Hundreds of Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), the Home Defenders League, and other organizations occupied the U.S. Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C., on May 20, 2013, to demand justice by prosecuting the banks for their crimes. Some of the protestors were arrested.
Actions in support of the Washington, D.C., protest took place in San Francisco and elsewhere.
Between 400 and 500 protesters rallied at the Department of Justice (DOJ), closing Constitution Avenue and the three main entrances to DOJ. Folks demanded that Attorney General Eric Holder “Jail the Banksters” and “Not to Big to Jail”. Leaders of the CA ACCE-lad Home Defenders League and Occupy Our Homes struggled with police for access to DOJ. Members were tased (!!!), and seventeen were arrested, including our sister Rose Dennis of Oakland ACCE. A large contingent are occupying the main DOJ entrance tonight, and anticipate arrest tomorrow morning. Viv was quoted in the national Huffington Post report below. ALL of the press led with “Homeowners Occupy DOJ.” Here in SF, twenty SF ACCE members occupied the N CA office of DOJ, and after a confrontation, forced the Attorney in Charge to FAX our demand letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. Highlights of the local TV coverage included an interview with Vivian Richardson in DC; a 2011 tape from back when she had long hair; and a classic Ross Rhodes preach/speech.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters took the struggle for housing justice to the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco on April 27, 2013, with an Occupy the Banks for Housing Justice bank crawl.
The crowd visited the Bank of America branch near 29th and Mission Streets, the JP Morgan Chase branch at 26th and Mission Streets, the Bank of America branch at 23rd and Mission Streets, the US Bank branch at 22nd and Mission Streets, and the Wells Fargo branch at 22nd and Missions Streets.
At each branch, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters delivered a letter to be faxed to bank executives. The group leafleted the Mission in Spanish and English.
Many thanks to the Brass Liberation Orchestra which provided festive music for the event and to Reverend Billy and the Stop Bank of America Gospel Choir (aka Stop Shopping Choir) visiting from New York City who joined up with us at the second Bank of America branch.
A protest at the Wells Fargo headquarters at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco took place on April 13, 2013, in coordination with a protest earlier the same day at the Wells Fargo Shareholder meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. These protests are a special edition of the Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions.
More than a dozen protestors from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and other organizations infiltrated the shareholders meeting and told Wells Fargo executives what they thought of their practices regarding predatory, illegal, and discriminatory lending and related foreclosures and evictions. Maria Alvarez, whose family is facing eviction by Wells Fargo, got to tell Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf to his face that he is a liar, then Wells threw the protestors out of the shareholders meeting.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, about one hundred protestors from the ACCE (San Francisco and Oakland), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions campaign held a memorial service in front of the Wells Fargo Headquarters and History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street. A trumpeter named Elaine played taps and Archbishop Franzo King delighted participants with his saxophone stylings. Various spokespeople read out the names of those who have lost their home or their lives to foreclosures and evictions, spoke in solidarity with those protesting in Salt Lake City, and listed off the many families still struggling to save their homes from Wells Fargo. After each name or section, the crowd chanted repeatedly, “Housing Justice, Home Security!”. Finally, Kathy Lipscomb and Merrie Jo Musni delivered some calalilies to Wells Fargo to complete the memorial service.
ACCE, SEIU, Occupy Bernal, and Occupy Noe Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters again provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at the meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on March 13, 2013, just as previously on January 9, 2013 and on February 13, 2013.
The group again asked the Retirement Board to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.
Grace Martinez of ACCE provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Gladys Dewitt provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
SFERS Retirement Board President Wendy Paskin-Jordan, a former Wells Fargo employee, responds to public testimony.
San Francisco Muni employee and Local 200 former President Alice Fialkin provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Ian Haddow provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Former San Francisco city employee Susan McDonough provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Larry Faulks, evicted from his home by Wells Fargo, provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter and Teamster Ricardo Rodriguez provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Harry Baker, Retirement Security Chair for SEIU Local 1021, which is the largest union representing SFERS members, provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Jackie Wright provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
Grace Martinez of ACCE provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.
SFERS Retirement Board staff and commissioners discuss whether they can calendar consideration of a resolution on foreclosures and related evictions at the next SFERS meeting in April 2013.
