ACTION: 2pm November 17 Occupy Chase to Prevent Homelessness, Foreclosures, and Evictions

What: Occupy Chase to Prevent Homelessness, Foreclosures, and Evictions with a soup kitchen, street theater, foreclosure and eviction fighters and other speakers

When: 2:00pm on Saturday, November 17

Where: We’ll announce the surprise! location in San Francisco the morning of the action at http://www.occupytheauctions.org/chase.

Who: So far, we’ve got bread donated from Arizmendi and Ryan and the Space Transformers folks are setting up a soup kitchen, Bob on transport, Lisa and David on signage, music including guitarists Francis Collins and Tommi Avicolli-Mecca.

Join Facebook event at https://www.facebook.com/events/492628647435647.

Brought to you by Occupy Bernal, ACCE-SF, Occupy Direct Action Workgroup, Occupy Action Council of SF, Occupy SF Environmental Justice Workgroup, Community Not Commodity, Occupy Noe, San Francisco Tenants Union, Senior and Disability Action, Manilatown Heritage Foundation, Communities United in Defense of Olmsted, and others coming soon.

October Education Program

CJ Holmes & Foreclosures

Our popular “Get real with a realtor” series illuminating the different sorts of real estate debt and speculation that drove the foreclosure fiasco . . . and what we can do about it

Join Occupy Bernal for an evening with one of Northern California’s feistiest, winningest combatants of predatory banking
 
CJ Holmes, hosts a KPFA anti-foreclosure program and runs www.HomeOwnersforJustice.org  as a first and second line o defense information channel in the fight against unethical foreclosures.

This program is part of Occupy Bernal strategy to build a profound understanding of the foreclosure debacle, leading to City and State-wide policy change.

Tuesday, October 2    7 – 8:30 pm
Bernal Heights Neighborhood Center
515 Cortland Avenue
Your neighbors, our neighborhood!

Contact: David   415-948-4265    OccupyBernal.org
Labor donated

SF Community Board of Trustees Condemns Wells Fargo

SF Community Board of Trustees condemns Wells Fargo’s predatory lending practices, seeks new Banking Services provider for its money

April 26, 2012

Last night, the SF Community Board of Trustees, condemning its
current provider Wells Fargo Bank, voted to seek a new Banking Services provider for its money, citing that:

  • San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting has announced a first-of-its-kind audit of county land records of homes facing foreclosure.
  • Among the most jarring findings was that 84% of the files audited included legal violations

It also credited community-based organizations like SF ACCE and
Occupy Bernal for fighting to preserve the diversity of their  neighborhoods by defending the predominantly minority homeowners at risk of losing their himes to Wells foreclosure.

Trustee Chris Jackson stated that “Predatory lenders like Wells Fargo must be taught to correct their destructive policies.”

Buck Bagot of Occupy Bernal/SF ACCE thanked the Board for “putting its power – and the public’s money – behind my neighbors who Wells has and is hornswoggling out of their homes.”

AFT Local 2121 President Alisa Messer, whose unions represents Community College faculty, also cited Wells’ penurious student loan policies which charge college students up to 18% interest.

Both Bagot and Messer and members of their organizations participated in effort on April 24, 2012 to convince Wells Fargo shareholders to correct the Bank’s negative policies, but were denied admission to its shareholders meeting despite holding Wells Fargo shares.

The Board joined the SF Board of Supervisors and Mayor Ed Lee in
speaking out against predatory lending policies.

Phil Ting: Stand Up for the Homeowner Bill of Rights

Sign the petition today.

It’s common sense that big banks and other lenders should need to prove they are owed the debt on the home – before they foreclose on a family. It might be common sense, but unfortunately, it is not California law. Please sign the petition today to support the Homeowner Bill of Rights.

The Facts on Foreclosure

Earlier in the year, I released data from California’s first in-depth look at problems with foreclosure documents. The audit released by my office showed pervasive problems with foreclosure documents. Our audit, which gained national attention, found that nearly 60% of documents were backdated in some fashion and fully 84% of documents contained at least one legal flaw.

That shocking fact is that in California families today face foreclosure despite the flaws in mortgage records so severe that the title is in question.

We all know the costs of the foreclosure epidemic – trillions of dollars in family assets whipped away after a decade of lending speculation. Nearly every reputable economist agrees: the continuing high rates of foreclosures are delaying full economic recovery, meaning they contribute to high unemployment and lower state tax revenues – which in turn trigger cuts to vital program like education.

There are so many things our state needs to do to get back on track. But restoring common sense and justice to our housing markets and foreclosure process is one of the first things we should do – because helping to avoid unnecessary and even unlawful foreclosures is a powerful economic stimulus.

Protecting California Homeowners from Foreclosures

The package of legislation, now commonly-referred to as the Homeowner Bill of Rights, would create long-overdue protections like requiring creditors to provide documentation to a borrower that establishes the creditor’s right to foreclose, prohibiting creditors from recording a notice of default when a timely-filed application for a loan modification or other loss mitigation measure is pending, and requiring creditors to provide a single point of contact to borrowers in the foreclosure process.

