CPTV: Facing the Mortgage Crisis Town Meeting

Written by Connecticut Public Television | 27 June 2009

According to industry experts, one in 10 Connecticut homeowners is behind on mortgage payments or in foreclosure. Facing the Mortgage Crisis Town Meeting, airing live on Tuesday June 23 at 8 p.m. on CPTV, will provide information and resources to help individuals facing foreclosure. The program will be simulcast live on WNPR and streamed at www.cptv.org and www.wnpr.org.

Facing the Mortgage Crisis Town Meeting is a CPTV production in partnership with the presenting sponsor, Webster Bank, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) with in-kind support from United Way 2-1-1. Facing the Mortgage Crisis is part of CPB's Public Service Media Economic Response Initiative.

Journalist Steve Kotchko of CPTV's On the Record will host the town meeting, which will feature experts from local and state agencies assisting homeowners in financial peril and representatives from the mortgage industry.

Viewers will hear from struggling homeowners who are attending the town meeting to speak out about subprime loans that almost forced their homes into foreclosure. Bridgeport homeowner Horace Bryan will give a firsthand account of how home ownership can turn into a nightmare when subprime loans are involved. Others will address the desperation of unemployed homeowners, no longer able to make mortgage payments and now reaching out for help.

Visit CPTV Facing the Mortgage Crisis Website

City resident launches job placement initiative

Written by Elizabeth Kim | 22 June 2009

Since April, I have been following the philanthropic efforts of Christopher Meek. The city resident organized two foreclosure events in Stamford that managed to lower the mortgage payments of more than 50 homeowners by substantial amounts. Meek, a Goldman Sachs trader, operated under the conviction that distressed borrowers needed to meet face to face with their banks. The experiment and its relatively successful outcome underlined a criticism that has been made about federal efforts at tackling the mortgage crisis-that banks haven't had enough incentive to help borrowers and that the mediation between them have been ineffective and fraught with bureaucracy.

Meek has since started a nonprofit called START Now! and his next mission is to start a job placement initiative for workers that have been laid off. Like his foreclosure events, he wants to bring together two groups that have a common interest-skilled workers and companies looking to hire. The event will be held at the Yerwood Center in late August or early September. He is asking those interested in participating to e-mail questions or resumes to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To learn more about Meek's work with the foreclosure crisis, he will be interviewed on CPTV at 8 p.m. tonight.

Anti-foreclosure event trims payments for 17 mortgagees

Written by Staff Writer Elizabeth Kim | 30 May 2009

STAMFORD -- For the second time in less than two months, families on the brink of losing their homes met with bank representatives during a foreclosure event Saturday at the Yerwood Center.

By the end of the day, 17 homeowners were able to reduce monthly mortgage payments by an average of $417, according to Christopher Meek, a Stamford resident and Goldman Sachs trader who initiated both gatherings.

He said that other borrowers, such as those who met with JPMorgan Chase, may receive modifications by the end of the week.
Bank of America, which signed on to the event less than two weeks ago, was able to grant modifications to 90 percent of borrowers who met with its representatives, Meek said.

Other banks at the event were People's United Bank, NewAlliance Bank, Webster Bank and Freedom Mortgage.
Meek, who receives neither public nor private funding for the effort, decided to stem the foreclosure crisis by organizing a communitywide initiative to get mortgage lenders and borrowers to meet face to face.

"We don't have to wait for government to do anything," he said.

The first event on April 18 drew more than 100 families. Afterward, Meek reported that 41 homeowners managed to lower monthly mortgage payments by an average of about $440.

News 12 - Banks meet with homeowners to talk mortgages

Written by Connecticut Channel 12 News | 29 May 2009

(05/30/09) STAMFORD - Some southwestern Connecticut residents say a Stamford man has helped them avoid foreclosure and modify the mortgages on their homes.

Chris Meek says he organized a meeting of local banks several months ago to ask for their help in preventing local residents from losing their homes. The session helped more than 40 families modify their mortgages and remain in their homes.

"They have realized we need to deal with this and they are starting to work with the borrowers," Meek says.

