Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people rallied inside City Hall here, July 24 to demand all charges be dropped against members and supporters of Occupy Homes who were arrested defending the Cruz family home. In recent weeks, city prosecutors added the charge of third degree riot – a gross misdemeanor which carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $3000 fine – to the original trespassing charge. The 14 were arrested May 30 in a peaceful protest at the Cruz family home.

Speaking in City Hall, Rachel Lang of the National Lawyers Guild announced the start of a campaign to press city officials to drop the charges. Other speakers included hip-hop artist Brother Ali, Michael Friedman of the Legal Rights Center and Dave Bicking, formerly of the Minneapolis Civilian Police Review Authority.

The decision of city officials to escalate the charges against anti-foreclosure protesters is an attempt to attempt to intimidate activists. The protests organized by Occupy Homes have garnered international media coverage and has been successful in saving the homes of those hit by foreclosures.

Other demands put forward at the protest were that, “All police, including Chief Dolan, who used violence against peaceful protesters be formally disciplined,” and that “no more public resources be used to help banks evict our neighbors.”

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #HousingStruggles #Foreclosure #Eviction #politicalRepression #OccupyHomesMN

St. Paul, MN – In a packed hearing room, more than a dozen legislators heard testimony March 14 on proposed legislation to put a moratorium on home foreclosures and the eviction of tenants from foreclosed properties. Representative Karen Clark and Senator Scott Dibble, authors of the ‘Foreclosure Moratorium, Neighborhood Stabilization & Tenant Protection Bill’ (SF1521 and HF1886) chaired the hearing. The moratorium bill is an initiative of the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout (MCPBO).

Those testifying at the hearing included Cherrene Horazuk, Chief Steward of AFSCME Local 3800, Peter Brown of the Minnesota Tenants Union, Angel Buechner of the Welfare Rights Committee, Anthony Newby of Occupy Homes, Mel Reeves of Occupy the Hood and homeowners who have or are currently facing foreclosure, including Rosemary Williams, Bobby Hull, Ruby Brown, Peter Eisert and John Vinge.

Deb Konechne, a spokesperson for the MCPBO, testified, “This bill, which has been introduced in the House and the Senate, would place a 2-year moratorium on home foreclosures and a 2-year moratorium on the foreclosure related eviction of renters from foreclosed property.”

She added, “This bill is a plan to keep Minnesotans in our homes. It also protects renters who too many times end up paying rent and a damage deposit without knowing the property is in foreclosure, only to be evicted through no fault of their own, only a few months later.”

Rosemary Williams recounted her dramatic fight to keep her home. She said that when sheriffs evicted her and her family from her home in 2009, the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout helped move her back in. William’s called for politicians to pass the moratorium law.

To date, Republican committee chairs have refused to hear the Moratorium Bill. “Today’s people’s hearing served notice on them. We will carry forward the fight for a moratorium on foreclosures. We will continue to challenge politicians that serve the banks and big business,” stated Mick Kelly of the MCPBO.

Stacey Kemp, a Minneapolis homeowner gave her take on the hearing, stating “Stopping foreclosures means keeping our neighborhoods healthy and strong. The unemployment and underemployment rate has been bordering on 20% for a very long time. Working families that have been the core of our neighborhoods and communities are losing their homes because of an economic crisis caused by the 1%. I support this public hearing to demand that the legislators protect our interests – not those of the privileged few.”

Video from the press conference preceding the people's hearing on the foreclosure & eviction moratoriumDeb KonechneRosemary Williams

#SaintPaulMN #MinnesotaCoalitionForAPeoplesBailout #RosemaryWilliams #HousingStruggles #DebKonechne #Foreclosure #Eviction #Moratorium #KarenClark #ScottDibble

Minneapolis, MN – El 6 de diciembre, fue un día de acción nacional a favor de aquellas familias en peligro de perder sus casas debido a la ejecución hipotecaria. Para ello más de 100 personas se congregaron frente a la casa de Bobby Hull en la 3712 Columbus Ave. Sur, Minneapolis, y anunciaron el inicio de una ocupación de su casa para garantizar que el banco US Bank no le saque de su casa.

El señor Hull quien es un veterano de guerra, humilde y trabajador, ha vivido en esta casa en el sur de Minneapolis desde el año 1968 con su familia pero está en peligro de perder su casa, la cual pasaría a manos del banco. Aunque ha vivido allí por décadas y ha hecho sus pagos mensuales al banco, por razones de salud no ha podido seguir con los pagos exigidos por el banco. Hull ha intentado negociar con el banco para reducir el pago mensual, pero el banco no le hace caso y sigue intentando retomar a la casa. En el vecindario en el sur de Minneapolis donde viven muchas familias latinas y afroamericanas de la clase trabajadora hay muchas familias que han perdido sus casas debido a la ejecución hipotecaria durante la actual crisis económica, aumentando la pobreza y la crisis de familias sin hogar.