SFERS Retirement Board staff and commissioners continue discussing whether they can calendar consideration of a resolution on foreclosures and related evictions at the next SFERS meeting in April 2013.
The rest of the discussion was not captured on video.
#1 in SF Foreclosures and Related Evictions: Racist and Predatory
Who: (Retired and Current) City Employees, especially those facing foreclosure/eviction and supporters What: Public Comment at San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board Meeting (2 minute limit) When: 2:00pm, Wednesday, March 13 Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor (near Market Street)
We are asking SFERS to do the following:
Investigate investments in Wells Fargo, which is #1 in foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco and elsewhere, as well as other lenders foreclosing on and evicting San Francisco homeowners..
Prepare and submit a Wells Fargo shareholder resolution to stop predatory and/or racist foreclosures and related evictions for consideration at the next annual Wells Fargo shareholder meeting (probably in April 2013).
If Wells Fargo doesn’t adopt the shareholder resolution at its next shareholder meeting and take immediate steps to implement policies and practices in line with the resolution, then divest from any investment in Wells Fargo within three months after that shareholder meeting.
We are asking San Francisco Mayor Lee to do the following:
Appoint only qualified candidates to the SFERS Retirement Board who are not executives or employees at Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, or Bank of America (the top three in predatory foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco).
Issue a statement in support of divestment from Wells Fargo of all San Francisco City and County funds, including employee retirement and disability funds.
Background:
The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:
“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)
Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $175 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.
Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.
Update: The Occupy the Dream House event at the so-called Dream House in Menlo Park was a great success… thanks to all who participated and please check out the media coverage, videos, and photos below.
You are invited to our event! Please come help us show the contrast between get rich quick raffle illusions and those fighting to keep their homes and their ability to create wealth.
Occupy the Dream House Press Conference/ Action in front of the “$4.1 million Silicon Valley Dream House” in Menlo Park
Demonstrating the stark contrast of our hardworking neighbors trying to save their homes from billion-dollar corporations and the “Let Them Eat Cake” mentality of the 1 Percent financial institutions.
When: 10 a.m., Thursday January 10, 2013
Where: Silicon Valley Dream House in Menlo Park
3 Patricia Place
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(Cross street is San Mateo Drive) map
Who: Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters
Confirmed speakers include Ian Haddow and Stardust. (Please contact us if you would like to volunteer to speak or if you would like to carpool to the event.)
Why: Occupy, other social justice organizations, foreclosure fighters and people who just want to reclaim the American dream of home ownership, gather the day before the raffle winner is chosen to bring attention to economic injustice.
$4.1 Million Silicon Valley Dream House Raffle Demonstrates Homeownership Nightmare
Dream House Raffles such as the one for the opulent home in Menlo Park serve as lures and create a lottery mentality that blinds people to the economic nightmare. They serve as a ruse to keep people from seeing how bad things really are.
Why hold a Press Conference in front of the “$ 4.1 Silicon Valley Dream House?”
To send and repeat the message that the banking and financial system is rogue and is devouring the well-being and livelihood of the 99%.
To send a message to besieged homeowners to fight back and that they are not alone. We stand ready to help.
To send a message to the banks that they must create a humanitarian solution for the economic crisis they helped to create.
To send a message to lawmakers that they have to do more to protect the people from the laws and policies that created this financial quagmire that has eroded the middle class.
To repeat the message that raffles and lotteries are a tax on the poor and create false expectations. Policies and laws should be put back in place to invest in people to grow the economy.
As a story subtext: Banks and corporations should more robustly support public organizations through paying their fair share of taxes. Arts organizations should, in a better world, receive public funds from taxes paid by corporations for their operations. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts and other nonprofits are used by banks and other corporations for “public relations” subterfuges to clean up their image and deflect attention from the criminal and inhumane activity they engage in as part of their business practice. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts raises much of their funding in this annual raffle. However, compared to their profits, the minimal donations corporations give, while creating profits on the back of the 99%, using tax loopholes, sending jobs and finances offshore, create an illusion of helping the needy. We need an end to austerities. We need to restore funding to public institutions (libraries, universities, parks/lands) and an end to privatization of the commons. We can do better than this!
Occupy The Dream House, Cheryl Meeker +1 415-255-0668, Stardust +1 415-425-3936, and Eric.
