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A special shout-out
For University of Michigan Dearborn professor Bonnie Halloran and the UofM Dearborn students who joined our meetings & actions over the fall and spring semesters.
Thanks to all who rallied for Cheryl West
Fri. April 24
Detroit senior fought unjust eviction, gets help as she leaves home of 60 years
Ms. West and Eviction Defense supporters held off eviction just long enough to help her move to a new apartment. As the bailiff ordered a lifetime of belongings to be tossed into dumpsters, activists helped Cheryl West rescue most of them.
The tax foreclosure that took her home never should have happened.
Ms. West, who is 68 years old has only Social Security to live on. She lost her home to tax foreclosure in 2014 after personal hardship drove her into default, & no one told her she could have gotten a hardship exemption from taxes she couldn't pay.
More information.
Meet with us!
We meet on Thursdays, 6 p.m. at Old St. John's church, located at 2120 Russell, next to Eastern Market, Detroit. It's just off I-75, and has ample parking -- enter from the parking lot side door. See map. We meet there every Thursday.
Thanks to folks who picketed investor trying to evict Disa Bryant
Tues. May 5
Disa Bryant is desperately trying to regain her home after having been duped into thinking she had made a winning bid to regain the home at last year's tax auction.
Sean Tidwell, the investor who bought her home, at first wouldn't sell and then tried to demand from Disa more than three times what he paid for the home - which he knows Disa can't pay. He is trying to evict her.
More information.
29 people packed the court for Gratiot McDougall families
At March 6 Circuit Court hearing
At the hearing developer Peter Barclae tried again to get Judge Leslie Kim Smith to let him evict 13 families.
After 29 people stood in support when the case was called, Barclae claimed that he would finally pay the back taxes he owes on the homes, averting tax foreclosure. Judge Smith decided she wanted to meet with the lawyers the next Friday before making her decision. Four days before the meeting Barclae showed his contempt by sending bogus “Termination of Tenancy” notices to the families.
The Judge says she'll give a written decision in April. We urge everyone to keep backing these families in their long, tough battle to save their homes.
Supporters came out for Lorraine Dexter in court Nov. 5
The eviction was delayed at the last minute - read more.
Thanks to all who came out Oct. 2 to protest Fannie Mae policies
The crowd marching in front of the library where Fannie Mae head Mel Watt spoke included union members from UAW-GM, Ford Local 600, Local 140, and other unions. Several carloads of Chicago activists from Centro Autonomo and the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign then arrived and spoke out inside the town hall.
More about Watt's visit & our protest
Cookout/rent party raised 2 months' rent on Sept. 27
Thanks so much to the over 60 people who came out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon to support Charmonique Hopkins and Detroit Eviction Defense.
We raised enough to keep the Hopkins family in their home for at least two months while we pursue our struggle against Ferndale Housing Commission. The food was plentiful and delicious, the conversation and camaraderie guaranteeing a good time for all. Again, thanks to everyone who came out, donated a dish, time and money.
Read her story.
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Backed by supporters, Ann Talley asks for the Mayor's support (top) & gives him a hug & a T-shirt after his positive response. |
Gratiot McDougall
families got 'a raw deal,' Mayor Duggan agreed
At Sept. 25 District 5 Detroit meeting
A group wearing new T-shirts showing their support for Gratoit -McDougall families got Mayor Duggan's attention in their crusade to stop the unjust eviction of 13 families.
Detroit gave taxpayer money to Peter Barclae, a failed developer from West Bloomfield, to build affordable homes in the Gratiot McDougall area. Barclae now refuses to honor his obligation to sell the homes to the families living there and paying towards their purchases.
The Mayor agreed they got a "raw deal" and says he'll do whatever is in his power to help them get justice.
Barclae ploys foiled in Court
In June, July & again on Sept. 5 &12
As the families fought back bogus motions to evict them so the developer can sell their homes to a Singapore Company, supporters were there to back them up.
On July 25, the 22 people who came out to support the families were noted by the Judge, who refused to let Barclae take the money homeowners are putting into escrow.
We pursued scam artist Sandoval at his luxury home & with legal action until he finally got arrested. He has pleaded guilty. |
The Armstrongs continue to protest misapplication of their tax payments.
The family has moved, but has not stopped fighting the unfair process that forced them from their home. The case is in the appeals stage.
The company that took advantage of an error in how their tax payments were applied has put their former home up for rent.
Last updated:
For contact info, scroll right.
