Tens of thousands of Cuyahoga County homeowners are “underwater” on their mortgages. They owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. Sometimes it’s called “negative equity.” No matter what it’s called, it is a crippling problem for affected families.

These families don’t own their homes because they have no equity and in severe cases will remain that way for years to come.  In many lower income communities of color, the gap between the mortgage balance and the home’s value is so great that borrowers will probably never own their home.  

Nationally over 10 million families are underwater on their mortgages and effectively stuck in extended debt servitude.  

National Map of Negative Equity

Advocates, economists, housing specialists, many public officials and even some bankers have called upon the country’s largest mortgage investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to allow loan modifications with principal correction, reducing mortgage balances.

This mortgage strike will provide recourse to these abandoned former homeowners to regain equity in their homes and a modicum of control over their lives and their neighborhoods.