Resident Eleanor Puahikolia (left) and Leva Alualu are emotional during the service. - Photo by Dennis Oda (Star Advertiser)

The state will hold a meeting with Mayor Wright residents

Honolulu Star Advertiser
February 1st, 2012

By Rosemarie Bernardo

Tenants of Mayor Wright Homes need to work together to create a stronger and safer community, a board member of the tenants association said in the wake of Friday’s fatal stabbing of a Mililani man who was visiting the Kalihi public housing complex.

“Where do we go from here as residents?” Marleen Lafaele, secretary of the Mayor Wright Tenants Association, said during a prayer vigil Tuesday. “For anything to change, we need to come together as one.”

Lafaele was among about 30 people, including Mayor Wright tenants as well as clergy from the Faith Action for Community Equity group, who participated in the vigil, which was held to pray for change in the community.

Esewil Y. Rekis, 32, was fatally stabbed Friday following an argument involving a group of people. Rekis died of a stab wound to the chest with injuries to his heart and lung, the Medical Examiner’s Office said.

Authorities released a 33-year-old man who had been arrested. Prosecutors declined to file charges because of self-defense issues, said Dave Koga, a spokes­man for the Hono­lulu Prosecutor’s Office.

It was the second fatal stabbing at Mayor Wright in five months. In September TJ “Tipuk” Mori was killed, and Takson Krstoth, 21, was charged with second-degree murder.

Nite Kristoph, vice president of the tenants association, said Tuesday’s vigil was held to help the community heal and come together. What happened on Friday was tragic and violent, she said.

The Hawaii Public Housing Authority will hold a public meeting with tenants Thursday to discuss proposed and planned security measures that include creating a policy for resident and visitor passes, closing unsecured entry points to the housing complex with fencing, installing security cameras and imposing a curfew. Hiring additional security guards is also being considered.

The public housing authority will work with tenants to come up with a comprehensive plan for the curfew. Officials are reviewing bids for contracts to install security cameras at entry points.

Hilda Urita, a Mayor Wright resident since 1969, was at the vigil and said she supports security cameras and a curfew to ensure safety for children and families.

Paulo Leuta, who moved into the housing complex in 2008 with his wife and three children, said closing unsecured entry points would be ineffective because people can climb over the chain-link fence that surrounds Mayor Wright.

Also, security cameras are not practical, he added, saying vandals would damage the devices. “It will be a waste of money and time to install it,” Leuta said.

Click here to see original article.

KHON2
January 31st, 2012

By Olena Heu

Residents living in Mayor Wright homes say its time to take back their community and make it a safe place to live again.

The call to action is sparked after another life is lost right outside their front doors.

These women sing a song of hope and faith to stop the violence at mayor wright homes in Kalihi.

“We pray that you god of life would bring out of violence death new life,” says Rev. Kerry Grogan.

Residents and clergy held a prayer vigil Tuesday morning to bring harmony to a community that’s been torn a part after a fatal stabbing last week.
33 year-old Benjamin Rekis died friday night after a fight on property.

The suspect, a resident at mayor wright housing, was released and the case dropped because prosecutors believe he acted in self defense.

“Hopefully he can bring the peace over here,” says Virgil Amoroso, Family of the Living God.

The pastors from differing faiths, from across the island, united to make one community whole again.

“We are one family that has faced tragedy and let us heal together and build together,” says Nite Kristoph, resident.

Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE) says they have experience working with other public housing residents including those at KPT, Kukui Gardens and Kalihi Valley homes.
“And we are working together with the Mayor Wright tenant association, weed and seed, HPHA and we look forward to working also with HPD in making sure that this is a safe community,” says Rev. Sam Domingo, FACE.

Many say this is a step in the right direction.

“I think it’s a good start to finally have you know us residents see that we are actually moving forward to try and address the issues,” says Theodore.

State officials say they will hold a community meeting Thursday night.

“And I hope that through out this year and the continuous years that we will finally stop with all this nonsense,” says Theodore.

Click here to see original article and video.

January 31st, 2012

Mayor Wright Tenants together with FACE Clergy from across the island gathered today to build community in the wake of tragedy and loss.

“We are a strong and proud community, but we have been portrayed as violent people. We are gathering with the faith community to pray for change”, says Gloria Castro, who serves on the tenant association board.

45 tenants and clergy gathered in front of the Mayor Wright Housing Office to pray for hope and community in a place that has been portrayed as violence.

“Where do we go from here as residents? For anything to change, we need to come together as one”, said Marlene Lafaele, tenant association board secretary.