Ahora hay un movimiento de inquilinos y dueños de casas que dicen “basta” a los bancos y rehúsan salir de sus casas cuando el banco intenta adueñarse de sus casas. El movimiento de indignados en Minneapolis, conocido como Ocupar Minneapolis, está apoyando a Bobby Hull para que el banco US Bank no le saque de su casa. Ocupar Minneapolis es parte del movimiento Ocupar Wall Street que ocupa espacios públicos y ahora también casas para protestar a favor del 99% de la población trabajadora y en contra del 1% de los más ricos, los bancos y las grandes corporaciones que verdaderamente controlan la economía y la política del país por sus propios intereses y no los intereses de la gran mayoría.

Ocupar Minneapolis sigue con su ocupación de la plaza en el centro de Minneapolis, aunque los políticos del condado de Hennepin están intentando restringir la habilidad de los manifestantes para mantener su protesta allí. Hasta la fecha la ocupación de la plaza en el centro de la ciudad sigue viva. También el movimiento Ocupar Minneapolis sigue con la ocupación de la casa de Monique White en el norte de Minneapolis. Como la casa de Bobby Hull en el sur de Minneapolis, la casa de la señora White está también en peligro de la ejecución hipotecaria. Los manifestantes dicen que van a mantener las ocupaciones hasta que haya justicia.

#MinneapolisMN #HousingStruggles #Foreclosure #Eviction #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMN #OccupyMinneapolis #BobbyHull

Minneapolis, MN – On Dec. 6, a national day of action for occupying foreclosed homes, more than 100 people rallied here in front of Bobby Hull’s house at 3712 Columbus Avenue. They announced the start of an occupation of his home to prevent US Bank from kicking Hull and his family out of their home.

Bobby Hull, a working class Vietnam War veteran, has lived with his family in the South Minneapolis home since 1968. But now he’s in danger of losing the home, which would be taken by the bank. Although he’s lived there and made his mortgage payments for decades, due to health reasons he wasn’t able to keep up with the high payments more recently. Hull tried to negotiate a lower monthly payment with the bank, but they wouldn’t negotiate and moved forward with the attempt to take away his house. In South Minneapolis, where many working class Latino and African American families live, there are many families who have lost their homes due to foreclosure during the current economic crisis, which just further increases poverty and homelessness.

There’s a growing movement of tenants and homeowners who are saying “Enough is enough!” to the banks and refusing to leave their homes when the bank tries to foreclose on them. The Occupy Minneapolis movement is supporting Bobby Hull to try to prevent US Bank from kicking him out of his house. Occupy Minneapolis is part of the Occupy Wall Street movement that is occupying public spaces and some homes too. These occupations are a protest in favor of the 99% of the population and against the 1% of the richest people, the banks and the large corporations that control the economy and politics of the country for their own interests instead of in the interest of the vast majority.

Occupy Minneapolis’s central occupation continues downtown at The People’s Plaza outside of Hennepin County Government Center and City Hall, although Hennepin County officials continue trying to restrict the protesters’ ability to stay there. As of this writing the occupation of the downtown plaza continues. Occupy Minneapolis members are also continuing to occupy Monique White’s house in North Minneapolis. Like Bobby Hull’s house in South Minneapolis, Monique White is also in danger losing her home to foreclosure. The protesters say they’ll maintain the occupations until they win some justice.

#MinneapolisMN #HousingStruggles #Foreclosure #Eviction #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMN #OccupyMinneapolis #BobbyHull

Newark, NJ – A People’s Hearing against Foreclosure and Homelessness took place here, Oct. 26. Many people, many issues and many ideas were heard. Sponsors included the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), the National Organization for Women-NJ and the Newark Teachers’ Association (NTA). A People’s Bailout Program emerged as a concrete and realistic vehicle of people’s struggle.

The premise of the event was “Hold the Bankers Accountable.” The CEO’s of the five largest banks were invited by mail to attend, listen to the people’s concerns and proposals and respond. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke were also invited. Chairs for the invitees with large signs bearing their names were prominently placed at the front of the room. Unsurprisingly, the chairs were empty.

Several responses had been received by POP Chairman Lawrence Hamm. It was clear from the responses that the invitations had been seen at high levels and the message had gotten through: The people see those in charge of the banks and the economy as neither remote nor mysterious and we hold them accountable.

The warm-up band for the event was New Jersey’s Solidarity Singers, a veteran support group for labor and other people’s struggles. Moderator Lisa Davis gave a picture of the way predatory subprime mortgage loans had particularly been concentrated on African-American communities. As a result, Essex County, Newark’s location, suffers one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. The number of homeless children has risen by 84% since the crisis began.

