy. Biden would more than double the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour.35 Raising the minimum wage would boost growth by giving workers more to spend, increasing both demand and business revenue. It would take 900,000 families out of poverty, but cost 500,000 workers their jobs.36

Racial Justice and Achievement, and the Wealth Gap

Biden would provide $100 billion in low-interest loans by strengthening Community Development Financial Institutions targeted to underserved neighborhoods. He would expand the Community Reinvestment Act to include mortgages and insurance companies so minority neighborhoods aren't excluded by redlining. Biden would increase funds for colleges that serve Black, Hispanic, and Native American students. He would provide free tuition at public colleges for families making less than $125,000 a year.37

Trump signed the FUTURE Act which permanently authorized $255 million in annual funding for minority-serving colleges. It also increased funding for Pell Grants.38 The Department of Education canceled repayment of $300 million in disaster loans to historically Black colleges and universities.39

Education is seen as one of the best ways to close the racial wealth gap and the minority achievement gap.40 For example, one study found that if Black and Hispanic students had the same educational performance as white students, it would have added between $310 billion and $525 billion to the economy in 2008.41

Taxes

In 2017, Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It cut the top individual tax rate from 39.6% to 37% and eliminated many itemized deductions until 2025. It permanently cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.42

Biden plans to raise federal revenue by $3.8 trillion over 10 years. He would add a 12.4% Social Security payroll tax for those making more than $400,000 a year. He would repeal the Trump tax cuts for high-income filers, and increase the corporate tax rate to 28%.43 Biden would make the tax code more progressive, meaning high-income households pay a larger share of their incomes in taxes than lower-income taxpayers.

Trade

Unlike past Republicans, Trump doesn't support free trade agreements. He withdrew from further negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and renegotiated six components of the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.

Trump started a trade war in 2017 by raising tariffs on imports from China to lower the trade deficit with China. In January 2020, the two powers agreed to the Phase One Trade Agreement. China agreed to increase imports of U.S. goods by $200 billion annually, while the U.S. agreed to cut tariffs on some imports by half.44

Biden would invest $300 billion over four years to secure America's leadership in critical technologies. Key areas include clean energy, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicle battery technology. To confront China’s trade barriers, Biden would work with U.S. allies to present a united front in trade disputes.45

ARTICLE TABLE OF CONTENTSSkip to sectionEXPAND

2020 Vice President Candidates

Policies: Trump vs. Biden

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

Climate Change

Education

Health Care

Housing

Immigration

Infrastructure Rebuilding

Jobs

Racial Achievement Gap

Taxes

Trade

[mfi-miami]

FHFA Foreclosure Moratoriums Extended Until January 31st

FHFA Foreclosure Moratoriums Extended Until January 31st

FHFA Foreclosure Moratoriums Extended Until January 31st For All Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac Loans

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced today that FHFA foreclosure moratoriums initiated in April are being extended until Jan. 31.

This marks the fourth time FHFA has extended the moratorium. It extends the latest extension deadline of December 31st.

FHFA director Mark Calabria…