Foreclosure

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Shortly after Congress shoved the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)[1] down America's collective throat--already sore from shouting a virtually unanimous, if inevitably futile, "NO!"[2] to banker bailouts--the bailed banks got back to work. Job one? Make a list of desperate Americans who found themselves unable to continue making payments on their fraudulent mortgages, then foreclose them out of house and home.[3]

Homeowners Fight Back


Street Actions

Homeowners Nancie Koerber and Mark Thomas founded the Southern Oregon Homeowner Support Group in March of 2009 "to find solutions to the Foreclosure disaster." As other homeowners facing foreclosure joined Koerber and Thomas organized their support group into a non-profit, and in August, 2010 rechristened it Good Grief America.

Although the initial purpose was to provide "moral support to families" facing foreclosure, participating homeowners ultimately began looking for ways to fight back and keep their homes. What we found to be true was not what any of the members wanted to find. As such, Good Grief America’s emphasis focuses "on education, research and support for homeowners, attorneys and civic leaders." Although they do not "give legal or tax advice," they "will help homeowners find resources that fit their family needs."

Good Grief America claims to have "trained over 300 families as of October 2010." They have a "network" of eight "attorney teams" throughout Oregon, and have formed coalitions with Rural Organizing Project, Oregon Action, grange halls, labor unions and political leaders.[4] The organization lists the following as its "current results":

  • Eight foreclosures delayed long-term.
  • Fourteen in long-term limbo.
  • Four foreclosures either overturned or in the process of being overturned.
  • Six delayed by bankruptcy.

References

External Links

Unsettle Portland was formed to support the effort of families resisting eviction, and those planning on re-inhabiting foreclosed homes and other vacant buildings. We support community control of land and housing, and are an affiliate of Take Back The Land.
In order to achieve these movement objectives, we must design and implement a series of campaigns, whose objectives support those of the broader movement.
Therefore, campaign action areas include:
  1. Foreclosure related evictions. In the context of the worse housing crisis in memory, evicting families and creating more vacant homes in communities is counterproductive.
  2. Foreclosed homes. These homes must be filled with families in need of housing.
  3. Vacant foreclosed and government owned buildings. At a time of such great need, these vacant structures shock the moral conscience. They must be used to housing people.
  4. Vacant foreclosed and government owned land. Now that “boom” times are over, vacant land must now be returned to the common good.
  5. Public housing. Public housing must be protected because we cannot afford to lose low-income housing.
  6. The right to return. Whether through gentrification, public housing demolition or the combination of natural disasters and government actions, those forced to leave their long-time communities must have the right to return.
Foreclosure and the Unweaving of our Community Fiber: Housing was the vehicle that Wall Street used to drain the life out of America. The result has caused record unemployment, foreclosures, homelessness and the unweaving of our community fiber. All linked to this issue are increased suicides, divorces, bankruptcies, and small business failure. Our community services such as food stamps, unemployment, foster care, homeless shelters and many others are over burdened and unable to meet the needs of struggling families.
"We are in the first stages of coordinating the Spring Action, a massive series of actions across the country to stop foreclosure, hold big banks accountable, and reclaim housing for people and communities."
Today's foreclosure crisis is the crime of the century. It's difficult to grasp its enormity. It's been said that the current crisis is 75 times greater than the savings and loan sandal of the 1980s, and will cost us trillions. Plenty of evidence is coming to light about the numerous and significant Bank frauds leading to this crisis, costing people their homes, losing billions in tax revenues for our cities, counties and states, and creating a true mess of our economy. We can solve this crisis by coordinating our efforts and pushing the "right buttons" together. With actual proof of foreclosure fraud sitting in our County Recorders or Registrars of Deeds offices, it makes sense to push them to do Audits on the foreclosure paperwork like San Francisco Recorder Phil Ting and Massachusetts Registrar John O'Brien both did. Interestingly, both independent audits, done by different firms, at different times, and in different states, found that 84% of the foreclosures examined were fraudulent.

News Reports

ProPublica's round up of standout reporting on the crisis.

See Also