“We have a deep belief in community, and know that most people in Mayor Wright hold to this belief. We cannot let a couple bad actors represent the whole”, Reverend Alan Mark, statewide president of FACE.

St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church will be hosting a Community Worship Service on Monday, January 16th from 6:30 pm. It will be a service that will celebrate the life and work of a civil rights and social justice leader that helped to change the world.

Saint Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church
720 N. King Street
6:30 pm

*Clergy are encouraged to come in full vestment.
Please contact Jun Yang at 294-8387 for any questions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRESS CONFERENCE: Today May 10th @ 11:00am Sun-Yat Sen Statue, Beretania St & Nuuanu River

Today, October 4, at 11:00 a.m., FACE will rally at the Sun Yat Sen statue in Chinatown to demand job creation through infrastructure investments.

FACE members will also release the results of a first-ever national study ranking California’s success among all 50 states in expanding job access for women and minorities through job training in highway construction. The Transportation Equity Network study, “The Road to Good Jobs: Making Training Work,” makes the case that job creation efforts will expand opportunity by opening the construction field to those hit hardest by the recession.

FACE members will demonstrate the importance of Honolulu rail project and will urge the state and city to begin construction immediately. Members will also speak about the need to create jobs for Hawaii’s workers by investing in infrastructure.

The event will take place simultaneously with similar rallies in 23 U.S. cities held by members of the Transportation Equity Network.

For a look at the report, please contact local leader or organizer—Jun Yang at 808 294- 8387 or Stephen Boykewich, stephen@transportationequity.org, Mob. 718-791-9162.

WHO: Faith Action for Community Equity

WHAT: Rally for job creation through infrastructure, and report release on

WHEN: Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 11:00 a.m.

WHERE: Sun Yat Sen Statue in Chinatown, next to the Cultural plaza

CONTACTS: Jun Yang, 808 294- 8387 or Bob Nakata – 808 295 1316
Stephen Boykewich, stephen@transportationequity.org, Mob. 718-791-9162

***

Making Training Work – TEN Study

Pacific Business News – by Janis L. Magin , Pacific Business News
A new report says that Hawaii’s economy could gain nearly 3,300 jobs and get an annual stimulus of $223 million if banks wrote down every underwater mortgage in Hawaii.A mortgage is underwater if its amount is higher than what a home is currently worth. You could also call it upside down.Either way, it means that someone is paying more for his or her house than they could sell it for.Here in Hawaii, there are 22,403 mortgages in that situation, according to the report released by a national campaign called The New Bottom Line, a coalition of community, faith-based and labor groups, including Hawaii’s Faith Action for Community Equity, or FACE Hawaii.While the number of upside down mortgages in Hawaii is a lot lower than it is in other states — California and Florida each have more than 2 million — it’s still nearly 10 percent of the homes here.The report says that means $2.2 billion in negative equity for Hawaii.Getting rid of that negative equity could mean putting $828 back in each homeowner’s pocket each month — money they could presumably spend on other things, stimulating the state economy.The report argues that by getting the banks to write down all the underwater mortgages in the nation to their current market value, banks can pump $71 billion into the national economy every year and create more than 1 million jobs.Hawaii would gain 3,292 of those jobs, the report said.

Click here to see original article.

Honolulu Civil Beat
June 15th, 2011

By Robert Brown

Mortgage giant Fannie Mae has found a way around what some consider the nation’s strongest foreclosure law.

Fannie, a government controlled mortgage finance company, which operates in the secondary mortgage market, announced this week the company will convert all of its new and pending non-judicial foreclosures in Hawaii to judicial foreclosures effective immediately — essentially allowing them to skirt Hawaii’s new law.

“Our announcement is consistent with Hawaii law and was made in response to recent Hawaii legislation,” Andrew Wilson, a Fannie spokesman told Civil Beat in an email. “The judicial foreclosure process allows homeowners to raise any challenges to the foreclosure in court. Fannie continues to encourage homeowners to reach out as early as possible to their servicers to pursue modifications and other foreclosure prevention solutions.”

In May, Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed Act 48, a measure requiring lenders to meet face-to-face with homeowners for mediation before foreclosing on a property. Additionally, the bill places a moratorium on all new non-judicial foreclosure actions until July 1, 2012, for foreclosures covered under Part 1 of the state statute governing foreclosures, and requires lenders to prove they actually have the authority to foreclose on a property.

“It doesn’t seem like (Fannie) really cares much about our homeowners or assisting homeowners stay in their homes,” Sen. Rosalyn Baker, who co-introduced the mortgage bill, said in an email.