More News Updates:
Protests & Fights against eviction
See also Eviction Defense events
Tax foreclosure nightmare:
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#tfjune8
Thousands of families evicted in 2015 despite desperate attempts to save homes
2015 tax foreclosures were delayed – but just for 3 days
On June 8, 2015 hundreds of people still crowded into the Wayne County Treasurer’s office, desperate to find a way to save their homes from crushing taxes and foreclosure. Outside, protesters blocked the street, calling for a moratorium on all tax foreclosures.
The County had twice delayed its plan to foreclose on 37,000 homes – including 22,325 occupied by owners and their families -- at the end of March. Now more than 4,400 owner-occupants and their families are still on the verge of losing their homes to tax foreclosure. The vast majority are Detroiters who had paid taxes for years before the burden got too heavy. (Detroit has the highest poverty of any city in America, yet few homeowners were told they could get a poverty exemption.) Foreclosure is the biggest cause of the blight taking down one Detroit neighborhood after another.
Thousands more: one payment from being thrown back into foreclosure
Tossing out thousands of families is illegal, say ACLU, Conyers, & 15 groups
Even for families who managed to dodge the foreclosure bullet, the crisis is far from over. Many were pushed into harsh terms that they can ill afford, based on assessment values way above what their homes are worth. One woman who lives on a fixed income managed to scrape together $1400 for the first payment, but illness forced her to skip the next payment, so she could lose it all – including her home. Others hit with crises like layoffs need much more flexibility as they struggle to catch up.
And there's a double whammy, as the city of Detroit again adds to the desperation of Detroit families by shutting off the water for tens of thousands who got behind on their water bills.
The ACLU expressed alarm at this "unprecedented human rights catastrophe.” In concert with Eviction Defense and 14 other groups, the ACLU called for a moratorium on foreclosures and warned that “tossing thousands of human beings into the streets as the county plans to do is against the law, not to mention callous and short-sighted…
“The impending foreclosures — which stem, in large part, from excessive taxation on based on grossly inflated assessments — are illegal and violate Detroit residents' constitutional rights."
Detroit homeowners "have been over-assessed for years, if not decades,” said the statement the groups signed. “We need the county to provide more time and means for people to save their homes—but we also need an immediate adjustment of this unfair tax burden to reflect the actual market value of these properties. The county should not try to balance its books on the backs of our most exploited citizens.”
U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit also calls for a moratorium on foreclosures in Wayne County.
County loses money when it forecloses
And the foreclosures are “counterproductive,” say the ACLU and allied groups. In the past three years foreclosed homes were sold in auctions that raised just $1 for every $7 that the county had demanded from the former owners in taxes, penalties and interest. And this year, for the first time, the homeowners being foreclosed on are barred from bidding on their homes as they’re auctioned off in Sept. and October – so it’s likely many will be thrown out on the street as distant investors snap up their homes for bargain-basement prices.
Meanwhile, “schools have been closed and services cut to the bone, [and] developers have been given land and generous tax breaks for their projects,” Dianne Feeley points out in Black Agenda Report. “These include turning 8.3 acres of land over to Dan Gilbert, head of Quicken Loans, to develop the Brush Park area just above central downtown...”
Read the full statement on the ACLU web site.
See October, 2015 Detroit News article: Mass evictions loom after homes sold off
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#council3-24
Pressed by crowd's testimony on March 24, 2015
Detroit City Council urged 'extraordinary efforts to avoid... mass residential tax foreclosures on occupied homes'
Channel 7 covered the March 24 rally at Detroit City Council, & interviewed people fighting to save homes from tax foreclosure. |
After some 40 people spoke to the Council, urging them to do more to halt the huge tax foreclosure crisis looming over families and neighborhoods, the City Council passed a strong resolution. It urged that the County, State Legislature and city assessors take specific strong actions to help families save their homes. As the Council points out, "the housing crisis of the last decade, fueled by predatory subprime loans" and debt obligations imposed by Wall Street, had "greatly inflated" the assessed value and tax burden of Detroit homes, "putting many more in harm’s way." The government doesn't get "full, or even minimally adequate value for the sale of foreclosed properties," it adds, and instead loses "inhabited, taxable property." Read the resolution.
Councilman Gabe Leland, who got involved at the urging of the Russell Woods-Sullivan neighborhood association, won applause when he blasted "unscrupulous investors" who take advantage of tax foreclosure. He said that a temporary halt should be considered and distributed a letter he wrote the Mayor urging, among other things, that occupied homes facing foreclosure should be re-assessed "right now."
