From OccupySF Housing Coalition
January 13, 2012
At noon on January 14th, at Mission and 16th Street, tenant and housing groups will team up with OccupySF to expose the collusion between real estate speculators and banks that threatens thousands of San Franciscans with eviction.
Despite months of negotiation and community input the people’s voices have been ignored. Targeting working class people for predatory equity scams, Ellis Act evictions, or immoral home loans can no longer be tolerated.
According to Ted Gullicksen of the SF Tenants Union,“It’s well known how big banks have unfairly evicted homeowners. Less well known is how banks evict renters by partnering with speculators to buy apartment buildings, evict all tenants to raise rents or sell the housing stock as condominiums.”
This Saturday the 14th, evicted tenants and foreclosed homeowners will tell their stories of the impact that bank’s greedy actions have had on them. Banks will be put on notice: You Will Be Held Accountable! Actions will culminate in a January 20th shutdown of San Francisco’s Financial District.
“We cannot allow banks and speculators to dictate who stays and who goes in our communities,” asserts Maria Zamudio, a tenant counselor and organizer at Causa Justa: Just Cause. “Foreclosures and evictions unbalance communities, jeopardize health and well-being, and leach wealth from neighborhoods. Housing is a human right. If banks and speculators continue to act as landlords, they must respect tenant protections that San Franciscans have struggled to achieve.”
The Coalition
Occupy SF Housing is a coalition which includes OccupySF, SF Tenants Union, Housing Rights Committee of SF, Causa Justa: Just Cause, Eviction Defense Collaborative, ACCE, Homes Not Jails, Occupy Bernal and other community groups and individuals. The coalition came together to stop banks from evicting tenants and homeowners through foreclosures or through their partnerships with real estate speculators.
The Hunger Site
March 13, 2012 at 5:35 am
I wish the state could block foreclosure and make modifications mandatory. My mortgage is underwater, and i attempted a modification. I was denied twice not due to income but the rules. The two rules which prohibited me, I owe more than my house is worth; secondly you can only have two modifications in 5 years. Stop foreclosure temporarily does not solve the role problem. A lender will not reduce debt or lower mortgage rates just because you want to. We have to think of a better way to avoid foreclosure.