Intended to reform Hawaii’s foreclosure process, Act 48 has the potential to impact thousands. But the law only applies to non-judicial foreclosures.

Fannie Change Skirts Proof Requirement

One reason supporters of Act 48 were so pleased with its passing was the requirement that lenders prove they have authority to foreclose on a home.

Kim Harman, policy director for Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), told Civil Beat in May that lenders processed too many mortgages too quickly, resulting in Hawaii residents being foreclosed on by lenders who don’t have legal standing.

Act 48 was based on a 2009 Nevada law, with the exception of the proof of authority to foreclose requirement. Because Fannie hasn’t adopted the same stance in Nevada, Harmon says, it indicates that Fannie is attempting to avoid having to prove that it has the right to foreclose.

“There are thousands more foreclosures in Nevada than in Hawaii and our foreclosure mediation laws are so similar, Fannie Mae must be reacting to Hawaii’s higher standard for lenders and mortgage servicers to prove their legal standing to pursue foreclosures in our state,” Harmon said in a FACE press release. “If Fannie Mae is worried that there are flaws in their legal standing to foreclosure, they should not be foreclosing at all, they should be addressing problems with their mortgages.”

Baker said Fannie will be disappointed if it is, in fact, trying to avoid the proof requirement.
“If Fannie Mae thinks somehow they’re going to get a better deal going through the courts and that they won’t have to present the same documentation demonstrating their legal ability to foreclose, I believe they will be sadly mistaken,” Baker wrote Civil Beat via email. “I expect the courts to look with great scrutiny on any foreclosure matter that comes before them, especially now.

Wilson, the Fannie spokesman, declined to comment on the issue.

Baker told Civil Beat Fannie’s decision will likely lengthen the foreclosure process and possibly pass on more costs to homeowners, who might feel the need to be represented by counsel. She said lawmakers will keep a close eye on Fannie and will work with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, as well as the judiciary, “to explore options and how best to keep from overwhelming the resources of the Judiciary.”

Baker said getting a judicial foreclosure hearing in Hawaii can take 12-14 months.

“We intend to continue to stand up for the beleaguered homeowners of Hawaii,” Baker said. “We will also enlist the assistance and support of our Congressional delegation.”

Mortgage Expert: Expect Protests

While Fannie isn’t doing anything illegal with the conversions, at least one mortgage expert thinks Hawaii homeowners will not tolerate the decision.

“In Hawaii, this is not going to fly,” Martin Andelman, operator of the mortgage blog “Mandelman Matters”, told Civil Beat. “If you treated your spouse the way the servicers treat people, you’d get arrested. It’s abuse. It’s awful. We treat people in the criminal justice system better than servicers treat homeowners.”

“I just know Hawaii,” Andelman said. “Hawaii is not a place where you get away with that stuff. I mean, mainland banks are going to treat people rudely and think everyone is just going to do nothing?”

Andleman said that Fannie’s move essentially renders the intent of Act 48 moot, though Baker disagrees.

“The people of Hawaii today are very proud of their Legislature for (Act 48),” Andleman said. “It was a grassroots movement, they felt like they had a real success on a national scale. I mean it was a big deal. They won and they did something good. And then Fannie just went, ‘(expletive) you.’”

It’s unclear exactly how many foreclosures Fannie’s decision will affect. Wilson said Fannie does not keep individual state statistics on mortgages.

Baker said she heard an estimate that Fannie may have a 20-40 percent share of the Hawaii foreclosure market, but could not verify the figure.

Rep. Bob Herkes, another co-introducer of the mortgage bill, told Civil Beat lawmakers will meet June 28 to have an informational briefing on the law with key players in Hawaii foreclosures, including Andleman.

“We’ve tightened up the law to protect, we think, both sides,” Herkes said. “And I think the lenders were having a little bit of a free ride under Part 1 of the non-judicial (foreclosures) and certainly, they’ve got a wake up call. They say, ‘Oh my. Now we have to prove we’re the lender. How rude.”

Click here to see original article.

Fannie Mae eschews a quicker, nonjudicial process in response to a new Hawaii law

Honolulu Star Advertiser
June 15th, 2011

By Andrew Gomes

One of the nation’s biggest owners of home mortgages has made a move that could add to an already overburdened Hawaii court system’s caseload.

Fannie Mae, a publicly owned company created and overseen by the federal government, recently instructed companies that handle foreclosures for its loans to file all new Hawaii foreclosures in court.

Fannie Mae also told the firms known as loan servicers to cancel any pending nonjudicial Hawaii foreclosures and restart them in court.

