Moratorium on Foreclosures

Recently I learned that a home where a family of three lives, including a disabled child, was auctioned off to the highest bidder when the property owner lost the home to foreclosure.

In Santa Barbara County, those of us who are the poor, working class, and even middle class are still hurting very badly. Gas prices are now over $4 per gallon. Sustainable jobs with a living wage in Lompoc and the rest of the North County are not a reality.

In light of this fact, I would like to ask Congresswoman Lois Capps, and the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, to create a moratorium on foreclosures in Santa Barbara County.

There are those who say the real estate market must be jump started with short sales, or bank-owned foreclosure sales. My response is that such thinking is more of the same problem which got our nation into the Great Recession in the first place. Furthermore, profiting when people are truly suffering is immoral, and reflects the worst in human instincts, not the best.

I will base my support and votes in the June primary not upon party lines in local races, but upon which candidates show the most compassion and creativity to truly help those who have lost their homes, or are in danger of losing homes. I would urge my fellow county residents to do the same. We have a long way to go before we reach true recovery.