Hearst Connecticut columnist Dan Haar ‘s revelation about a Bridgeport woman tragically losing her home over credit card debt less than $8,000 has “inspired a reform move by Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport.”
From Haar:
Pansy Wright, who was evicted on Nov. 1 with her adult son from the house on Woodmont Avenue where her family had lived for 26 years, was not offered state-run foreclosure mediation by the judge overseeing her case. The reason: The action against her was over a non-secured consumer debt, not a mortgage default.
I wrote about Wright’s case in a column that appeared Feb. 29 detailing a 17-year saga in which the debt led to Wright’s eviction from a house worth upwards of $300,000 or perhaps more, in which she appeared to have significant equity.
Wright, a certified teacher and long-term substitute in the Bridgeport schools, was not eligible for Connecticut’s state-run foreclosure mediation program. Only mortgage-related foreclosures can enter the program. That’s unfortunate because the mediation, launched in the depth of the Great Recession in 2008, has a strong history of averting evictions and title takeovers by banks and mortgage companies.After reading my column, Stafstrom, co-chairman of the state legislature’s influential Judiciary Committee, added language in a pending court operations bill that would require judges to offer mediation in all foreclosure cases including credit card debts and other judgments, not just those related to mortgage defaults.
The bill, which comprises more than 30 adjustments in how state courts function, is scheduled for a public hearing Monday.
Full story here
It pays to read the CT Post, though it costs, as well. That is one ot the truths of capitalism.
Many of you know that I speak to the CITY COUNCIL most sessions, two per month, except in the summer, for three minutes. My comments are written and sent to Frances Ortiz, in the City Clerk office to become a part of the archival record. I often send them to Only In Bridgeport, as well as each Council person, and occasionally to CT Post writers as well. Pleases me to inform you that the actual front page story of Pansy Wright from the CT Post was shared with the CC members present and displayed to the audience as well.
City Council Comments: March 4, 2024
In recent months, as I have come before you to share thoughts about the City, I have called you Disciples of Democracy. You are still elected by votes from some in your district who know you, and that can be counted as positive. But nearly 85% of registered voters stayed home last week from voting. Most of you have been endorsed by a “secret organization,” the Democratic Town Committee, which every few years accepts 9 candidates from each of 10 districts and the 90 folks who survive this process (in some cases after a Town Committee primary) return to become the “quietest political” group in town.
You are the “oversight engine” of Bridgeport, whether you recognize that fact or not. You get a complaint and likely make a call for a constituent. Some matters do get resolved. But there are “systemic City of Bridgeport problems” that you alone cannot resolve. More folks need to practice democracy daily in the community. An example of that was on the front page of the Post this weekend. THE CASE OF PANSY WRIGHT. How would this family find any answer to their problems in a City run by those endorsed by the DTC, yet failing for 20 years to appoint functioning City Boards like Fair Rent Commission or Fair Housing Commission? How is this justice?
How do you get to FAIR in a diverse Bridgeport without operating according to the duties spelled out in the Charter? Is Fair Rent only intended to question rent increases that are unjustifiable? Or do quality of life issues matter in importance? Can a Fair Housing Commission address issues like promoting and encouraging behavior that gets families to live the dream of owning a home, maintaining, and improving the property, thus creating family wealth patiently but dependably? Do such actions create a better Bridgeport?
Where is the written mission of the DTC in this regard? Is it public, on the internet, available for all to see and read? Or is it strictly about power over others, through whatever strategy can be employed? Like those of the “radical right” today, or “white supremacists,” or folks who cannot be bothered with what is troubling broad groups of diverse folks? Time will tell.
I anticipate formal notice of the first official meeting of the FAIR RENT COMMISSION within 30 days. Where is any action from the Mayor’s Office or the City Council on FAIR HOUSING? Time will tell.
Oh, boy! Lennie, what have we done to deserve this?
Please! No Flucking investigation ???
The State of Connecticut has to step in on this!
On Feb. 8, SACOR sold her former house in Bridgeport for $365,000, four years after entering a private appraisal for $175,000, which left Wright with no proceeds from the sale after Wright’s mortgage and a sewer lien were paid off.
How much was the Flucking Bridgeport Sewer Lien 200k?