Occupy Our Homes…

This past weekend marked three months since the “Occupy Movement” began, starting with the “Occupy Wall Street” protest that took over Zuccootti Park in lower Manhattan back on September 17th.

The movement – which supports among other things economic inequality – has taken perhaps the strongest stance against corruption within the banking industry and the influence big banks have on the US government. The US economy was brought to the brink of collapse and to date, no one has really been punished for it.

People want answers, accountability and change.

The protests have been a means for the “99%” (a reference to the large concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners, compared to the rest) to be recognized and for their stories to be told.

Since it’s inception, the movement has spread around the world and continues to remain relatively strong – at least, relative to the duration of most protests.

Recently, the movement began taking on the housing crisis. Earlier this month, Occupy Our Homes (OOH) held a “national day of action” calling attention to the foreclosure crisis and the mistreatment of homeowners by big banks.

For the past several years, stories of people being removed from their homes – often illegally and without due process – have made headlines all over the country.

Now, the OOH movement is helping people fight the foreclosure process and stand up to the bank(s), by either remaining in their homes, or going back to homes they’ve been removed from and “re-occupying” them.

As you read the various stories posted on the OOH website, there is a general theme: banks received billions of dollars in bailout money from the government, which was specifically meant to help those with legitimate needs for assistance to stay in their homes. So far, only a fraction of that money has been used for its intended purpose.

One story – from our backyard here in metro Detroit – chronicles a family who said they would not comply with any foreclosure or eviction from their home. They purchased the home 7 years ago for $140k. It’s now worth only $40k-$50k. After an illness in the family, they could no longer make their payments. As the OOH website points out:

“The mortgage was originated by Countrywide Financial, which was later bought by Bank of America. Bank of America then received $45 billion in federal bailout funds with the expectation of issuing mortgage modifications to families like the Henrys. Bank of America’s CEO Brian Moynihan made $10 million in 2010 in cash and stock bonuses. Instead of using the government bail-out to arrange a more reasonable payment for the Henrys, Bank of America sold the loan to federal loan guarantor Fannie Mae, likely making a profit.”

As of December 6th, the family said they were still willing to work with Fannie Mae, but no one was returning their calls.

The event brought national attention to both the homeowners situation, as well as the goals of the movement. Similar events have been held across the country in Atlanta, Minneapolis, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and more.

In the end, many of those either staying in or “re-occupying” their houses will end up losing the battle and their homes. The law looks at contracts and usually doesn’t take fairness and equality into consideration.

However, if the movement can keep even a couple extra people in their homes, while bringing broader attention to the banks poor handling of the foreclosure crisis, it could make the Occupy Our Homes movement as important as the Occupy Wall Street movement…