HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: OCCUPY BOSTON TO SPEAK AT PRESS CONFERENCE & MARCH WITH CITY LIFE/VIDA URBANA
City Life / Vida Urbana and the Bank Tenants Association, with support from Occupy Boston, will hold a press conference and tenant speak out at 12 noon on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 40 Fowler Street in Dorchester, MA 02121. The press conference will introduce the St. Simon family who will move into 40 Fowler, as well as testimonials from families who have successfully gotten their homes back about foreclosure.
Home foreclosures have dominated the American landscape since the start of the recession. Through no fault of their own, families have been losing their homes and livelihoods. This is far too commonplace in America and has a disproportionate effect on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. City Life’s ongoing work demonstrates the willingness of families to remain in their homes despite the pressure of the banks and those in power.
In addition to the press conference, Occupy Boston will join with City Life / Vida Urbana for an “Occupy our Homes” rally and march on Monday, December 19, 2011 at 12 noon at 10 Causeway St. in Boston, the Boston Regional Office of HUD. This rally is being called to bring visibility to the HUD eviction requirements.
City Life / Vida Urbana, community activists, and local families oppose the HUD requirements that allow commercial banks to evict foreclosure victims who have FHA-insured mortgagers before the property is transferred to HUD. This policy forces the foreclosing lender to evict in order to get their insurance, even when they could otherwise afford to stay in the property.
Occupy Boston is encouraging community members, families, students, activists, and victims of the foreclosure crisis to join City Life / Vida Urbana, the Bank Tenants Association, and Occupy Boston at these two important events. For more information visit http://clvu.org/ or https://www.occupyboston.org/
2 Responses to “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS: OCCUPY BOSTON TO SPEAK AT PRESS CONFERENCE & MARCH WITH CITY LIFE/VIDA URBANA”
“Through no fault of their own…”
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Seriously? NO fault at all?
Yes, generally no fault. We are not talking here about folks who bought McMansions or vacation homes they could not afford. Many of them are tenants who paid their rents on time but the apartment buildings they live in were foreclosed. Others lost jobs or had serious illnesses in their families while lacking adequate health insurance, leaving them unable to pay underwater mortgages. National statistics have shown that people of color as a group lost 60-85% of their household wealth in the last 3 years while the wealthiest 1% whose financial speculations caused the crisis were bailed out and are enjoying higher incomes than ever.