Fannie Mae took the steps in response to Hawaii’s new foreclosure law enacted last month. Critics are concerned Fannie Mae might be attempting to sidestep the main intent of the law, which was to engage mediators to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The vast majority of residential foreclosures in Hawaii in recent years have been conducted out of court through a nonjudicial process because it was quicker and cheaper than going through court.

The law was changed in part because the nonjudicial foreclosures left borrowers with little opportunity to contest repossessions even in cases where they believed a lender was improperly taking their home.

The new law, Act 48, gives qualified owner-occupants of Hawaii homes the option of having a dispute resolution professional assist with foreclosure mitigation in front of a lender representative before a foreclosure sale can proceed.

Fannie Mae’s directive, issued Friday, drew criticism from a local homeowner advocacy group that lobbied for Hawaii’s new law.

The Rev. Bob Nakata, a member of Faith Action for Community Equity, said Fannie Mae is attempting to bypass the new law. “Just two days ago, 25 churches got together from two islands and celebrated our new foreclosure mediation law, and now Fannie Mae is trying to outmaneuver us,” he said. “It stinks. Our government-sponsored enterprises are supposed to help us, not take away everything we have fought for.”

Some supporters of Hawaii’s new law fear the move by Fannie Mae, which buys U.S. single-family home loans from loan originators, could spur similar moves by giant banks and other big holders of Hawaii home mortgages, shunting aside the revamped nonjudicial foreclosure law and overwhelming the state court system.

Fannie Mae declined to say whether it established its new policy to avoid nonjudicial foreclosures in Hawaii under the new law or whether the policy is only temporary until it’s possible to file new nonjudicial foreclosures.

The new law resulted in a de facto moratorium on nonjudicial foreclosures because the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs won’t accept any new nonjudicial foreclosure filings until the mediation program is running. The law also prohibits any nonjudicial foreclosure auctions until borrowers have an opportunity to participate in the program.

The program is expected to be running by Oct. 1.

Fannie Mae spokeswoman Amy Bonitatibus said policies are regularly reviewed and adjusted as needed.

“Our announcement is consistent with Hawaii law and was made in response to recent Hawaii legislation,” she said. “Currently, nonjudicial foreclosures cannot be pursued in Hawaii. There is not currently an end date listed in the announcement we issued, but again, we regularly make updates and changes to reflect the current law and foreclosure processes in a state.”

Kim Harman, Hawaii policy director for Faith Action for Community Equity, questioned whether Fannie Mae is trying to avoid requirements for documenting original and amended mortgage agreements and promissory notes under the new law.

Harman said the documentation requirement is the only substantial difference between Hawaii’s law and a Nevada foreclosure mitigation law upon which Hawaii’s law was modeled. Fannie Mae hasn’t banned nonjudicial foreclosures in Nevada.

State Rep. Bob Herkes, who along with Sen. Rosalyn Baker was a chief architect of the law, said Fannie Mae would be misguided if it intends to avoid better documentation by running foreclosures through Hawaii courts.

Herkes intends to ask the Judiciary to hold mortgage holders to the same documentation standards contained in the nonjudicial foreclosure law.

Some Hawaii foreclosure industry attorneys had warned that lenders might flock to judicial foreclosures, in part because lenders can pursue borrowers for any difference between what a borrower owes and proceeds from selling a foreclosed home. This difference, referred to as a deficiency judgment, could help offset higher expenses of judicial foreclosure.

However, others believe the extra time and expense of judicial foreclosure, especially if Hawaii courts get bogged down, still make judicial foreclosure less attractive than the revamped nonjudicial foreclosure process.

While Fannie Mae seeks to proceed with Hawaii foreclosures in court, it is also offering financial incentives for loan servicers to avoid foreclosure and was instructed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in April to not start a foreclosure if a borrower and servicer are engaged in a good-faith effort to resolve a mortgage delinquency.

So far, there has not been a huge increase in judicial foreclosures in Hawaii, considering that the new law went into effect May 5.

For all of May, there were 141 judicial foreclosure cases, up from 119 in May 2010, according to Judiciary figures. Nearly all of the increase occurred on the Big Island.

For all of last year, state Circuit Courts handled 1,331 foreclosure cases. That figure is estimated to be around 10 percent of all Hawaii foreclosures.

The Judiciary, in testimony on Senate Bill 651 that became the foreclosure mitigation law, expressed concern that any big increase in judicial foreclosures could dramatically delay cases unless new judges and staff are hired.

