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by Rockero
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 at 9:52 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com
October 25, 2008
HEMET - Inland Empire activists joined at the intersection of Florida and Girard Streets, where a bank sits on each corner, to spread the message about the injustice of the home foreclosures that have been affecting our area more intensely than most.
foreclosure24oct2008-5.jpg, image/jpeg, 480x640
People from as far away as Perris and Ontario came to express their outrage at the banks and demand just and adequate housing. The federal bailouts of financial institutions was another sore point with demonstrators. One man handed out copies of a mock e-mail from "Minister of Treasury Paulson" asking Americans for a 800 billion transfer of funds, promising that "If you would assist me in this transfer, it would be most profitable to you." The letter, a spoof on the "Nigerian scam," helped lighten the mood for a while.
But the atmosphere changed once passersby began to share their stories with us. "Yeah, the bank sucks!" one woman called out from her car after reading a protest sign reading "Banks Make People Homeless Every Day." "They foreclosed on us!"
One young couple who came walking by thanked us for what we were doing. "It happened to us, and we still don't know where we're going to end up. She's from Pennsylvania, and I'm from Michigan, and neither of us have anyone out here." Many of those evicted had reported staying with friends and relatives. "We're just glad someone is taking us into consideration." They assured us they had a place to go for the night, but their situation seemed precarious.
At one point, bank employees came out to find out what we were doing. "I see it everyday," one said of the foreclosures.
Activists shared information they had about foreclosures, evictions, and bank scandals. "Did you know that a lot of the property that is being foreclosed was being rented out? People are losing their contract because the landlord is being foreclosed!"
Soon topics turned to ICE raids, the presidential race, and the difficulty of building a movement in the Inland Empire. Discussion centered on geography (the population is widely dispersed over a large area) and politics (the people tend to be very conservative.)
"On my way over here, I saw a 'Yes on [gay marriage ban] prop 8' rally. It was mostly young people! It nearly made me sick!" said one young man. "I've seen fascist graffiti in my neighborhood," said another. "We have a neighbor whose Mexican gardener is afraid to look in the eye," shared the members of a family. "They do a lot of deportations we never even hear about!" voiced one young woman.
Overall the response to the protest was positive, but organizers are ready to take it to the next level. To counteract apathy in the mainstream media, they have set up a website where people who have been evicted or foreclosed on can share their stories with others. The goal is to show the human side of the sub-prime mortgage lending injustice perpetrated on our communities. People that have had to deal with these problems can publish their narratives at http://foreclosurestories.somee.com.
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by Rockero
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 at 9:52 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com
foreclosure24oct2008-1.jpg, image/jpeg, 640x480
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by Rockero
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 at 9:52 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com
foreclosure24oct2008-2.jpg, image/jpeg, 480x640
error
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by Rockero
Monday, Oct. 27, 2008 at 9:52 PM
rockero420@yahoo.com
foreclosure24oct2008-3.jpg, image/jpeg, 480x640
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by interested
Monday, Nov. 03, 2008 at 11:08 AM
Can i come to the next protest? When is it
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by J Dunlap
Tuesday, Nov. 04, 2008 at 8:17 PM
contraredadas@gmail.com
Hi interested,
I'm the organizer of the event, and I just noticed your comment. I'm not sure what the future holds, but we definitely plan to continue to be involved in activism about the foreclosure/eviction issue whenever we can. Please feel free to get in touch with me by email, and I'll keep you updated about any upcoming events. :)
~Jennaya
foreclosurestories.somee.com/Default.aspx
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by gimme shelter
Thursday, Nov. 06, 2008 at 3:30 PM
I just read the site, and it's baffling me, what the point of this protest is.
The problem was that you got suckered into an ARM with a teaser rate, and the payment doubled.
That line they gave you about never resetting to the higher rate was a bunch of bullshit. If the loan was big enough, and the payments were small enough, then the loan would never get paid off, and the bank would pretty much cease to exist within a few years.
The whole point of resetting was to either kick the resident out, and foreclose, and resell the house at a higher price (they assumed the price would rise), or to have the homeowner do the same -- to take a profit, and then refinance a bigger mortgage at a lower rate.
The bailout started as being for the banks, but the latest thing is to pressure banks to reduce the amount of the loan to match the market value of the home. So, maybe you should support the bailout.
I think that's a lame way to do it -- I'd rather they just seize the property and let the residents rent -- but the bailout could work in your favor.
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by gimme shelter
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2008 at 11:04 PM
There's egg on my face!
Too much trust for the capitalists I guess.
This trillion dollar bailout hasn't done shit for the people. It's all gone to the banks.
I apologize to any people who took me seriously.
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by Ciro Di Donna
Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Ciro291@aol.com 718-767-4325 149-56 17 Road
I say to Gehennem with Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac. This sub prime mortgage mess would have never happened if "We the People" who do not have high paying jobs would have been granted the right to borrow a low interest home mortgage loan based on income directly from the Federal Reserve Bank which should be nationalized for the moderate income working class people of our nation who for too long have been enslaved by bank's and lending institution's by high interest rates on money that they receive at a low interest rate from the Fed. "The Change We Need" from President elect Barack Obama which I doubt very much he will do since he is a proponent of Moratorium's which has been proven to only delay the unavoidable, is to federally mandate long term loan modification's (interest) on behalf of "all Americans" with Sub Prime and ARM Negative (minimum payment deferred) interest mortgage loans at a fixed rate for 40 or 50 year's to spread out the payments. The majority of these loan's (due to death, relocating of familie's etc) would be paid off way before 40 or 50 years. Leaving it up to the bank's to do this is akin to putting the fox in the hen house to protect them. "The Change We Need" for these American families with children, the elderly & those caring for them, must come from the Federal government
www.youtube.com/user/ciro9
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by Ciro Di Donna
Monday, Dec. 29, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Ciro291@aol.com 718-767-4325 149-56 17 Road, Whitestone N.Y. 11357-2542
I say to Gehennem with Fannie Mae & Freddy Mac. This sub prime mortgage mess would have never happened if "We the People" who do not have high paying jobs would have been granted the right to borrow a low interest home mortgage loan based on income directly from the Federal Reserve Bank which should be nationalized for the moderate income working class people of our nation who for too long have been enslaved by bank's and lending institution's by high interest rates on money that they receive at a low interest rate from the Fed. "The Change We Need" from President elect Barack Obama which I doubt very much he will do since he is a proponent of Moratorium's which has been proven to only delay the unavoidable, is to federally mandate long term loan modification's (interest) on behalf of "all Americans" with Sub Prime and ARM Negative (minimum payment deferred) interest mortgage loans at a fixed rate for 40 or 50 year's to spread out the payments. The majority of these loan's (due to death, relocating of familie's etc) would be paid off way before 40 or 50 years. Leaving it up to the bank's to do this is akin to putting the fox in the hen house to protect them. "The Change We Need" for these American families with children, the elderly & those caring for them, must come from the Federal government
www.youtube.com/user/ciro9
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