The next presentation was about the causes of the housing bubble, financial collapse and depression. They were attributed to excess capital in the U.S. economy. So much money floods U.S. capital markets that profitable investment for all of it cannot be found. The excess cannot be used to meet the crying human needs of U.S. society because it is capital and must be used to find profits. It is forced into speculation and swindling.

Over the period of the housing bubble, 1999-2008, mortgagees in the total U.S. economy were bamboozled into taking mortgages in almost $2 trillion in excess of true market value of the properties purchased. The mortgage principals must be written down to fully reflect true market value.

The POP People’s Bailout Program was presented:

• Write-down of overvalued housing bubble mortgage principals to true market value;
• Moratorium on foreclosures;
• Rollback of bank rates, fees and charges to 2007 levels;
• Divestment of public accounts from banks that refuse to write mortgages down, and other penalties;
• No foreclosure without proof of ownership of title to the property;
• Abolish the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) that allows banks to conceal ownership of title and defraud owners.

Phyllis Salowe-Kaye of New Jersey Citizen Action referred to “robogate,” the scandal in which thousands of homeowners are losing their homes without proper documentation of lender ownership of title. Her agency is pressing to require attorneys to swear in court that lender documentation is real.

James Harris, Chairman of the New Jersey Conference of the NAACP, pointed out that as a group African-Americans have the lowest home ownership rate and are the least employed. The NAACP has sued major banks for the racism of their focus of predatory lending practices on black people. The city of Camden removed a tent city of the homeless instead of helping them. There is a move on to do away with measures in New Jersey to provide affordable housing. He said, “The right combination is in this room, we can get progressive forces together to move in an electoral thrust.”

“Times in Newark have always been rough,” said Newark Teachers’ Association President Annette Alston. According to her, children eat every bit of school breakfast and lunch they can get and now things are even worse. Teachers go into their own pockets to cover school expenses. But we live in a mean-spirited time when New Jersey Governor Christie doesn’t even care and is more interested in breaking the New Jersey Education Association than he is in helping children. Newark lost hundreds of teachers due to Christie’s budget cuts and classroom sizes are going above 30. Newark teachers would shine in any setting, but when a child is worried about being homeless in a few weeks or moves two or three times a year education is impossible. Nobody wants to look at poverty and homelessness but schools need resources.

Barbara Foley on NOW-NJ cited statistics showing that single mothers suffer disproportionately from unemployment and subprime mortgages. Black women are five times as likely as white men to be forced into subprime mortgages and women generally are 32% more likely to have subprime mortgages. The Tea Party puts out notions like blaming “irresponsible borrowers” for the economic collapse. We must take up the ideological contest against racism and sexism.

“Ten times a week someone calls my office to say they are in foreclosure and asks ‘what can I do?’” said Newark Councilwoman Mildred Crump. She offered helpful information, such as not to use the same lawyer in foreclosure as was used to close the sale. She said there is often complicity with the lenders. She asked how many people don’t open the letters from the banks and a number of people raised their hands. “Don’t hide your head in the sand, read the notice,” she said. She was asked to support people’s initiatives like divestment from banks that won’t write mortgages down, and agreed. People generally took the line that elected officials must support their initiatives, rather than looking to the Democratic Party for answers.

Lawrence Hamm of POP said we are living in one of the most reactionary periods of the last 50 years. Most black people have their wealth tied up in their homes, and more black people have lost their homes in the last two years than ever in the history of the U.S. The Obama administration has opposed a moratorium on foreclosure. We must press for the elected officials to say the same things as the people.

We need to build a broad coalition that will include labor, churches, the homeless and tenant organizations. We need to have a ten-million person march for economic justice, like the people’s struggle in France. POP will look at the possibility of bringing a class action suit against the banks, divestiture and other measures to mobilize the masses along lines of daily concerns.

Problems like sharp increases in local property taxes were raised in the question-and-answer section of the hearing. A teacher who has been unemployed for three years said that she cannot even get consideration for hiring in suburban school districts. She is African-American and administrators take one look at her and don’t want to hire. She said unemployment is deliberately being concentrated on African-American people.

An atmosphere of struggle and optimism emerged among the audience as it became clear that everyone is in the same boat and can struggle together. Most of the audience of 80 stuck out the two and a half hour program to the end, showing their willingness to struggle when presented with a program of concrete and workable demands for economic justice in the face of Great Depression II.

#NewarkNJ #HousingStruggles #PeoplesOrganizationForProgress #Foreclosure

Detroit, MI – Fight Back! interviewed Rosemary Williams, an important leader in the struggle against home foreclosures, at the U.S. Social Forum on June 24.

#DetroitMI #RosemaryWilliams #Interviews #HousingStruggles #Foreclosure #Eviction #USSF #USSocialForum