Doug Bloch This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Spending flap over Cotati campaign

   www.pressdemo.com/local/news/2 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/25/2003   Last Visited: 10/29/2003

   ACORN's name will appear on future mailings, said Doug Bloch, an ACORN campaign coordinator working with local opponents. He said ACORN was not required to list its name on the campaign fliers sent to Cotati residents because the group has not yet paid for the mass mailings.
   
   "We don't have anything to hide here," Bloch said.
   ...
   Bloch said ACORN is a private nonprofit corporation that does not have to disclose its contributors. Its Web site says the group is funded by family memberships and other grants.
   
   Bloch said ACORN was invited to join the Measure B opposition campaign by locals concerned about traffic congestion and potential threats to small businesses if a big-box store like Lowe's were allowed in Cotati.

2. 2. The mortgage bite: Some lenders prey on borrowers

   www.sanmateotimes-ang.com/S-AS - [Cached]

   Published on: 12/29/2001   Last Visited: 12/29/2001

   "Verbally, a borrower is told a loan is a fixed rate," said Doug Bloch, a spokesman for the ACORN, an advocacy group, illustrating one technique. "After they close, they learn its an adjustable. Once they fall behind, the company calls them up and says 'I see you're having a hard time making your payment, we can lower your payment.'
   
   "But it's a lie. They refinance them into another loan, with a second round of fees," Bloch said. Called "loan flipping," it is just one of many practices used by lenders in what is broadly called predatory lending.
   
   Borrowers can best protect themselves by reading and understanding every loan disclosure document before signing. It is their right, regardless of high pressure tactics, and they might find some unwelcome surprises. Borrowers may also visit a non-profit consumer credit counseling agency prior to signing, a smart option that Oakland city officials are trying to make mandatory.

3. 3. Silicon Valley Biz Ink :: Headlines

   www.svbizink.com/headlines/art - [Cached]

   Published on: 11/7/2003   Last Visited: 11/8/2003

   Doug Bloch, a spokesman for Association of Communities for Reform Now (ACORN), a national grassroots organization helping low- and moderate-income communities with quality-of-life issues, believes that communities become concerned when big-box stores are developed without thought to city planning and traffic.
   
   "Our main concern is what happens when a store the size of five football fields gets developed in the middle of these communities," Bloch says. "There is no planning to accommodate for the thousands of extra cars the store will put on the road."
   
   He pointed to these concerns as the reason environmental groups and labor organizations got involved with the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors to pass an ordinance this past summer limiting big-box development.