I have a piece published at Think Progress this morning that covers one of the next phases of the Occupy movement: Occupy Our Homes. I have a close friend who is one of the founders and organizers of the newly-formed group that is getting a LOT of attention.
On Tuesday this week, Occupy Our Homes held an event in Michigan.
On Tuesday of this week, as part of a National Day of Action for the Occupy movement, one couple in the Detroit suburb of Southgate, Michigan took a stand against attempts to throw them out of their home. Debbie and Robert Henry, with support and help from the friends, neighbors, community supporters, and allies from Occupy Detroit, announced that they would not comply with any efforts to foreclose on their home or to evict them.The Henrys have lived in their home near where Debbie grew up for 7 years. The home is now worth less than a third of what they paid for it thanks to collapse of the housing market fueled, in part, by the very banks responsible for many of the foreclosures across the country. Their mortgage was originally through Countrywide Financial, but was eventually sold to Bank of America. After Debbie had a stroke and lost her job, she and her husband were unable to maintain their payments and attempted to obtain a mortgage loan modification. However, unbeknownst to them, Bank of America proceeded to sell their mortgage to Fannie Mae rather than working with them to stay in their home. The sale of this mortgage and thousands of others like it has the ironic effect of transferring the cost of the foreclosure process to American taxpayers. Bank of America, meanwhile, reported a $6.2 billion profit in the third quarter of 2011.
Read the rest of the piece HERE.
