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San Francisco Board of Supervisors Committee to Hear Foreclosure Moratorium

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OCCUPY BERNAL AND OCCUPY SF HOUSING MEDIA ADVISORY

Contact: Christie Hakim, +1 (415) 285-6899, press@occupybernal.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and Occupy SF Housing Support Board of Supervisors’ First in the Nation Major City Resolution on Unlawful Foreclosures and Moratorium on Foreclosures and Evictions to be heard in committee April 2, 2012

San Francisco, April 2, 2012 – Occupy Bernal, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and the Occupy SF Housing Coalition will speak out at the Land Use and Economic Development Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in support of resolutions calling for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions in San Francisco, demanding an immediate moratorium on predatory bank evictions, fraudulent foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions by all city officials.

The organizations plan a rally on the Polk Street steps of City Hall at 1:30pm. Speakers at the rally include: San Francisco Supervisors John Avalos and David Campos, Occupy Bernal Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Ross Rhodes and ACCE Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Vivian Richardson.

After the rally, speakers and other moratorium supporters will attend the Committee meeting at City Hall to present testimony.

Members of several City Departments, including the Assessor-Recorder’s office and the Mayor’s office, will present testimony. A representative from State Attorney General Kamala Harris’s office is expected to attend to address her proposed foreclosure and eviction moratorium and Homeowners’ Bill of Rights currently pending in Sacramento. In addition, counselors who have been working with San Franciscans facing foreclosure and eviction will speak about remedies that will address proposed remedies to the problems their clients face. ACCE and Occupy organizers including FEFs will speak out about the problems they have faced in their attempts to save their homes from foreclosure by Wells Fargo Bank.

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and the Occupy SF Housing coalition invite the press to hear from San Francisco residents as well as from officials of the City and County of San Francisco.

The recent deal between banks and the Attorneys General of 49 of 50 states is woefully inadequate and does little for the Californians hardest hit by the crisis era or earlier.

“We are fast losing residents from our communities – seniors, families, community leaders, city workers,” said ACCE Foreclosure Fighter Archbishop Franzo King. “The city must do all in its power to pause foreclosures and cease partnering with predatory banks so we can all hold the banks accountable for their crimes.”

“The banks have torn apart our communities and caused a financial and health crisis by unjustly foreclosing and evicting our neighbors from their homes,” commented Occupy Bernal organizer Christie Hakim. “We support those city officials who have joined with the state Attorney General in calling for an immediate halt to predatory and for-profit foreclosures and related auctions and evictions.”

An audit commissioned by San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting on nearly 400 San Francisco foreclosures over the past three years reveals that “fully 84 percent of the foreclosure files contained at least one clear legal violation and more than 66 percent of the files contained multiple violations”. This report confirms what many have suspected and provides the evidence required for issuing a moratorium on all predatory or for-profit evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions.

Both Occupy Bernal and ACCE have recently held successful protests that occupied the home of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf on February 25, 2012, protested in front of Board of Directors member Lloyd Dean’s Dignity Health office on March 14, 2012, and shut down Wells Fargo headquarters on January 20, 2012 and Wells Fargo bank branches in the Bernal and Excelsior neighborhoods on January 5 and January 7 respectively.

To sign up for the Occupy Bernal press list and/or obtain photos and video of the actions, see http://www.occupybernal.org/press.

Organizations and Campaigns:

Occupy Bernal is a neighborhood-based Occupy currently focusing on preventing the banks from throwing our neighbors out of their homes. Web: http://www.occupybernal.org

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) is raising up the voices of low income, immigrant and working families across California. Web: http://www.calorganize.org

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. Web: http://www.occupysfhousing.org

Occupy the Auctions/Evictions is a campaign to halt for-profit and predatory evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions in San Francisco and beyond. Web: http://www.occupytheauctions.org and http://www.occupyevictions.org

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Last Chance Sale for Kathryn Galves

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9:00am – 6:00pm on
Saturday, April 7
1164 Church St @24th

On March 28, Wells Fargo Bank evicted our neighbor Kathryn Galves from the Noe Valley home where she lived for forty years, along with her sister Renita and their dog Betty.

Come discover some amazing bargains and help Kathryn raise rent and moving expenses (furniture, housewares, antiques, collectibles).

Link: Flyer (Please print, distribute, and post widely!)

Are you facing foreclosure or eviction? Or want to help others? Predatory foreclosures and evictions have no place in San Francisco. Check out www.occupyevictions.org.

Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Valley Action to Protest Kathryn Galves Eviction

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Please join us from 9:00am to 6:00pm tomorrow, Saturday, March 24, at the Wells Fargo Noe Valley branch at 4045 24th Street between Castro & Noe Streets.

