ACTIVISTS FIGHT EVICTION

The Bush administration is moving to rescue embattled mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but that doesn't help Roxbury native Paula Taylor, not one bit.

The 43-year-old physical trainer failed to pay her mortgage and has been fighting eviction from her condo for nine months. Recently, as she waited for a constable charged with her final eviction, she was joined by about 60 friends and housing activists who rallied on her behalf, waving signs and chanting "We shall not be moved." They were not.

Thanks to the attention-drawing protest and some last-minute maneuvering by city officials, Taylor will not have to leave her condo, at least for 30 days. Her lender, Countrywide, agreed yesterday to meet with Taylor and a city mediator to discuss her housing predicament.

Steve Meacham - a coordinator at City Life, a Jamaica Plain nonprofit that has organized a half dozen protests on behalf of distressed homeowners - asserted that while taxpayers are being asked to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, evicted homeowners have little recourse. Taylor, for example, only wanted to stay in her condo and rent it until it was sold.

"The eviction [protest] brings a lot of publicity and attention to the inherent contradiction of this situation," Meacham said. "It raises the issue of who's getting bailed out and who's getting stiffed." “The Banks get bailed out, the People get thrown out!” This banner has hung across many different buildings when City Life and the Bank Tenants Association did their eviction blockades.

Massachusetts saw 6,676 foreclosure filings reported in May, according to RealtyTrac.

US Representative Barney Frank of Newton, House Financial Services Committee chairman, introduced legislation that would help lenders and homeowners refinance distressed mortgages, avoiding potentially huge losses that can stem from foreclosures. The legislation would also fund a program for cities to buy foreclosed properties and would increase federal support for consumer credit counseling programs.

Mike Kelley, director of the city's Rental Housing Research Center, said he learned of the blockade on Monday night and called Countrywide officials.

He asked them to follow the course outlined earlier this year by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who asked the largest banks in the city to change their policies and enter mediated negotiations with foreclosed customers. Too often, banks do not negotiate directly with tenants or their lawyers, he said, which works in no one's interest.

"It is our position that banks do have a responsibility to think about the results of their actions on borrowers and neighbors and the cities where they do business," he said. "They should be good corporate neighbors."

Countrywide's Simon said that it was unlikely the company would let Taylor remain in the condo longer than 30 days. He said the company's first priority is to its investors who want to see the property sold.

"There are a number of issues that prevent us from accepting rent payments," Simon said. "There are legal factors, and . . . it makes it much more difficult to sell a property with a tenant in it."

“I’ve sat in doorways 7 times this year to block bank evictions,” said Jim Brooks, an organizer with City Life. A vigil July 29 th featured 30 large foam board keys hung in front of the Statehouse. Each one representing 1,000 Massachusetts families faced with eviction after foreclosure in the next 12 months if these laws do not pass. One key was painted black in memory of Carlene Balderrama, who committed suicide before foreclosure in Taunton.

Activists also collected hundreds of old keys from bank tenants to be delivered to state legislators. “You have the KEY to our future” is the coalition’s message.

Activists are urging passage of 3 important pieces of legislation before July 31.

The City Life Bank Tenants Association is quick to point out that they are not asking for state money for bailouts, either for banks or homeowners. Just Cause eviction would require banks to accept occupants’ market rent. Judicial review would give owners a day in court before foreclosure.

“We know that the Governor and most legislators support these important laws,” declared Soledad Lawrence, another organizer with City Life. “But we can’t afford to wait until next year to pass them. We can’t afford to see 30,000 more evictions in Mass.”

Boston, Lawrence, Springfield, and Worcester have all unanimously passed local home rule petitions or resolutions supporting the three bills now before the Judiciary Committee.

According to City Life, Condo associations, neighborhood groups, and unions all support the proposed laws.

-Adapted from: “Activists help condo owner fight eviction; Rescue of Fannie, Freddie is no aid to Roxbury woman” By Megan Woolhouse, The Boston Globe, July 16, 2008 retrieved from: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/07/16/activists_help_condo_owner_fight_eviction/, and press release: Bank tenants to Statehouse “You have the KEY to our future.” Coalition presses to pass anti-foreclosure eviction laws by July 31, July 28, 2008, From City Life/Vida Urbana, forwarded by Elizabeth Toulan, Greater Boston Legal Services.

 

07/08