Protesters Threatened with Arrest Today in Rosemary Williams Foreclosure

[annm4peace]

Run time: 02:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBHJZ6mCV8E   Posted on YouTube: August 11, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: August 12, 2009 By DU Member: annm4peace Views on DU: 1178

 
Rosemary Williams and her supporters are expecting a visit from the police today. On August 7th the Hennepin County Sheriff evicted her from her Minneapolis home with an hours notice despite earlier assurances from the holders of her mortgage that such action wouldn't be taken. GMAC is the servicing bank and Aurora(Lehman Brother) is the trustee bank.

Since then Williams and others have stayed at the house, in violation of the law, as a protest to the foreclosure that could have been avoided with negotiation. Here is a press release from her supporters this morning:

This morning GMAC contacted Rosemary William's attorney. GMAC offered her $5000 to be quiet, stop activity to save her house, and go away. Ms. Williams said no. She would not take their "30 pieces of silver" when justice was on the line.

Today, we had plans to go to Mayor Rybak's office to tell him to order the city attorney to call off the cops. We would hope that our elected officials would act to save the people. It is clear that banks and corporations take precedence over people's lives.

We will be at the Williams home all day. (3138 Clinton Ave S, Minneapolis)
GMAC says it is sending out the police to arrest.
This fight will continue for families in foreclosure. Rosemary Williams stated: "I'm more committed now than ever to help families in America to save their homes. GMAC made me more committed than ever."

** Make sure to click on the next video with St.Paul City Attorney Choi talking about the lenders/server's responsibility ** St. Paul handles foreclosures a little differently than Minneapolis, which is where Ms. Williams lives

[Riley18]

1. Rosemary Williams is a very brave woman, and she is an inspiration for me.

I know of so many people struggling to get a simple modification from their bank, and it is not happening. Everything she said, in such a simple and direct way, is the truth we will never hear from a politician. The things that working people in this country want will not be given to us without a fight. The corporations are determined to keep things going the way they had been when Bush was president. It is very hard for me personally to take such a paranoid view of what is happening right now in our country, but it is getting increasingly difficult to ignore just how bad things have become.

I wonder how many, if any, people on DU have been helped with President Obama's Making Homes Affordable Plan? I have to admit that it would be easier to think that Rosemary Williams' plight is an isolated one, but I seriously doubt that is true.

[truedelphi]

2. The numbers within the first 45 days of the plan being open were

extremely pitiful. Les than 12K if I remember correctly.

And although the numbers have gone up since then, they are not skyrocketing up there.

In the 1930's 23 states made it illegal to foreclose on someone!

That needs to happen now.

In my rural area, there is one house on each "block" available for purchase, or rent. Since there are fewer than six houses on a block, this is an astounding number.

Does it really do the banks any good at all to have entire neighborhoods devoid of human occupants? To ahve the grass and greenery, including trees dry up ion the summer, to have the pipes break in the winter? Where is the sense in that?

[annm4peace]

3. It is not work for the people

It is working for the banks and their bottom line.
My friend works in mortgages, she said that only 10% of the people get helped by the program, the rest don't qualify.. and it doesn't take much not to qualify. She said she doesn't understand it.. it would seem that it would be cheaper for banks to just modify the loan than to let it go to foreclosure which costs about 74,000 and then on top of that the lost with auction price.

1st thing.. if you didn't have 20% to put down and had mortgage insurance (not home owner's insurance) than contact your mortgage insurnce company and tell them your servicer (or lender) is not working to help you. If your loan goes to foreclosure then the mortgage insurance company stands to lose a lot of money. If you don't know who your mortgage insurance company is then call her servicer (where you send your monthly payment) and ask them. They should know.

2nd thing. STay put. don't leave. have a ready plan. even if they board up your home it usually takes several days for the cleaning company to come in and take your stuff. just gets some friends and take down the boards and get your stuff or "squat". Take a stand. Call organizations in your area and see if they can help support. Call the local national lawyer's guild.

If more people take a stand and protest the banks will HAVE to change their ways.

[Billy Burnett]

6. The banks make more money foreclosing.

The mortgages are insured. The banks get full value of the mortgage, plus they sold it all as part of the traunched securities that are now the toxic "assets" of our fiat money system.

Watch this, it's worth it ...

Money as Debt
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2550156453790090544&ei=Ml-CSuHMFYaqrALspsmnCg&q=money+as+debt&hl=en

-

[truedelphi]

4. Here's a rather compassionate story

From USA Today about the 75 billion bucks the Obama Administration has offered to the Banking World, and how things are not working smoothly. The banks are claiming they don't have enough staff, while the public says they banks are simply into giving people the run around.

http://tinyurl.com/kusy95

[earcandle]

5. This is insane and immoral to throw this woman out of her home. Can we get some government

Help for this woman?  

