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Defending Homes and Making Banks Pay: California’s Home Defenders League

Using participant observation and in-depth interviews, this article explores efforts by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) to organize homeowners against foreclosures and unfair lending practices in Southern California. Through protest and advocacy, ACCE’s Home Defenders League has helped families facing foreclosure to obtain loan modifications and to stay in their homes. Working in coalition with other groups, ACCE has also promoted policy changes to prevent foreclosures and to make bank executives and other wealthy families pay their fair share of taxes. Already, ACCE and its allies have won passage of the California Homeowners’ Bill of Rights to protect homeowners from bad lending practices as well as a ballot initiative to increase taxes on the wealthy to support public education and other services.

unfair lending practices, ACCE, California Homeowner’s Bill of Rights, loan modifications

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 40, No. 3 (2013): 81-98