Meek organized a second session Saturday with larger banks, like Chase and Bank of America, to reach a similar goal. Neighbors, like Maria Lopez, of Stamford, say Meek's efforts are paying off and giving them hope. Lopez's lender agreed to accept a smaller payment to allow her to keep her apartment.

"That's another $400 or $500 I save there…that's better than nothing," Lopez says.

Stamford man's foreclosure initiative takes off

Written by Elizabeth Kim | 28 May 2009

By Elizabeth Kim - Staff Writer
Posted: 05/28/2009 08:19:10 PM EDT
Updated: 05/29/2009 07:00:31 AM EDT

STAMFORD -- Since launching an April initiative that helped more than 40 homeowners avoid foreclosure, Christopher Meek has received acclaim and even a little bit of notoriety.

The Goldman Sachs trader, who lives in Stamford, last month grabbed the attention of nonprofit organizations, news outlets, and a Wall Street blog which put a sarcastic spin on his philanthropic efforts.
"Goldman Sachs trader to the rescue!" read the headline on the blog Dealbreaker.

The latter was a little upsetting, Meek said, but he chalked it up to "free country and freedom of speech."
Not that it mattered much anyway. Over the past month, Meek has widened his net of supporters, established deeper relationships with the community and even started his own nonprofit.

This Saturday, his organization START Now! will hold a second foreclosure counseling and loan modification event at the Yerwood Center from 12 to 4 p.m.

US clutches at straws of recovery

Written by James Quinn Wall Street Correspondent | 18 April 2009

Optimistic outlook: President Obama was cheered by improving data for February and March

By day, he works as an equity derivatives trader at Goldman Sachs. But this weekend Chris Meek will be setting up tables and chairs at a community centre in Stamford, Connecticut.

No, not part of an elaborate plan to educate the locals about the merits of single-stock futures. Instead, Meek is spearheading a campaign to encourage mortgage banks to talk to mortgage holders in his hometown who are in dire straits.

The culmination of his campaign will be the "StartNow" event - to be held later today - where he hopes 72 homeowners will be able to talk to lenders, possibly modify their mortgages and so remain in their homes.
A unusual pastime for a Wall Street trader perhaps, but ever since the gravity of the situation in his hometown dawned on him last November, Meek has committed his spare time to helping to ease some of the strains being felt back home.

In Stamford - just 30 minutes by train from New York, and home to regional outposts of a number of major banks - one in every 685 houses is in danger of being foreclosed upon, the US legal process similar to repossession in the UK.

Wall Street trader plans to help city families stave off foreclosure

Written by Elizabeth Kim STAFF WRITER | 13 April 2009

Chris Meek, a trader from Stamford, is organizing an event at the Yerwood Center in Stamford to help local residents who are facing foreclosure on their homes negotiate with lenders. (Chris Preovolos/Staff photo)

Wall Street trader assists homeowners in debt trouble

STAMFORD -- In mid-November, during the height of the financial meltdown, Christopher Meek and a group of friends huddled at a bar after work in downtown Manhattan.

As they talked about the spiraling foreclosure crisis, Meek, a 38-year-old trader at Goldman Sachs, started to brainstorm about ways to tackle the problem. What if he arranged an event in his own community that brought lenders and distressed homeowners together to assess the available options?

"They said, 'You'll never be able to do it,' " he said, recalling the cold reception he received. Some were skeptical that any banks would want to cooperate.

As Meek held fast, they offered to place a friendly wager on whether he could pull off the feat. It was only for a cup of coffee, but he took the challenge seriously.

"I've got some Scottish blood in me," he said wryly.

This Saturday, Meek is scheduled to host a loan modification and foreclosure counseling event at the Yerwood Center on the West Side.

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CPTV: Facing the Mortgage Crisis Town Meeting

City resident launches job placement initiative

Anti-foreclosure event trims payments for 17 mortgagees

News 12 - Banks meet with homeowners to talk mortgages

Stamford man's foreclosure initiative takes off

US clutches at straws of recovery

Wall Street trader plans to help city families stave off foreclosure

Wall Street trader assists homeowners in debt trouble