According to real estate research firm RealtyTrac, close to 500 new foreclosure cases a month were filed on average this year through April.

The Judiciary estimated it would cost about $4.3 million a year for additional personnel to handle such an increase.

Click here to see original article.

Do you need FREE, quality help applying for a LOAN MODIFICATION?
Call Hawaiian Community Assets on Maui at 808-760-5100.
On Oahu: 808-587-7886

Are you interested in using the new MANDATORY MEDIATION LAW?
The mediation program is expected to be up and running October 1st, 2011. Until it is, there is a halt to any new foreclosures. A very useful summary of the program, along with options and information for all homeowner situations, is available at:

http://hawaii.gov/dcca/oah/mfdr/mortagage-foreclosure-dispute-resolution-mfdr-program
or
http://tiny.cc/gbgr6

Are you are ALREADY in foreclosure RIGHT NOW?
You may convert from a non-judicial foreclosure to a judicial foreclosure. This will allow you to go before a judge to hear your case BEFORE the foreclosure is allowed to proceed. If you choose to convert, you must complete the conversion by August 15, 2011. You may want a lawyer for this process, or contact the Legal Aid Society. You can get started on your foreclosure conversion petition at:

http://www.courts.state.hi.us/docs/court_rules/pdf/2011_rcp_temp_adopt_ada.pdf
or

http://tiny.cc/zm3gm

Do you feel that your lender has used FRAUD or DECEPTION in the way they pursued your family in foreclosure?
Submit a written complaint to the Hawaii Office of Consumer Protection at:

http://hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/consumer_complaint/complaint-form-web-2009.pdf
or
http://tiny.cc/27p0j

Editorial

The city needs to make sure Honolulu is sending the right message about rail financing in the next critical months before federal officials make the final call on Uncle Sam’s share for the project.

And that message should not be: We might need to siphon off money from a popular bus service to make this new project work.

Fortunately, the authorities planning the $5.3 billion rail project have backed away from that message somewhat in its latest financial plan, though not far enough. City officials insist that there’s only a “very low probability” that bus funds would ever be needed. But it has found alternatives to even this fallback option and should promote these as the preferred choice.

The issue raised eyebrows among top Federal Transit Administration officials when they reviewed the original financial plan, first issued about two years ago. In February, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff called for a more robust plan, underscoring his doubts about a city proposal to tap $300 million in federal funds intended for bus system planning.

“The issue of whether they’ll use federal bus funding, when we see proposals like that we evaluate whether maintaining the very important bus service is viable into the future,” Rogoff said at the time.

The money in question: the FTA Section 5307 Formula Funds. At first the city listed it as available to the rail project between fiscal years 2011 and 2019. In the latest plan, presented last week to the City Council, that amount has been cut to $244 million, becoming available only between 2013 and 2019. And the new financial blueprint now includes one scenario that does not require bus funds at all.

That option would replace the bus funds by issuing more general obligation bonds backed by revenues from the general excise tax surcharge that is primarily funding the rail. This option would also require extending the surcharge by nine months, through the end of September 2023. Alternatively, according to the updated plan, rail cars could be acquired through a leasing arrangement, to reduce reliance on the 5307 funding.

In a letter to FACE-Hawaii, a nonprofit group working to counter poverty, city Transportation Director Wayne Yoshioka called the likelihood that bus funds would be used a “very low probability,” only proposed because the city had to consider a “worst-case scenario.” Let’s hope that is the case.

It’s especially important now to back away from diverting bus funding, as a result of two developments. One is the mounting public unease with the financing prospects, as evidenced at City Council hearings and in recent opinion polling conducted by the Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now.

In the poll, more than two-thirds of 443 surveyed said they strongly agreed with the statement, “The rail project will end up costing a lot more than is currently estimated.” Meanwhile, confidence in the benefits of rail outweighing those costs seems to be flagging. For example: Only 16 percent strongly agreed that the jobs created by rail would boost the economy to make the project worth the expense.

Secondly, a two-year study conducted by the Brookings Institution think tank calculated that 97 percent of Honolulu’s working-age residents are within three-quarters of a mile from a transit stop — in this case, a bus stop. This makes the city No. 1 in the nation for workers’ access to a transit system. It’s only the latest statistic that sharpens Hono-lulu’s image as a high-ridership transit city.

This would be the wrong time to tell the feds, and the taxpaying public already nervous about this mammoth public-works commitment, that Honolulu has any intent of weakening its existing transportation asset. The aim is to get a full pledge of help from the FTA, and ill-considered financing proposals won’t help the city achieve that goal.

Click Here for the original article.