Fine words that must be followed by action
Council President Brenda Jones agreed that there's "nothing else more pressing to the city... We’re actively involved in doing demolition, but when there's a foreclosure, within a matter of weeks – or days –homes are empty, strippers come in... We have to help our citizens to stay in their homes."
10,000 owner-occupied homes were slated for foreclosure April 1
Deputy Treasurer Eric Sabree revealed that while 8,200 families have dodged the tax foreclosure bullet by signing payment plans, 10,000 owner-occupied homes are still slated for foreclosure. On March 31, we rallied to press the County to halt those foreclosures.
Many people insisted that the city and county pull homes from tax foreclosure while they sort out the errors that led to this crisis. Here's a taste of what was said:
People call out for action
"I challenge treasurer to do what is needed, to keep families in their homes. They can act now. So many families suffering in silence."
"The treasurer has the power to withhold any properties from auction --right now!"
"My partner applied 4 times for help, they sent back his files. An investor bought his home for $1500 and was selling it back to us for $15,000. We made our payments, but he didn’t pay his taxes, and we got foreclosed on. This home has been 64 years in his family."
"Our tax bills are illegal. The assessed and tax value are wrong. We’ve had a Katrina here."
"We’re going to bring the heat of the street to this issue."
"When I was foreclosed on, I had over $5000 in escrow with the city -- but the city didn’t give the money back or apply it to the taxes I owed."
"Remember those homes are occupied by people – seniors and children, families hurting."
"Landlords are supposed to pay a fee – but they're not, and they're kicking people out of their homes."
"I have family members facing foreclosure and I know that it isn’t right."
"You need to call an emergency. $250 million sits there and they want to waste that money tearing down more houses."
"We need to call a state of emergency. It’s time for us to get together. We don’t want to go back to the year of 1957."
See more people speak out
"I applied 4 times to Step Forward for help, and they denied me every time. My house been in the family 60 years. We were the first black family in the neighborhood, and now we're all being emptied out of the neighborhood."
"Since the typical household has 2.4 people, at least 24,000 are still facing foreclosure. And those who are in payment plans are still only one payment away from losing their homes."
"$40 million in revolving funds to help with delinquent taxes are being spent to rehab buildings for the county."
"Meanwhile we also have water shutoffs, plans are unaffordable. We need time – a moratorium."
"Blight removal funds have been illegally re-appropriated. $251 million provided for relief is unspent. Join with us to demand more spent to avoid foreclosures."
"We're gong to work very hard to make sure that our residents stay in their homes."
"People have lost homes sold in auction and they didn’t even know about it"
"The City Council should press the county to use the authority they have. Where are these people going to go? It’s a strategy for gentrification."
"I tried to get into a payment plan before being on the foreclosure list – I was denied. Plans should be reasonable & available earlier; and penalties should stop when people enter into a payment plan."
"There are so many reasons for people being foreclosed on."
"This is a slow-moving train. We want to have children whose parents can give them a normal life."
"They’re trying to bring people to Detroit. They might as well say, 'Welcome to Detroit, you can stay 2 hours'.”
"This has been devastating. This has got to stop."
"Even 4-legged animals look out for each other."
"It is essential that the Detroit City Council join with their constituents to hold this city together. We can’t tolerate thousands of hard working people becoming homeless.”
Shocking facts on how Detroit taxes compare to nearby suburbs
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#tax2015
March 31 rally put pressure on the County as 10,000 homeowners still face foreclosure. |
Photo thanks to Jim West |
Wayne County extended 2015 tax foreclosure deadline from April 1 to June 8
After protests March 31 & May 12; But no lasting tax relief!
Rally April 16 called for releasing funds
“You are never going to stop the blight until you stop the foreclosures. What kind of government are we having here in Detroit if you turn 80-year-olds out of their home?" - Dawn DeRose, Detroit Eviction Defense activist, quoted by Detroit News onMarch 31 |
Photo thanks to Jim West |
At the 11th hour, on March 31, Wayne County finally lifted the threat of immediate foreclosure that was still hanging over the heads of at least 16,000 families. The deadline for homeowners to avoid foreclosure through an extension or payment plan has been extended from March 31 to May 12. On March 31, hundreds of people were still crowding the Treasurer's office, trying to save their homes.
Protests kept up the pressure for halting foreclosures
Eviction Defense & other groups & activists had vigorously protested the looming foreclosures, and marched in front to the Treasurer's offices at noon on March 31. They also picketed Wojtowicz’s home the previous night.