We will be protesting Wells Fargo Bank’s pending eviction of Kathryn Galves, her sister, and their dog, scheduled for this Wednesday, March 28.

To call/email Wells Fargo to get them to the bargaining table, please go to the action alert accompanying this action.

This action brought to you by Occupy SF Housing Coalition and Occupy Bernal.

Background Information

Kathryn Galves purchased her lovely home at 1164 Church Street in 1972 and the home increased in value considerably over the years. She is a military widow who banked on the increased value of her property to invest in an out-of-state property with a Section 8 (affordable public housing) tenant. The investment did not go well and she lost more to book sales customers who didn’t pay for their orders. Kathryn lives on a fixed annuity income and her live-in sister earns a meager living as a caretaker. When her financial situation went sour, Kathryn filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, but Wells Fargo Bank successfully challenged the bankruptcy, then foreclosed on her home and it went to foreclosure auction.

No one bid for the property at auction, so it became “bank-owned”, that is, owned by Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo has filed for the San Francisco Sheriff to evict Kathryn, her sister, and their dog from her home of 40 years. Kathryn has found a long-term neighbor who is willing to purchase her home and let her, her sister, and their dog remain in the home. Despite many requests by Kathryn and the prospective buyer, Wells Fargo has refused to come to the bargaining table regarding selling the home.

Occupy SF Housing and San Francisco Officials to Call for Foreclosure Moratorium 12:00 Noon, March 20, at City Hall

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Links: Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution (as introduced)    Photos of the event

Update: Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and Supervisors spoke together at a press conference on City Hall Steps. Supervisor John Avalos introduced the Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution at the Board of Supervisors meeting as planned.

OCCUPY BERNAL MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Occupy Bernal: Julien Ball, +1 (415) 483-9138, press@occupybernal.org

ACCE: Erin Franey, +1 (503) 816-4593, efraney@calorganize.org

Occupy SF Housing: Stardust, +1 (415) 425-3936, stardust@willdoherty.org

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, Occupy SF Housing Demand San Francisco End Evictions, Foreclosures, and Foreclosure Auctions

San Francisco Officials to Speak on Unlawful Foreclosures, Moratorium Resolution

San Francisco, March 20, 2012 – Occupy Bernal, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and the Occupy SF Housing Coalition today take their demand for an immediate moratorium on predatory bank evictions, fraudulent foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions to city officials, some of whom plan to introduce a foreclosure moratorium resolution to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

Press Conference of Foreclosure/Eviction Fighters and City/County Officials:
12:00–12:30pm, Tuesday, March 20, at
City Hall Steps, 400 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco (foreclosure auction side)

Speakers at the press conference will include: San Francisco Supervisors John Avalos, David Campos, and Christina Olague, Occupy Bernal Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters (FEFs) Alberto del Rio and Ernesto Viscarra, ACCE FEF Monica Kenney, who recently successfully fought a Wells Fargo eviction, and Molly Martin, an organizer from Occupy Bernal.

After the press conference, Supervisor John Avalos and co-sponsors – Supervisors Campos, Olague, and Kim, and Board President Chiu – plan to introduce a resolution for a moratorium on foreclosures and related auctions and evictions to the Board of Supervisors meeting at 2:00pm at City Hall.

Occupy organizers and supportive Supervisors have invited other officials from the City and County of San Francisco, including Mayor Ed Lee, Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, District Attorney George Gascón, and other members of the Board of Supervisors, to the press conference and to introduce legislation and policies that will prevent unlawful foreclosures and related auctions and evictions in San Francisco.

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and other community organizations in the Occupy SF Housing Coalition are also announcing an Occupy the Auctions/Evictions direct action campaign to invite the 99% to halt the dozens of foreclosure auctions that take place on City Hall steps each weekday.

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and the Occupy SF Housing coalition invite the press to hear from San Francisco residents as well as from officials of the City and County of San Francisco.

“I no longer want to worry about what to tell my children when I return home each night,” said Occupy Bernal Foreclosure Fighter Alberto del Rio. “We who face bank foreclosures and evictions just want a fair deal from the banks so our families can sleep soundly in our homes.”

“We are fast losing residents from our communities – seniors, families, community leaders, city workers,” said ACCE Foreclosure Fighter Archbishop Franzo King. “The city must do all in its power to pause foreclosures and cease partnering with predatory banks so we can all hold the banks accountable for their crimes.”

California Attorney General Kamala Harris on February 27, 2012, asked lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to halt foreclosures statewide and for principal reductions for those facing foreclosure.