Common sense, right?

Let’s help Attorney General Harris, Senate Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg, our own State Senator Mark Leno, State Senators Fran Pavley and Mark DeSaulnier, Assemblyman Mike Eng, Assemblyman Mike Davis, Assemblywoman Wilmer Carter, and other leaders in Sacramento pass this important package of reform to help avoid unnecessary and unlawful California foreclosures.

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, Occupy SF Housing Demand Banks End Foreclosure Auctions and Comply With San Francisco Foreclosure Moratorium

OCCUPY BERNAL MEDIA ADVISORY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

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

ACCE: Vivian Richardson, +1 (415) 994-2778, vivan.richardson@yahoo.com

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

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, Occupy SF Housing Demand Banks End Foreclosure Auctions and Comply With San Francisco Foreclosure Moratorium

Occupy the Auction Dance Party to Celebrate Wells Fargo Bank Postponing Auction of Bernal Neighbor’s Home

San Francisco, April 27, 2012 – San Francisco Occupy activists and supporters invited the 99% to attend an Occupy the Auction Dance Party at 1:45pm today at City Hall. Occupy Bernal, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and the Occupy SF Housing Coalition will celebrate Wells Fargo’s postponement of the auction of the home of Bernal neighbor Eric and his partner John by dancing away the remaining foreclosure auctions taking place on City Hall steps tomorrow.

Occupy the Auctions Dance Party:
1:45pm, Friday, April 27, at City Hall Steps, 400 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco

“Wells Fargo Bank postponed the auction of our home, but my partner and I are still living with the looming threat that they will sell our home out from under us,” said Occupy Bernal Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Eric L. “We went through some tough times, but now we can afford to pay if the bank will just negotiate for us and all those who are seeking a fair deal to stay in their homes.”

“The banks continue selling off the homes of San Franciscans every weekday despite the San Francisco Board of Supervisors’ passage of a foreclosure moratorium resolution and the Mayor’s request for a pause in bank foreclosures,” said ACCE Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Vivian Richardson. “Let’s tell the predatory banks we need a fair deal for every home owner and renter in San Francisco.”

Occupy Bernal, ACCE, and other community organizations in the Occupy SF Housing Coalition have organized 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.

Background:

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.

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 Occupy the Auctions action follows on successful protests that protested the Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting on April 24, 2012, 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, Excelsior, and Noe Valley neighborhoods on January 5, January 7, and March 24 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

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Unanimously Passes Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 10 voted unanimously to pass a resolution calling for “support for state and federal measures to protect homeowners and suspension of foreclosure activities in San Francisco”. The resolution supports the Homeowner Bill of Rights legislation before the state legislature and urges city and county officials and departments to protect homeowners from unlawful foreclosures. The resolution also urges all mortgage and banking institutions to suspend foreclosure activities and related auctions and evictions until state and federal measures to protect homeowners from unfair and unlawful practices, as well as provisions for principal reductions, are in place.

Supervisor John Avalos proposed the resolution with co-sponsors Supervisors David Campos, Malia Cohen, Jane Kim, Eric Mar, and Christina Olague. Amy Beinart and Stardust of Occupy Bernal wrote the original draft of the resolution.

Link: The Resolution As Passed

Ross Rhodes Speaks at SF City Hall Rally Before Supervisors Committee Hear Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution

Thanks to Carol Harvey for this video of Occupy Bernal Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Ross Rhodes speaking at a San Francisco City Hall rally just before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors Land Use Committee heard a Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution which passed the committee unanimously on to the full board, probably on April 10.

Carol’s full article appears here.

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Committee Passes Foreclosure Moratorium Resolution

After a rousing protest on the steps of City Hall on April 2, 2012, the Land Use Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors held a hearing on foreclosures and passed unanimously (3-0) a slightly-amended foreclosure moratorium resolution and sent it on to the whole Board of Supervisors for consideration. This means that the Board could pass the resolution as soon as the Board meeting on April 10, 2012.

Speakers at the protest included Occupy Bernal Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter (FEF) Ross Rhodes, ACCE FEF Vivian Richardson, Occupy Bernal organizer and MC Judy Kurtz, and Supervisors David Campos and John Avalos, who sponsored the foreclosure moratorium resolution.

The Supervisors on the Land Use Committee voting in favor of the resolution were Malia Cohen, Eric Mar, and Scott Wiener, which brings the total number of Supervisors who have either co-sponsored or supported the resolution to eight, a super-majority of the Board. Among others, San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Phil Ting, Ed Donaldson of the San Francisco Housing Development Corporation, and representatives of the Mayor’s and State Attorney General’s offices testified at the hearing. Kathryn Galves, who Wells Fargo recently evicted from her Noe Valley home of 40 years, and other FEFs, Home Defenders, and members of the public told their horror stories about foreclosures and related auctions and evictions and spoke in favor of the resolution. Wells Fargo declined to send a representative to the hearing.

Here are some pictures of the protest and the hearing (with more photos from Carol Harvey here:

San Francisco Board of Supervisors Committee to Hear Foreclosure Moratorium

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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