Home Defenders (Youtube)
People in Portland, Oregon, have been protecting families from eviction with active community defense since December 2011. More than 100 people are involved in the day to day work of housing justice, including one critical piece, house sitting.
“I don’t want to do this… But we have to!”
“Always a shift that needs to be filled.”
Call for Action: Occupy NACA on April 11th (Occupy Fights Foreclosures)
Many homeowners whom Occupy Fights Foreclosures is currently helping have been turned away by NACA, which has made us conclude that this event is only a PR campaign by the banks (whom NACA works hand in hand with) to make the public believe they are doing the best they can to ease the foreclosure crisis that is destroying the lives of millions of Americans.
Hardship continues for some Sandy homeowners (CBS News)
Naheed Akhter and her husband Manzoor have spent $75,000 to repair their home. Insurance only covered a third. They borrowed the rest from friends and family.
But it may be for nothing. The family got a letter from their mortgage lender in January.
“Your mortgage is in default and your property will be referred to foreclosure,” said Naheed Akhter, reading the letter.
The Akhters have missed five mortgage payments to Bank of America. They have no income because Sandy destroyed the Pakistani restaurant where they worked.
“I don’t have a job,” said Akhter. “Utility bills, my credit card bills, everything — I cannot pay everything.”
Occupy Foreclosures: Occupy Harolyn’s Home (Facebook)
Occupy Fights Foreclosures will occupy and defend the home of Ms. Harolyn Rhue from eviction. Harolyn is a disabled woman who survived a traffic accident when a drunk driver ran a red light.
After the tragic event, Harolyn managed to pick herself up, went to school, and got a masters degree. After many sacrifices Harolyn bought a home, worked for a bank, and designed clothing for disabled people. Unfortunately, she was taken advantage of her disabilities and was given a predatory loan. Wells Fargo has refused to work with her after her payments kept rising.Ms. Rhue was always responsible and paid her mortgage on time. When the payments got higher, she notified Wells Fargo and asked over 10 times for a loan modification.
In august of last year, while awaiting for a review of her loan modification, Wells Fargo sold her home behind her back to an investor and now she is facing eviction.
Foreclosure Review Hearings Show It’s Time to Burn Down the OCC (Naked Capitalism)
… it painst a picture of an agency that is hopelessly bad at its job, which raises the question of why it should continue to exist…
Sen. Warren: And without a random sample, can you then generalize to the accurate number, even an estimate, of how many banks broke the law?
Mr. Stipano, OCC: Um, not – in my, my understanding is not in a statistically valid way…
Sen. Warren: All right. I just wanted to make sure, because it appears that the people who broke the law are the same people now who have determined who will be compensated from that lawbreaking. I just find this one amazing.
Sherrye Calhoun wins back her home! (Youtube)
After being evicted in early August of 2012 Sherrye Calhoun moved back in with help from community members. She had been the victim of con artists and predatory lending, and was evicted after losing a court battle. After moving back in a warrant was issued for her arrest on criminal trespassing charges. Through community action neighbors pressured the bank to withdraw the warrant it had called for and eventually give Sherrye her home back. This sets a precedent in Atlanta for people taking their homes back and winning!
Foreclosure Defense Group 