“The banks have torn apart our communities and caused a financial and health crisis by unjustly foreclosing and evicting our neighbors from their homes,” commented Occupy Bernal organizer Molly Martin. “We support those city officials who have joined with the state Attorney General in calling for an immediate halt to predatory and for-profit foreclosures and related auctions and evictions.”

An audit commissioned by San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting on nearly 400 San Francisco foreclosures over the past three years reveals that “fully 84 percent of the foreclosure files contained at least one clear legal violation and more than 66 percent of the files contained multiple violations”. This report confirms what many have suspected and provides the evidence required for issuing a moratorium on all predatory or for-profit evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions until such time as the law violations mentioned in the report are resolved and mechanisms are put in place to prevent further bank abuses of homeowners and renters.

The recent deal between banks and the Attorneys General of 49 of 50 states is woefully inadequate and does little for the Californians hardest hit by the crisis. Foreclosures have cost the state $650 billion in lost home values, property taxes, and foreclosure-related costs, according to a report released last December by California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). The top banks – Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Ally Financial – pay only $18 billion in this sweetheart deal, which amounts to only $150 per foreclosure statewide. About 750,000 families will receive up to $2,000, a pittance compared with even the depressed value of their homes. The largest chunk – more than $12 billion – will in part go to pressure even more homeowners to sell their homes for less than what they owe, in real estate transactions called short sales that are nothing more than an easy way for banks to make money and save time evicting homeowners, while leaving more and more neighbors without homes. To summarize, the 1% are profiting off the economic distress of the 99% to finagle the largest land grab since the Depression era or earlier.

In a city that has seen 12,000 or more foreclosures in the past three years, Occupy Bernal started organizing in December 2011 to stop the evictions and foreclosures of our neighbors, joining a community of housing rights organizations who have long been fighting for tenant’s and home owners’ rights. In response to public protest in January 2012, Wells Fargo Bank postponed auctions of the Bernal homes of Washington and Maria Davila and the Alberto Del Rio family, but the bank also rescheduled the auctions. Despite meeting with six foreclosure fighters from the Bernal Heights neighborhood and another from Bayview-Hunters Point, Wells Fargo executives have refused to allow any to refinance their homes or modify their loans, and have continued plans to sell off their homes.

This press conference follows on successful protests that occupied the home of Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf on February 25, 2012, and shut down Wells Fargo headquarters on January 20, 2012, and Wells Fargo bank branches in the Bernal and Excelsior neighborhoods on January 5 and January 7 respectively.

To sign up for the Occupy Bernal press list and/or obtain photos and video of the actions, see http://www.occupybernal.org/press

Organizations and Campaigns:

Occupy Bernal is a neighborhood-based Occupy currently focusing on preventing the banks from throwing our neighbors out of their homes. Web: http://www.occupybernal.org

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) is raising up the voices of low income, immigrant and working families across California. Web: http://www.calorganize.org

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. Web: http://www.occupysfhousing.org

Occupy the Auctions/Evictions is a campaign to halt for-profit and predatory evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions in San Francisco and beyond. Web: http://www.occupytheauctions.org and http://www.occupyevictions.org

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Photos

Update: Occupy Wells Director Lloyd H. Dean on March 14, 2012

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Update: 47 protestors braved the rain to let Wells Fargo Director Lloyd H. Dean that Wells Fargo’s foreclosures make us sick! The protestors delivered a message to Dean through a representative who wouldn’t say his name and told us he wasn’t “going to play our game”. The protestors picketed chanting “Evict Wells Fargo” and Foreclosure/Eviction fighters from a few neighborhoods spoke, indicting Wells Fargo for tearing apart our communities with their predatory lending practices. Check out the photos below.

Tell Wells Fargo Director Lloyd H. Dean: Foreclosures and evictions make us sick!
PROTEST & Picket!
Wednesday, March 14, 12 noon
185 Berry Street (between 3rd and 4th St., Caltrain station 4th and King)
Outside the offices of Dignity Health

Lloyd H. Dean is a Wells Fargo board member and is the chair of Wells Fargo’s Corporate Responsibility Committee. He earned $333,789 from the company in 2010, while Wells Fargo continues to kick the 99 percent out of our homes while destroying our communities.

We don’t think that’s very responsible.

As the CEO of a non-profit health-care provider, Dignity Health, Dean should know better. After all, the company website says that the “word ‘dignity’ perfectly defines what our organization stands for: showing respect for all people”. But where’s the dignity for people who are getting thrown out of their homes while Wells Fargo collects tens of billions of dollars of our money in bail-outs? Lloyd H. Dean may think he’s providing care for the sick. But the truth is, foreclosures and evictions are making us sick!

