10/17/11, "Homeowner taps 'Occupy' protest to avoid foreclosure," MSNBC, Kari Huus
11/11/11, "Occupy Homes: New Coalition Links Homeowners, Activists in Direct Action to Halt Foreclosures," DemocracyNow.org
"A loose-knit coalition of activists known as "Occupy Homes" is working to stave off pending evictions by occupying homes at risk of foreclosure when tenants enlist its support. The movement has recently enjoyed a number of successes. We speak with Monique White, a Minneapolis resident who is facing foreclosure and recently requested the help of Occupy Minneapolis. Now two dozen of its members are occupying her home in order to stave off eviction. We are also joined by Nick Espinosa, an organizer with Occupy Minneapolis, and Max Rameau, a key organizer with Take Back the Land, who for the past five years has worked on direct actions that reclaim and occupy homes at risk of foreclosure. "The banks are actually occupying our homes," Rameau says. "This sets up for an incredible movement, where we have a one-two punch. On the one hand, we’re occupying them on their turf, and on the other, we’re liberating our own turf so that human beings can have access to housing, rather than them sitting vacant so that corporations can benefit from them sometime in the future." [includes rush transcript]."
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11/11/11, Democracy Now transcript continues to discuss 'Occupy Homes' movement, "Occupy Homes: New Coalition Links Homeowners, Activists in Direct Action to Halt Foreclosures"
"AMY GOODMAN: Well, we turn now to an offspring of the Occupy Wall Street movement: the Occupy Homes movement. The loose-knit coalition of activists aim to stave off pending evictions by occupying homes at risk of foreclosure when tenants enlist their support.
The movement has recently enjoyed a number of successes. In New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters occupied a derelict Harlem building’s boiler room until the landlord agreed to provide adequate heat and hot water to tenants. Meanwhile, in California, Occupy Los Angeles protesters held a vigil outside a home at risk of foreclosure, then organized a sit-in at the Pasadena regional office of Fannie Mae. The bank eventually called off the eviction and agreed to renegotiate the homeowner’s mortgage.
And in Minnesota, a woman is crediting the support of Occupy protesters in helping her gain more time to move out of her foreclosed home. Ruth Murman, a small business owner who has not received a paycheck in three years, explained how the Occupy Minneapolis movement helped her....
When thousands started to gather outside Los Angeles City Hall to launch Occupy L.A., Rose Gudiel went down and told her story to one of its first general assemblies. The group from Occupy L.A. joined the vigil at her home, and some stayed to camp out. Eventually, she received a letter from the bank saying her eviction had been called off, and soon she had a deal for a renegotiated mortgage."...
Democracy Now interviews Mr. Rameau who has been working through other groups to prevent evictions, allow people to live in vacant houses, etc., and is encouraged by the Occupy Homes movement:
"MAX RAMEAU: And then we’re—and then we, of course, defend the families against eviction once that happens. And we call that "liberating homes." So, right now, the Occupy movement is going to the place—is taking the fight to the people who are making this economy so bad and making it tough on so many people, and they’re occupying those spaces. The banks are occupying many of our homes. And we are removing the banks from their occupation,
- and we’re liberating those homes....
There’s a young lady in Chicago named Martha who we moved into a vacant home that had been vacant for quite some time in Chicago. We went there, scouted out the neighborhood—and that’s through the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign—scouted out the neighborhood, looked at the house, found the house in good condition. Then we talked to all the neighbors and said, "Look, this place is empty. We have a family that needs a place to stay. We would like to move them. It will help out the family. It’ll improve your neighborhood, because you won’t have so many vacant homes in the neighborhood. We’d like to have your support for it." And we held a press conference, moving the family in, and all of the neighbors came out and supported that. And we’re there, and the family is still there. And that’s been three months or so. And the neighbors have signed onto pledges agreeing that if the police come to try to evict that family, they’re going to block the eviction, physically block the eviction there. And that’s with the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign in Chicago."...
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