Update: ACCE, Occupy Bernal, and Occupy Noe Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at the meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on January 9, 2013.
The group asked the Retirement Board to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.
#1 in SF Foreclosures and Related Evictions: Racist and Predatory
Who: (Retired and Current) City Employees, especially those facing foreclosure/eviction and supporters What: Public Comment at San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board Meeting (2 minute limit) When: 2:00pm, Wednesday, January 9 Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor (near Market Street)
We are asking SFERS to do the following:
Investigate investments in Wells Fargo, which is #1 in foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco and elsewhere, as well as other lenders foreclosing on and evicting San Francisco homeowners..
Prepare and submit a Wells Fargo shareholder resolution to stop predatory and/or racist foreclosures and related evictions for consideration at the next annual Wells Fargo shareholder meeting (probably in April 2013).
If Wells Fargo doesn’t adopt the shareholder resolution at its next shareholder meeting and take immediate steps to implement policies and practices in line with the resolution, then divest from any investment in Wells Fargo within three months after that shareholder meeting.
We are asking San Francisco Mayor Lee to do the following:
Appoint only qualified candidates to the SFERS Retirement Board who are not executives or employees at Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, or Bank of America (the top three in predatory foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco).
Issue a statement in support of divestment from Wells Fargo of all San Francisco City and County funds, including employee retirement and disability funds.
Background:
The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:
“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)
Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $175 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.
Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.
Ross Rhodes lives in the house he grew up in and is a lifelong resident of Bernal Heights. He heard about Occupy Bernal on a Monday, started working with Ed Donaldson with San Francisco Housing Development Corporation (SFHDC) on Wednesday, and by Thursday he was an active member of Occupy Bernal. He is an Occupy Bernal success story because he obtained a fair deal loan modification from Wells Fargo! Even after his success, he has continued to organize the struggle for fair deal loan modifications for Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters with Wells Fargo and other lenders.
Video of Ross Rhodes speaking at December 6, 2012, Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview bank branch action:
Dozens of protesters held a press conference at the former home of Kathy Galves at 12:00 noon on October 23, 2012, to tell the story of thousands of disabled elders and families that end up homeless when they lose their homes. Wells Fargo foreclosed on the home of Kathy Galves, then evicted her and her sister in December 2012. Since then, she has been staying with friends and paying out of her pension to stay at hotels. “I have nowhere else to go,” says Galves. Kathy, a disabled, African-American senior, needs a safe, secure, and affordable home.
Thousands of elders and families have lots their homes to foreclosure here in San Francisco and they often end up homeless staying in motels, their cars, shelters, and even sometimes on the streets. Many of the foreclosures happen when someone in the family becomes ill and the family can no longer afford skyrocketing medical bills.
The event also highlighted the plight of 82-year-old Dr. Lehmann Brightmann, a Native American scholar and educator who is in the hospital while his family teeters on the edge of foreclosure and 80-year-old Fred Wahpepah, a Native American medicine-giver who needs financial assistance to prevent his home from going into foreclosure after his wife became ill and could no longer work.
The event was co-sponsored by POOR Magazine / Prensa POBRE, The Manilatown Heritage Foundation, The Idriss Stelley Foundation, and the San Francisco Bay View newspaper, with speakers from some of those organizations, as well as the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign.
Brother Robles of Poor Magazine and Manilatown Heritage Foundation speaks.
“Tiny” aka Lisa Gray-Garcia of POOR Magazine speaks.
Kathy Galves speaks.
Son of Dr. Lehmann Brightmann speaks.
Son of Dr. Lehmann Brightmann continues.
Tommi Avicolli-Mecca of Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco speaks.
Tommi Avicolli-Mecca of Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco continues.
Fred Wahpepah speaks.
Devina Estrella O Jai speaks.
Ross Rhodes of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, and Occupy Noe speaks.
The banks are planning to auction off the homes or evict the following Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter families on the dates listed below. To help defend their homes, please show up at the Occupy the Auction action at 1:45pm on the date listed with a whistle (or other noisemaker) and earplugs. San Francisco Occupy the Auctions actions take place at 1:45pm every weekday (not holidays) on the sidewalk in front of City Hall at 400 Van Ness Ave., unless another time and location is specified or if there are no residential foreclosure auctions scheduled that day. San Francisco evictions usually take place on Wednesdays, starting as early as 6:00am.