Hey Obama, we need some funding here to keep this woman, and
all men and woman and families in their homes.  Forgive their
mortgages.  Let them get due recourse ( for being hooked into
the great hoax) through winning their deeds?  The banks
already got their money in the default swaps.  And AG got
bailed out.  SO come on.... give a little bit.  It is strictly
a GAAP accounting issue.  Who else should get the property but
the person who put  down real hard cash as a deposit and /or
made payments?  Give it up>  This is sinful.  Give this
woman her home back

And give everyone their homes back.  Work out the details in a
government bank.  Make the loan 5% interest.  Get on with it
already.  Stop paying and repaying your boyz... please. 

[Zookeeper]

7. My understanding is that the banks are eager to foreclose...

on properties and hold on to them until the real estate market bounces back.

:shrug:

[notadmblnd]

8. I've been looking at some of these foreclose properties.

Here in Michigan, it does not take long for these houses to begin falling apart. Once the mold gets in, as a result of the dampness in Michigan, the home loses value tremendously. I've been in once beautiful turn of the century homes and seen them ruined because the water wasn't turned off and the house flooded. I've seen the ceilings caved in and the hardwood floors warped. I've seen fixtures, plumbing and cabinets torn out. I've seen the black mold growing everywhere. It's hard for me to believe that the banks are making any money on them.

[annm4peace]

9. that is it, they must be making money on the loss

they must make more money off of the loss, the tax write off than if they would modify the loan.

[annm4peace]

10. this mornings update

UPDATE 5am Wednesday - Mostly calm night - few cop drive-bys. "You're the quietest party in the neighborhood," said one. Many folks still at house, spirits good but vigilant!

[Riley18]

11. Then the banks need to be nationalized until this mortgage mess is cleaned up.

The government seems to be controlled by the banks instead of the other way around. The banks were given all that TARP money with no controls, and the credit card companies were basically told that they would have to be a little bit nicer in 9 months. They were given plenty of time to get themselves comfortable at our expense. Everyone's getting notices from these companies raising rates and shutting down limits effective immediately, but they get 9 months. The banks got the money to "help" people with their toxic mortgages. Instead, they hold the money and stall anybody silly enough to think they are going to provide the Making Homes Affordable Plan to their dire situation.

[annm4peace]

12. Why Are Homeowners Not Being Helped? Los Angeles Times - Opinion

(why are communites (cities) allowing themselves to be held hostage by Lenders ?)

Why Are Homeowners Not Being Helped?
Los Angeles Times - Opinion
August 11, 2009
One of the mysteries of the recession is why mortgage lenders haven't tried harder to avert foreclosures. Because property values have plummeted in once-sizzling markets, lenders that repossess a house can lose half or more of the original loan's value. That leaves plenty of room to modify the terms of a loan and still obtain a better return on the lender's investment. Yet the number of loans going into foreclosure continues to mount, and the number of homes repossessed and sold this year is almost as high as it was a year ago.
The latest evidence arrived last week, when the Treasury Department reported that a new federal program for troubled borrowers had benefited only 9% of the eligible homeowners. The program cuts monthly payments to match the borrowers' ability to repay, an approach that's far less likely to result in new defaults than the payment plans typically offered by lenders. Yet some of the biggest mortgage servicing companies -- most notably Bank of America and Wells Fargo -- were slow to implement the new program, even though it offers cash to help borrowers stay current on their payments.
The banks said the Treasury Department overlooked their other efforts to help borrowers who were defaulting. Bank of America, for example, claimed to have made 150,000 loan modifications beyond the 28,000 tentative deals counted by the feds. Still, the total amounts to less than one-fourth of the bank's borrowers who qualify for help. Many of them simply can't be saved, such as the subprime borrowers who took on too much debt or the prime borrowers who have lost their jobs. But even excluding those groups, it's hard to believe that Bank of America is doing enough loan modifications to maximize its returns. And the more homes it repossesses unnecessarily, the more it damages the value of neighboring properties -- sending a ripple of misery through the broader economy.
Granted, plenty of would-be home buyers have no interest in slowing the pace of foreclosures. There's also the risk of creating perverse incentives when risk-takers are shielded from the consequences of their bad bets. The issue here, however, is whether the companies servicing mortgages are doing everything they can to protect the interests of those who own the loans. The numbers say they aren't. Regulators should find out why, which means obtaining and disclosing more information from servicing companies about the mortgages that aren't modified. The taxpayers who've lent the banks billions of dollars to rescue them from default deserve to know. But so do the investors and lenders whose interests the loan servicing companies are supposed to be protecting

[Riley18]

13. This is not being pushed in the media. A few years back they occupied people

with abortions rights etc., now health care is the new "in". All these things are meant as a distraction from the real issues such as jobs and housing that are the basic necessities of life. You cannot have healthcare without jobs and housing. Why is that Hardball has a loser with a gun on and not Rosemary? She speaks for us all when she defends herself against the bank. She has the potential to be the Rosa Parks of our struggle. If only someone in power would acknowledge her voice. She has been in my thoughts since I saw her speak. I really admire her courage and determination.

[nashville_brook]

14. this needs to stay kicked to the top -- we'll be seeing much more of these kinds of actions