Foreclosure fighters and activists from around the city have been demanding that Wells Fargo stop foreclosure proceedings against them and modify their loans so they can stay in their homes. Late last month, after he didn’t return our calls, we even showed up at Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf’s home to demand a fair deal. But we know that he serves at the pleasure of the Wells Fargo Board of Directors. So if he won’t talk to us, we’ll take the fight to his bosses.

Join us as we pay Lloyd H. Dean a visit! Don’t let our neighbors lose their homes. Stop ALL foreclosures and evictions for profit!

Sponsored by Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and Occupy Bernal

For more information, call 415-483-9138 or 415-335-7033. Email: info@occupybernal.org or gmartinez@calorganize.org

Photos

ACTION ALERT: Demand an Immediate San Francisco Moratorium on Evictions, Foreclosures, and Foreclosure Auctions

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To all those who support a moratorium on for-profit and predatory evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions, Occupy Bernal asks you to call and email San Francisco city officials.

Please forward this action alert widely to those who would be interested. For more information about Occupy Bernal, see www.occupybernal.org. If you have any questions or concerns about this alert, please contact Occupy Bernal at action@occupybernal.org or +1 415-483-9138.

Call City Officials

Please call the following officials and ask for “an immediate moratorium on for-profit and predatory evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions”:

* Mayor Ed Lee’s aides Jeff Buckley and Una Fannon at 415-554-6141.
* District Attorney George Gascon at 415-553-1751 (leave message)
* City Attorney Dennis Herrera at 415-554-4700

Email City Officials

Please send the following email to San Francisco city officials (feel free to customize it for your own personal message and please cc action@occupybernal.org so we can track the number sent):
——-
To: MayorEdwinLee@sfgov.org, Jeff.Buckley@sfgov.org, Una.Fannon@sfgov.org, districtattorney@sfgov.org, cityattorney@sfgov.org
Cc: action@occupybernal.org
Subject: Take Immediate Action on San Francisco Evictions and Foreclosures

As citywide elected leaders of San Francisco, why do you remain inactive and silent in the face of the foreclosure crisis? Predatory lenders are running our working, middle-class, and minority neighbors out of our communities. They are destroying what little income and ethnic/racial diversity remains in San Francisco.

Please speak out and take action immediately.

1. Demand that lenders declare an immediate moratorium on all for-profit evictions, foreclosures, and foreclosure auctions, and provide affordable refinancing, including principal reduction, to all households in foreclosure. If AG Kamala Harris can do it for the entire state, you can do it for San Francisco.

2. Enact a citywide moratorium on all foreclosures until the malfeasance identified in Assessor Ting’s report are investigated and corrected.

3. Urge John Stumpf, the CEO of home-based Wells Fargo, to meet with the people whose homes his bank is foreclosing.

4. Meet with Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and Occupy SF Housing to publicly declare your commitment on the above demands.

Thank you.

Wells Fargo CEO Action to Stop Evictions and Foreclosures

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Occupy Bernal, Occupy SF Housing, ACCE, and other organizations held a feisty protest today at the home of Wells Fargo CEO, Chairman, and President John Stumpf, at 1090 Chestnut St, in San Francisco. In a bit of street theater, foreclosure fighters from Bernal and other neighborhoods read a foreclosure notice for the CEO, then the protestors auctioned off his home.

View press coverage

YouTube coverage by Dorothy:

Livestream coverage by OakFoSho:


Occupy Bernal Takes It to Wells Fargo on February 25

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Downloand/Print nice Wells Campaign Actions Poster, and join the event on facebook.

STOP FOR-PROFIT EVICTIONS/FORECLOSURES!

Saturday, February 25, 1:00pm Convergence
FORECLOSURE AND AUCTION of the Home of John Stumpf, Wells Fargo Chairman, President, and CEO
1090 Chestnut St (x Larkin), San Francisco
Foreclosure Block Party (street theater to foreclose, auction home, and evict the CEO), Music, ‘Pride at Work’ dance mob, & special surprise bidders

View press coverage

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March 1 Auction Action (below) Postponed Due to Temporary Victory in Negotiations With Wells Fargo–

Thursday, March 1*, 1:45pm – 3:00pm on
BID ON A MORATORIUM at Foreclosure Auction of the home of the del Rio family
City Hall, Van Ness steps, San Francisco
* stay tuned for updated days/times

Contact:
www.occupybernal.org
info@occupybernal.org
+1 415 483-9138

En solidaridad con Ocupa en todas partes / In solidarity with Occupy everywhere…