"The move came the same day the Detroit City Council approved a resolution asking [County Treasurer] Wojtowicz for a moratorium to give lawmakers time to help homeowners," reported the Detroit News. That action immediately followed our testimony at the Council's last meeting.
See Fox2 News report & interview with woman in danger of losing her home to tax foreclosure |
Tax system is broken -Declare a State of Emergency!
Homeowners decried their high tax assessments on Feb. 10 |
We are also insisting that a State of Emergency be called and that more extraordinary measures be enacted to make up for the City and County's failure to set reasonable tax policies, so thousands of families won't be thrown into homelessness.
The County's new deadline was a belated recognition of the unfairness of the tax system and the crisis that thousands of families are trapped in. Some 13,000 other families dodged the foreclosure bullet this winter by signing payment plans the County urged on them - and that many cannot really afford. The crisis is especially acute in Detroit, where people suffer job losses, the health problems of an aging population, unreal high assessments of homes whose real values had plunged, and the rigidity of the system. Few were told of the poverty exemption and other relief many could have qualified for, for example.
This year a new rule also bars families from buying back their own homes in the fall tax auctions. On top of that, up to 18,000 more properties will be foreclosed on through the “reverter” program.
Mayor offered limited relief for 2015 taxes
Detroit's Mayor Duggan announced that the city will waive interest and penalties on 2015 taxes for homeowners who've signed a payment plan with the County for back taxes -- if they can pay 2015 taxes in full by February 2016.
More on tidal wave of 2015 Tax Foreclosures
Things to watch out for when trying to pay your taxes
Foreclosures in 2014 were devastating.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#west
Unjust eviction drew supporters & Fox2 News to rally. |
Tax foreclosure nightmare:
Cheryl West fought injustice
of losing home
April 24, 2015 rally at her home called for end to tax foreclosure injustice
“She’s been here for 60 years, she’d paid into the system over and over these years and years," said an outraged Errol Jennings, one of the many people who rallied to the defense of Cheryl West in front of her Detroit home. "In the end, she... lost it all as a result of the system just absolutely failing."
See also Mother Jones magazine article on the chaos as thousands of Detroiters try to save their homes from tax foreclosure, and the March People's Assembly where Cheryl and other activists spoke.
When Cheryl West got pummeled by disability, unemployment and the loss of a brother and sister within the same year, it wiped out her savings and drastically cut her income. As she juggled bills to survive, her back taxes and interest mounted. In 2014 she lost the home she grew up in -- that had been in her family 60 years -- to tax foreclosure.
No one told Ms. West that her income loss would qualify her for a Poverty Property Tax Exemption - an option both the City and County keep quiet about.
Step Forward refused to help
West applied for the State-run Step Forward program four different times, and was rejected each time. Although Step Forward is supposed to help people save their homes from foreclosure, it rejects homeowners who apply 57% of the time --even as it approves nearly all requests to tear homes down.
First non-white family in neighbohood now forced out
After the home fell into foreclosure for some $5,000 in back taxes, it was sold at auction to Vanessa Banks for about $20,000. Banks then charged Ms. West about 80% of her social-security income in rent. When Cheryl couldn't pay, Banks took her to court. Ms. West had to agree to get out to avoid being forcibly evicted.
As she went through the painful process of disposing of a lifetime of personal and family property, Eviction Defense activists helped her find a new home, rallied in her support, and helped save most of her belongings from being tossed into a dumpster as she was evicted.
West’s family was the first non-white family in the neighborhood, and her father was the first African-American music teacher in Detroit Public Schools. Now the neighborhood is being taken away, piece by piece, from the African-American residents that made their homes in this previously segregated area.
The State, City and County all pay a role in the forced removal of long time residents like West, as they enrich vulture “investors,” and promote what amounts to “economic and ethnic cleansing” of many neighborhoods -- and the outright devastation of others, as houses are abandoned and blighted.
Your support is helping save homes.
On Oct. 2, when Fannie Mae head Mel Watt came to town, 150 protesters called for real eviction relief. Find out more. |
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#gra-mc
A protest of more than 50 people in June convinced Midas company to stop marketing the families' homes |
Gratiot McDougall families build support in fight to save homes
Pressured City Council, HUD director, Mayor
Support actions are critical
On Sept 25, 2014 Antoinette Talley and her neighbors took another step closer to saving their homes in the Gratiot McDougall development on Detroit’s east side when Detroit's Mayor said he wants to help.
