• Listen to this segment

• Listen to the entire program

A record-breaking one million homes may be lost to foreclosure by the end of this year. In the first half of 2010 mortgage lenders repossessed over 500,000 homes, and 1.7 million households were served with notices of foreclosure. In February 2009 President Obama announced that his administration’s economic agenda included a voluntary loan modification program. The program is voluntary because banks are not required to participate, but are offered “economic incentives” to help distressed homeowners. In April the Congressional Oversight Panel criticized the program, saying that while the stated goal was to modify 4 million loans, only a very small number of households will actually be granted permanent modifications. In New York State more than 265,000 homes are in danger of being foreclosed on, but banks have only granted 12,000 permanent modifications since 2009. Instead of waiting for the banks to play nice or the President to deliver on his promises, a coalition of New York City labor unions and community groups announced last week that they may pull their money from financial institutions that do not begin to take proactive steps to prevent foreclosures. Labor unions control millions of dollars in union dues and contributions. Among private groups representing working Americans they have the most financial clout. Here to discuss the foreclosure crisis and this creative response to it is Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation magazine.

GUEST: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor of The Nation magazine, Arthur Schwartz, lawyer with the Transportation Workers Union Local 100 in New York

Read Katrina vanden Huevel’s article here: http://www.thenation.com/blog/37500/move-your-big-money

Find out more about the groups involved in the campaign here: www.nycommunities.org