On Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011, Oakland Police entered a duplex at 1415 10th St. and arrested 12 people in and around the home; the realtor called in a locksmith to change the locks and the police came in behind them.<\/p>\n
The 99% and Occupy Oakland activists claimed the Fannie Mae-owned vacant property on Dec. 6\u00ad\u2014the National Day of Action\u2014as a call to stop fraudulent lending practices and illegal evictions by banks. It marked the beginning of the Occupy our Homes Campaign taking place in 27 cities.<\/p>\n
The home, in historic West Oakland, was being used as housing for formerly homeless people and for community meeting space. Those arrested included neighbors, community organizers, relatives and friends of a few residents.<\/p>\n
All of those arrested have been released on their own recognizance.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday Jan. 3, the Alameda County District Attorney dropped charges for two of the people who were scheduled for arraignment. The others will be arraigned on Jan. 30 at the Alameda County Courthouse.<\/p>\n
Witnesses say about 30 police officers were at the site and that the realtor\/broker David Schubb, whose actions some called \u201cvigilante-like,\u201d was signing the complaint as the people were being arrested.
\nHe was clearly acting on behalf of Fannie Mae.<\/p>\n
Orchestrating a police raid is beyond the scope of a realtor\u2019s job: 99% of property claims where title is being contested are dealt with in civil courts because housing is a civil issue and not in the penal code, meaning that police have no jurisdiction over the issue.<\/p>\n
The 10th Street House was held for two reasons:
\n\u2014To demand that Fannie Mae turn it into low-income housing
\n\u2014In support of the Ramirez family<\/p>\n
The Ramirez\u2019s home in East Oakland was improperly foreclosed on by Fannie Mae in May of 2011. Bank of America, acting on behalf of Fannie Mae, sold the Ramirez home to EB Fund Company two weeks early, May 5, while the bank was still supposed be working with them. Bank of America admits they should have allowed for 30 days before selling the house, instead of selling it while telling Ms. Ramirez she could continue to negotiate and try to get a modification from the HAMP program.<\/p>\n
Bank of America told our Assemblymember Sandre Swanson\u2019s office that they would be willing to rescind the sale and work with the Ramirez family to review them for in-house modification programs and other programs in collaboration with the Keep Your Home California program. Now it\u2019s up to Fannie Mae whether or not to allow the rescission of the sale.<\/p>\n
So far there has been no response from Fannie Mae. The family is now renting the home they once owned.
\nAs a government program, Fannie Mae should be working with families to help them keep their homes, rather than obstructing processes for modification review or selling homes before the standard period of time given to review the case for other options. This case is one of the most severe in terms of how borrowers are treated.<\/p>\n
The Ramirez family needs their home back more that Fannie Mae needs one more.<\/p>\n
We urge Fannie Mae to allow the rescission of the sale.<\/p>\n
There are countless examples that show Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac acquires real property by way of fraudulent foreclosure procedures and shady quitclaim transfers. Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac wastes its resources by forcibly evicting homeowners who struggle to pay their loan obligations\u2014eventually turning homeowners into renters.<\/p>\n
The banks are doing the bidding of Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac, who hold 60 percent of mortgages in California. An increasingly large number of people in the U.S. live in homes that the banks have foreclosed.<\/p>\n
Part of this foreclosure scheme has resulted from Fannie Mae\/Freddie Mac working in concert with Wall Street banks, mortgage interests, and shady law firms to steal homes from those who are vulnerable and often defenseless.<\/p>\n
Fannie Mae\u2019s role in contributing to and prolonging the housing crisis is reprehensible.<\/p>\n
\u2014Just Cause<\/p>\n
Just Cause (CJJC) is a multi-racial, grassroots organization building community leadership to achieve justice for low-income San Francisco and Oakland residents.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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