Stephen Lerner, a veteran union organizer, wants collective bargaining for homeowners that owe money to the big banks. In March 2011, he was caught on tape talking about a "mortgage strike" against the big banks. He suggested that a large number of homeowners stop paying their mortgage until the banks agree to negotiate and modify loans.

Steven Lerner is a former director of the Service Employees International Union’s banking and finance campaign. He created the website WheresTheNote.com, a website for homeowners to research which financial institution actually holds their mortgage note after Wall Street banks securitized, repackaged, and sold American's mortgages en masse.