Peter Barclae, the Oakland County developer who pledged to sell them their homes when they moved in, not only refused to make good on that contract, but also tried relentlessly to evict them. But after he got a Singapore-based company, Midas, to start selling their homes, 40-plus people braved the pouring rain to protest at Midas' office in Pontiac.
Channel 2 & other media showed up as a group gave Midas evidence of Barclae's illegal bait-and-switch. Within hours, Midas had removed all the homes from its listings.
The Detroit News & Metro Times did fine stories on our July 11 rally against Barclae. |
Barclae kept insisting the $40,000 - $70,000 he's collected from these homebuyers was only "rent" and they were “tenants.” The homeowners sued to stop this arrogant breach of contract, enforce their right to buy the homes, and save their neighborhood from the blight that will follow if they are evicted.
Supporters joined them at a June 20 hearing where the Judge was so surprised by Barclae's marketing of homes in dispute that she delayed the company's demand for escrow.
On July 29, we went to City Council to call for a city investigation of the Barclae's fraudulent actions and a resolution telling him to sell the homes to the families. His various attempts to evict immediately failed in court.
On Sept 25, 2014 Antoinette Talley and her neighbors took another step closer to saving their homes in the Gratiot McDougall development on Detroit’s east side when Detroit's Mayor said he wants to help..
Peter Barclae, the Oakland County developer who pledged to sell them their homes when they moved in, not only refused to make good on that contract, but also tried relentlessly to evict them. But after he got a Singapore-based company, Midas, to start selling their homes, 40-plus people braved the pouring rain to protest at Midas' office in Pontiac.
Channel 2 & other media showed up as a group gave Midas evidence of Barclae's illegal bait-and-switch. Within hours, Midas had removed all the homes from its listings.
The Detroit News & Metro Times did fine stories on our July 11 rally against Barclae. |
Barclae kept insisting the $40,000 - $70,000 he's collected from these homebuyers was only "rent" and they were "tenants." The homeowners sued to stop this arrogant breach of contract, enforce their right to buy the homes, and save their neighborhood from the blight that will follow if they are evicted.
Supporters joined them at a June 20 hearing where the Judge was so surprised by Barclae's marketing of homes in dispute that she delayed the company's demand for escrow.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#ferndalemeet
Latest news: HUD issues scathing report on Housing Commission abuses!
Ferndale's Autumn House 'run like a prison,' protesters told Ferndale City Council
At Housing Commission meeting, we also help Teresa Benton win voucher she'd been denied for living in Detroit
Lawyer Bob Day, residents & voucher holders testified in April, 2015 about the Housing Commission's neglect & discrimination |
Photos from OC115 video |
Residents of Ferndale’s Autumn House were told, in written policies, that if they complain outside of an “approved procedure” they violate their lease agreement. And until Eviction Defense activists began agitating for change, no one was ever allowed to bring such issues up at meetings of the Ferndale Housing Commission, which runs Autumn House.
Autumn House has been “run like a prison,” explained attorney Bob Day, who stood up for residents and voucher holders at an April 13, 2015 Ferndale City Council meeting, where they aired complaints about how the Housing Commission operates. Ferndale’s mayor appoints the Housing Commissioners.
“Residents and voucher holders of the Ferndale Housing Commission came to the podium one by one… to share complaints about the housing program and ask the City Council to get involved in fixing the problems they live with on a day to day basis.” reported OC115. Residents told of how they’d been “eaten up” by bedbugs, lived in “horrible conditions,” weren’t allowed to have air conditioners, and were told not to speak to other residents or have “unauthorized” gatherings. More about Autumn House organizing.
The protests led the Board of Directors to agree to a tour of Autumn House, where they felt the sweltering heat as residents showed them the conditions they suffer.
At the Ferndale Housing Commission’s monthly meetings residents and Eviction Defense activists kept speaking out for drastic reform. Building on their successful fight against the Commission’s discriminatory policies against granting housing vouchers to Detroit residents, they also won -- for the second time -- a reinstatement of the voucher that Teresa Benton needs to keep her home in Detroit.
Find out how Charmonique Hopkins' won fight vs. discrimination against Detroiters
Former Housing Commission director resigned after stealing drugs, is now in jail
The recent director of the Housing Commission, Deborah Wilson, had been arrested for going into residents’ apartments and stealing their prescription medication, but was allowed to resign and get a $130,000 severance in addition to probation. But she is now behind bars after violating her parole and leading police on a high-speed chase.
