In order to better serve your community, we ask that you please help U.S. Bank identify and prioritize the most important needs that impact low- and moderate-income individuals and families, economically distressed neighborhoods and small businesses, as well as, opportunities to help meet these needs.  Your opinions and feedback are important and will be kept strictly confidential.

If you have already completed the survey, thank you for your feedback and time.  If you haven’t yet completed the survey, we would like to hear from you.  In order to include your opinions in this study, we ask that you complete this survey by August 10, 2012.

To begin the survey, please click on the following link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/966923/Community-Needs

Thank you in advance for your valuable feedback.

A new study from the Principal Financial Group finds that one-on-one financial counseling during work hours works wonders.

Positive outcomes were many; employees became more engaged in their financial affairs and saved more. 

http://moneyland.time.com/2012/07/19/new-evidence-says-workplace-financial-education-effective/?utm_source=What+You+Need+to+Know+NOW+About+Money&utm_campaign=dcf873ddfa-July_2012_Issue_2_7_30_2012&utm_medium=email

Yesterday, Governor Jerry Brown signed landmark legislation that ends the practice of foreclosing on a home while a loan modification is being considered (“dual track”), reforms bank’s foreclosure practices, and creates a fairer foreclosure process for California’s homeowners. And, importantly, the legislation allows consumers to take banks to court to enforce these rights. This is a major victory for California! The Governor’s signature came after the California State Assembly and Senate both voted last week to pass these bills. None of this would have happened without the tireless work of many California groups—nonprofit housing counselors, public interest lawyers, faith-based groups, organizers, online organizing groups, and consumer and policy groups.
Thank you to all who supported our advocacy efforts!

July 2, 2012— California’s State Legislature voted today to pass the Homeowner Bill of Rights, legislation introduced by Attorney General Kamala Harris and championed by consumer advocates and homeowners. The California Foreclosure Reduction Act— AB 278 (Eng, Feuer, Mitchell) & SB 900 (Leno, Corbett, DeSaulnier, Evans, Pavley, Steinberg)—passed 53-25 in the Assembly and 24-13 in the Senate this afternoon. The bill now awaits Governor Jerry Brown’s signature.

This law will institute sensible reforms to bank’s foreclosure practices and create a fairer foreclosure process for California’s homeowners. Most significantly, this law ends the “dual track” process, where banks foreclose on homeowners while they are negotiating for a loan modification with their bank. Now, banks are required to give homeowners a “yes” or “no” answer on a loan modification application before continuing with foreclosure, thereby giving homeowners a fair chance at preventing foreclosure. With this law in place, if a loan modification is accepted, the bank will rescind the notice of default or sale, allowing homeowners to pay their loans without the looming threat of foreclosure. And if a loan modification is denied, homeowners will not be blindsided by a sale notice, because banks are now required to send a letter to the borrower describing the reason for denial and letting the borrower know of his or her right to appeal that denial to the servicer.

In addition to ending “dual track”, this legislation requires all banks to end “robosigning” and provide a single point of contact to borrowers. Homeowners will no longer have to speak to a different person at the bank every time they call and resubmit the same mountain of paperwork to different people at the same institution. 

If a bank cannot follow these simple procedural rules, California homeowners will be able to enforce their rights by taking the bank to court. This will encourage servicers to follow the law, and when they do not, it will allow victimized homeowners to get their homes back where possible, or get some financial relief.

Many of the provisions in the legislation were embodied in the National Mortgage Settlement that 49 Attorneys General signed with the five big banks earlier this year. The legislation extends the impact of the Settlement so that all homeowners in California, regardless of which bank services of their loan, have the same protections and rights. This legislation should serve as a national model for other states looking to enforce the Settlement and protect their homeowners.

*California Reinvestment Coalition