RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA – Just ahead of the national Mothers’ Day holiday, members of Occupy Fights Foreclosures and Moms United Against Foreclosures marched from the residence of a homeowner fighting eviction to a press conference outside Wells Fargo bank.
The assembled mothers and families explained that they were rallying to fight back against fraud-closures at the hands of the same corporate financial criminals who caused the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930’s. “Despite the record corporate profits last year, the average American is still in financial despair. Many of us are still fighting to keep the homes in which we've invested all of our hard work, money and aspirations. Mothers who struggle every day to make ends meet worry about ending up in the streets with their children.”
At the rally along Western Avenue, a woman in a bright pink t-shirt declared over a megaphone, “Wells Fargo took a bail out, and they sold America out! They continue to reap billions and billions of dollars at the expensive of homeowners. Americans who bailed you out are now suffering the consequences of upholding your bank.” She revealed, “modifications are not being done as Wells Fargo” and cited the case of Roxanne Zamora, a victim of foreclosure fraud and cancer survivor who is fighting to stay in her home of sixteen years.
As people walked into the side entrance of the bank on this busy Saturday morning, one mom pleaded, “Customers, move your money! Wells Fargo is reaping profits on the backs of the American people. The same American people that bailed you out are now being kicked out. Move your money. You have options. Choose a bank that did not take a bailout.”
“Wells Fargo was bailed out; the American people were sold out!"
Another mom described how “moms of America witness bank CEOs getting obscene pay raises and bonuses while they simultaneously destroy our justice system, retirement funds, land records, and communities.” She continued to explain that settlement dollars are not able to “paper over” decades of abuse, fraud, theft, and the rigging of stock markets. Prosecutors overlook “massive white-collar crime” and the moms assembled are “ready to fight back against corporate fraud continually decimating our standard of living.”
Over the megaphone, a man accused the banks of committing financial terrorism against families. “They buy themselves out of their crimes that they have committed by settling with the government.”
California has received 18 billion dollars in settlement funds to help homeowners stay in their homes. “Who has benefited from the settlement? The people have not! What happened to the money? Where did the money go?” he asked. “The banks say they used some of the money for short sales. Short sales do not keep people in their homes—they steal their homes!”
One blonde woman at the megaphone had been driving by the shopping plaza when she noticed the “Stop the Banksters” banner and large scarlet “We’re Felons” sign written in the corporate font. She stopped to take the microphone and explain how Wells Fargo is refusing to even send her application for a loan modification. They have told her they will be taking her home.
“We, the People, have decided you are criminal,” declared a mom facing the tinted windows of the bank. “The action will not stop until you make amends and work with the American people who saved your bank!”
To these homeowners, “stand your ground” means making a legal, nonviolent stand against mortgage holders like Bank of America and Wells Fargo who engage in fraudclosures. One mom whose son made a sign saying “Orangize – Empower - Resist” encouraged others to “be very openly verbal [with] your intentions, or else the banks will think you're weak and intimidate you.”
Another protestor noted, “many people have told us they could not fight against tyranny because they have a wife, husband, kids, job, business, home, etc… That's the whole point!”
“If you don't fight for your freedom, your rights, what kind of world will everyone live in what kind of legacy and example are we setting for the children?” he asked. “In 1776, we, the people, won a great victory over tyranny, against the odds [and] considered terrorist and traitors. Why 250 years later [would we] suddenly give in to tyranny, when it's the rule of law to defend against it?”
“Find solutions. Keep Americans in their homes” demanded the families assembled outside Wells Fargo on Saturday. The event press release listed the demands of Occupy Fights Foreclosures and #MomsFightForeclosures: stop all foreclosures and evictions, provide reasonable loan modifications that include principal reduction, and stop employing tactics to mislead, harass, and intimidate homeowners.
#MothersDay2014 #MomsFightBack #MomsFightForeclosures
Visit Occupy Fights Foreclosures online at
http://www.occupyfightsforeclosures.org