Our History
- September, 2002: ESOP negotiates a 5-year CRA agreement with Charter One bank. This was the first CRA agreement between a bank and a community group in Cuyahoga County in over a decade.
- November, 2003: ESOP partners with Third Federal Savings and Loan to launch the "Home Today" loan program.
- March, 2004: ESOP leads negotiations between National Training and Information Center (NTIC) and Select Portfolio Servicing (formerly known as Fairbanks Capital Corporation) that results in a written partnership for a loan review and repair process.
- July, 2005: ESOP launches a campaign against Ameriquest Mortage and its affiliate, Argent Mortgage. As a result, a fair lending agreement is signed with these companies in early 2006.
- February, 2006: ESOP launches a campaign against Countrywide Home Loans
- March, 2007: ESOP board president Inez Killingsworth testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives Domestic Policy Sub-Committee on the abuses of the lending industry and the effects of the subprime lending crisis on Cleveland communities.
- December, 2007: ESOP meets with Countrywide executives and NTIC affiliates to begin the negotiation process for a fair lending agreement. ESOP leaders take Countrywide execs on a tour of Slavic Village to highlight the destruction the subprime crisis has caused.
- February 27, 2008: ESOP testifies about the impact of subprime lending before chief policy advisors for the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama presidential campaigns at a hearing hosted by Cleveland City Council.