Peace go with you brothers and sisters,
Today we received news that the sheriffs are coming to forcibly evict us from our home of seven years on Monday December 24, Christmas Eve, at 7 in the morning. This despite the fact that we have had our chapter 13 repayment plan approved by the bankruptcy trustee, and even made our first payment, men with guns are still coming to throw our family out. The sheriffs will not do this on their own volition, the Bank of New York Mellon, an investment bank that bought our loan from Bank of America, who themselves acquired it from Countrywide financial is ordering them to act as soon as possible, in order to do what they agreed to BOA they would do, hide the fraud BOA, as the owner of Countrywide is responsible for.
We were tricked into foreclosure by BOA, who told us that our loan modification would be given priority, if we were to fall into default. Desperate to keep our small piece of the American dream, as we could not sustain the newly increased monthly payments, we followed the banks advice. When we missed the first payment, BOA began the foreclosure process, and would no longer accept any payments from us, all the while pretending to work with us to modify our loan. Over 5 years, and 4 denied loan mods, they told us in no uncertain terms that, no matter what, they intended to take our family home. This is the terror our family has survived for 5 years.
119 days ago, on the last day of our 5 day notice of eviction, we invited our friends and family to help us construct a barricade around our property, as a symbolic defense against the armed men the bank was sending to enforce the theft of our house. We did this not only to defend our home, and our family, but to inspire you to defend your home, your family, and your basic human right to housing.
Article 25 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, co written, and signed by the U.S. in on December 10, 1947 includes the human right to housing. This does not mean everyone gets a free house, this means that the government must use all means within it's power to defend, among other things, the people's right of security of tenure, to not be evicted from their home because of the inability to pay, or the greed, and legal trickery of others. Our current government has not only failed to do this, but has facilitated, through their refusal to prosecute the people and corporations, who through their avarice have destroyed the economic advancement of an entire generation, and through the capitulation to the banks blatant fraud of the court system.
Therefore it has fallen on we, the people, become enforcers of our own human rights. This action is not, nor has it ever been about saving our house, it has been about saving the all the homes that are targeted for fraudulent foreclosure, about saving all the families that are slated to be devastated. Make no mistake, forced eviction is not only an attack on a families housing, but a blatant and violent attack on the family structure, one carried out by the very people authorities we pay to protect us. For us, there was no choice but to fight back, and we will continue to do so. We are peaceful, therefore when the men with guns come to drag us out of our home, on Christmas Eve, we will practice passive resistance, which will potentially put us, and our supporters in physical danger from a police and sheriff department with a history of treating those they are sworn to protect with violence and disdain.
We thank you all for the flood of love and support you have given us, and invite any of you who may be able to help, or would like to stand with us in solidarity, please contact us at
occupyforthernandez@gmail.com or call us at 424-224-1712
