If you're poor and the bank is coming for your home, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has a plan for you.
Just squat, she says.
Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put.
In a Friday report, CNN's Drew Griffin explored the case of Ohioan Andrea Geiss, whose home was foreclosed upon in April.
"Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go," said Griffin. "So, she decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere."
In Lucas County, Ohio, over 4,000 properties were foreclosed upon in 2008, reports CNN.
"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."
She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.
"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin.
Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."
By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt.
Just squat, she says.
Yes, this Ohio Democrat is actually encouraging her financially distressed constituents whose homes have been foreclosed upon, to simply stay put.
In a Friday report, CNN's Drew Griffin explored the case of Ohioan Andrea Geiss, whose home was foreclosed upon in April.
"Behind in payments, out of work, a husband sick, she had nowhere to go," said Griffin. "So, she decided to follow the advice of her Congresswoman and go nowhere."
In Lucas County, Ohio, over 4,000 properties were foreclosed upon in 2008, reports CNN.
"So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes," said Congresswoman Kaptur before the House of Representatives. "Don't you leave."
She's called on all of her foreclosed-upon constituents to stay in their homes and refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight," said CNN.
"If they've had no legal representation of a high quality, I tell them stay in their homes," Kaptur told Griffin.
Kaptur is a high-profile advocate of an increasingly popular mode of fighting foreclosures best known for it's key phrase: "Produce the note."
By telling a bank to "produce the note," a homeowner can delay foreclosure by forcing the lender to prove the suing institution is actually the same which owns the debt.
This is nonviolent resistance on an individual--and possibly collective--level. Who is the opponent? Those who enable a socio-economic-political system that rewards the wealthy at the expense of the poor. Corporatism is part and parcel with fascism, so I heartily commend Rep Kaptur (for whom I have a soft spot since she started her career while I still lived in the Toledo suburbs).
What Method might this entail? Methinks 173. Nonviolent occupation:
Nonviolent occupation may be used...by people who have been ordered to leave their land or building. Thus nonviolent occupation may involve technical trespass and the violation of other laws.
...
During the 1928 Bardoli campaign in India, those peasants whose land was attached because of their refusal to pay taxes either refused to leave the land at all or returned to it. They cultivated it and planted crops, and insisted that whatever the current legal status might be, morally the land remained theirs and that they had a right to use it for constructive purposes.
In August 1957 about two hundred Mohawk Indians, part of the Iroquois Confederacy, settled on the banks of the Schohari Creek, near Fort Hunter, New York; they said that they had been blasted from their homes by the construction of the St Lawrence Seawy, and that the land they now occupied belonged to the Mohawks under a treaty made in the 1700s. The Indians built a longhouse--the place of worship in the Handsome Lake religion--and a half dozen cabins. The Mohwaks asserted they would recognize no local eviction proceedings, now would they deal with local or state officials; as they were a nation they would only deal with the Federal government.
...
During the 1928 Bardoli campaign in India, those peasants whose land was attached because of their refusal to pay taxes either refused to leave the land at all or returned to it. They cultivated it and planted crops, and insisted that whatever the current legal status might be, morally the land remained theirs and that they had a right to use it for constructive purposes.
In August 1957 about two hundred Mohawk Indians, part of the Iroquois Confederacy, settled on the banks of the Schohari Creek, near Fort Hunter, New York; they said that they had been blasted from their homes by the construction of the St Lawrence Seawy, and that the land they now occupied belonged to the Mohawks under a treaty made in the 1700s. The Indians built a longhouse--the place of worship in the Handsome Lake religion--and a half dozen cabins. The Mohwaks asserted they would recognize no local eviction proceedings, now would they deal with local or state officials; as they were a nation they would only deal with the Federal government.
The bankers all think they can exploit people and squeeze the government for money at the same time. All it takes is people refusing to cooperate with the rules and the whole house of cards comes tumbling down.
ntodd
not to mention, its the dead of winter in ohio. where are these people supposed to go? shelters are full and funds are dwindling...
Posted by: ericka | January 30, 2009 at 08:10 PM
Nice post. On foreclosure: I like the produce-the-note strategy. I live in Tampa and know one person he helped, and it actually worked. They did not get the entire home paid for, but they got terms adjusted to be favorable and they were able to avoid foreclosure. It really varries by situation and probably the laws of your state on how far this goes. This site has all the videos they have done. Watch all the videos here:
http://tinyurl.com/producenotevideo
Posted by: Judy | March 30, 2009 at 11:50 AM