ACORN - Tampa

Current Organizing Agenda Currently, on a city wide level, we are working on organizing victims of predatory lending and developing what we are calling a "Financial Justice Center." Predatory Lending: We have compiled a list of every person who has recieved an Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) in certain zip codes in Tampa and St Petersberg. Currently we send organizers to these households to talk to them about predatory lending and to here there own lending horror stories. Then we hold house meeting and develope agendas, identify particularly bad companies and brokers and mobilize the people to take actions against these targets. Financial Justice Center: In 2006 Tampa ACORN successfully distributed approximately $300,000 to low income families through our EITC/VITA site. This year, we want to turn the EITC/VITA site into a one stop shop for financial literacy, benefites bank screening, and double the amount of tax returns we filed last year ($600,000) through direct door-to-door outreach. Goals and Tactics Predatory Lending: Through targeted door knocking identify approximately 100 predatory lending victims in West Tampa and 50 in St Petersberg. Through house meetings then identify companies and/or brokers who have engaged in questionable lending practices, and then through direct action engage those companies/brokers to fix our members loans and change their practices. Then expand targeted doorknocking to existing ACORN chapters in the Tampa Bay area in order to expand the overall campaign.