Newark, NJ – Another mortgage ‘settlement’ between the government and 14 Wall Street banks is being pulled out of the hat. The little that the ‘settlement’ does for homeowners is on terms set by the banks. A few objections, among others, are:

Trenton, NJ, – The people’s struggle against foreclosures took a new turn before the New Jersey Court of Appeals here, Dec. 19.

Chuck D, Brother Ali lead anniversary celebration

Minneapolis, MN – 200 community members successfully took over a vacant home in South Minneapolis the night of Dec. 6, for a veteran made homeless by foreclosure. They are demanding that the house be turned over to community control through a nonprofit, as the Occupy Homes movement marked its first birthday. Internationally renowned hip-hop artists Brother Ali and Chuck D of Public Enemy led the anniversary celebration.

Newark, NJ – In the face of ineffective, and even harmful, government measures to assist distressed homeowners, an effort has been launched by the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) and the Coalition to Save Our Homes (C2SOH) to demand criminal investigations of bank wrongdoing during the mortgage bubble. At its Oct. 4 meeting the following motion was passed unanimously:

Newark, NJ – A protest against predatory lending took place here, Sept. 15, at the Broad Street branch of Wells Fargo Bank. It was the joint effort of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) and the Coalition to Save Our Homes (C2SOH).

Minneapolis, MN – About 30 people assembled outside the Hennepin County Government Center here, August 1, to stand in solidarity with Occupy Homes’ Nick Espinosa and to demand all charges against community members involved in defending the Cruz family home be dropped. Nick Espinosa has been charged with riot in the third degree, along with other Occupy Homes activists. The charge is baseless.

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Occupy movement won a victory in their battle against the Minneapolis city attorney’s office, July 30. Four protesters got their charges reduced to only petty misdemeanors for an October 2011 civil disobedience action at U.S. Bank. This came about despite the Minneapolis city attorney office’s efforts to escalate the charges to crack down on the use of civil disobedience in the fight against home foreclosures.

Chicago, IL – Over 150 marchers gathered at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago May 16, to march against home foreclosures and evictions. They chanted, “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” and young people from Occupy Wall Street held signs saying, “No more foreclosures.” The protesters marched through the streets, stopping outside corporate banks that benefited from the Wall Street bailout, but which continue to foreclose on working people’s homes.

Orange, NJ – On May 4, the fraudulent eviction order against Susie Johnson of Orange was cancelled. The eviction order was for May 10. JP Morgan Chase, named as plaintiff in the eviction, was forced to admit it does not own Ms. Johnson’s mortgage. The cancellation came about because of the power of the people.