The Next Target of Occupy Activists – The Foreclosed Houses
Photo by Digitalart
The next target of Occupy activists is the foreclosed houses. A campaign will be launched to stop families from being evicted and to protest against foreclosure related fraud. The “Big Day of Action” will kick off from 6th December. The focus will be on the foreclosure mayhem and the protest will highlight “fraudulent lending practices”, “corrupt securitization” and unlawful evictions by banks.
The organizers are hoping that this will give momentum to the movement as it shifts its actions indoors while bringing into limelight the injustices of the crisis.
The details have not been announced as yet but activists in cities numbering twenty will participate on the action day. Abby Clark one of the organizers of Occupy Our Homes said they are planning to disrupt the foreclosure auctions (“mic-check”) while simultaneously put families inside vacant units.
Max Berger, another organizer of Occupy Our Homes and also a member of Occupy Wall Street said, “This is a shift from protesting Wall Street fraud to taking action on behalf of people who were harmed by it. It brings the movement into the neighbourhoods and gives people a sense of what’s really at stake”.
A new research that is indicating that the foreclosure related crisis is hardly half over; 4 million houses are in some foreclosure stage. Meanwhile news is rolling in about unlawful and dubitable operations of the banks and lenders.
This action plan, like that of other Occupy actions, is focusing on specific questions relating to policy. The organization is being handled by experienced progressive groups affiliated to labour groups together with other friends of the movement
The website of Occupy Our Homes had been registered by a person who was formerly an official of SEIU. It has all the appearances of a smart campaign with videos showcasing stories of households who are threatened with foreclosure.
Visitors to the site are encouraged to sign pledging that until the mortgage industry did their part to assist the house owners and fixed the economy by reducing the principal to the present value of the property they (the visitors) would give support to the house owners by resisting these unlawful evictions.
There have been a number of groups under the umbrella of Take Back the Land taking related action for the last five years across USA said Max Rameau. He added that now with the ramping up of Occupy there is a good chance for the troubled borrowers. Not only will the banks be forced to stop evictions but also they will be compelled to make policy changes.
