Milwaukee Common Council president Michael Murphy (at podium) and Mayor Tom Barrett (partially obscured behind Murphy) announced that Nationstar Mortgage, holds more than $30 million in mortgages in Milwaukee, many of which remain ‘under water’ eight years after the Great Recession. Wes Edens owns 75 percent of Nationstar and is the majority owner of the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. At a press conference in Mayor Barrett’s office on Aug. 28 the mortgage lender announced that it had agreed to provide an increased level of loan modification to Nationstar customers in Milwaukee and a $500,000 grant over three years to help residents throughout the city repair their homes. Nationstar chief customer officer Dana Dillard (to Murphy’s right) and District 4 Alderman Robert Bauman were also present as was Common Ground community organizer Keisha Krumm. Despite the overture Common Ground remains opposed to public financing for the arena.