At their March 18 meeting Commissioner Don Wiggins was still complaining that public comment is “disruptive.” Since then another Commissioner has been replaced and Emily Vickey, the new director of FHC, called for a meeting with the tenants, to discuss proposed changes.
The recent director of the Housing Commission, Deborah Wilson, had been arrested for going into residents’ apartments and stealing their prescription medication, but was allowed to resign and get a $130,000 severance in addition to probation. But she is now behind bars after violating her parole and leading police on a high-speed chase.
At their March 18 meeting Commissioner Don Wiggins was still complaining that public comment is “disruptive.” Since then another Commissioner has been replaced and Emily Vickey, the new director of FHC, called for a meeting with the tenants, to discuss proposed changes.
Then on June 10, HUD, which oversees the Commission, published a scathing review of Ferndale policies and the "unreasonable" perks granted to former Director Wilson, and called for major reforms.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#tsehaya victory
Eviction case dismissed!
Tsehaya Smith can buy back home she saved from blight
In her fight to save her home, Tsehaya Smith also became an active member of Eviction Defense and helps other families defend their homes. She created this beautiful banner that Jerry Cullors helps hold up.
A Hurricane Without Water
How Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac fed the foreclosure crisis
These two federal agencies became responsible for more than 70% of the foreclosures and evictions in this country! Easy-to-read report demystifies the complex world of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and shows how they wreck havoc on our homes and our neighborhoods. Shows how we can fight their destructive practices.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#auctions2014
Wayne County's 2014 tax auctions were devastating
Yet they hit just 1/4 as many families as those facing foreclosure in '15.
Tax bills remain sky-high, yet housing values have plunged.
See excellent article in Atlantic Magazine: One-Fifth of Detroit's Population Could Lose Their Homes
Some 40 people came to October speak-out on tax-auction abuses & ways to organize. |
More than 9,000 occupied homes went up for auction in September. One investor alone snapped up 103 properties -- one out of ten sold. When the County then tried to sell the rest — including thousands of family homes — in October, big investors were again big bidders.
County Treasurer promotes auction as 'investment opportunity'
Auctions give an opportunity to “vulture” investors to profit off residents and homeowners hit by hardship and unjust tax assessments. For people who are elderly, sick, laid-off or otherwise facing economic problems, the auction can mean the loss of both a family home and years put into that home.
Many of the investors who buy auctioned homes have a history of neglecting them, contributing to the blight that plagues Detroit and the county. Many purposely don't pay taxes when the investment doesn't work out. So after foreclosing, the city can end up without any tax money from the property after all.
Over the last four years thousands of families have lost their homes in the auctions, and the future will drive thousands more out of their houses, so long as this failed tax system is not addressed.
Repayment plans & programs for distressed homeowners fall short
The broken property tax system, failed job recovery, increased costs for those on fixed incomes, and a city bankruptcy that targeted pensioners, all continue to fuel this tax foreclosure and eviction explosion. Yet in 2015, for the first time, State lawmakers banned homeowners from buying back their own homes at the foreclosure sales.
The last thing we need is more families evicted from their homes in Detroit and Wayne County. Many have nowhere to go. And we see the wreckage of past foreclosures all around us.
Step Forward stepped back
Step Forward Michigan, controlled by the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), is denying applications for assistance by the thousands. At the October, 2014 "speakout" we sponsored, people told of abuses and vowed to fight such abuses as the auctions continue. Flyer outlining some of the issues people raised.
A neighborhood-based movement can demand real changes.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#baxter
Baxter Jones' fight vs. Fannie Mae eviction
We took the struggle to stop the eviction of Baxter Jones to Fannie Mae's Chicago offices on Aug. 20, 2013. We did get Fannie Mae to talk to us, but they didn't follow through in time.
Baxter's story
Baxter Jones is a former Detroit Public School teacher who suffered severe, permanent injuries in a car accident and must use a wheelchair. He lost his job and went into default while he was trying to get disability benefits. Wells Fargo, the bank servicing the mortgage for Fannie Mae, foreclosed even though Mr. Jones qualified for a loan modification based on his disabilities.
Baxter got non-profit financing to buy back his home at its market value of $58,000, but Fannie demanded an outlandish $242,000!
Baxter moved out with support from Eviction Defense, and continues to be a strong, active fighter against all unjust evictions.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#jackson
R.I.P. Jerome Jackson
A courageous and warm man who fought to the death
for dignity & against unjust eviction
Jackson (center) rallying vs. eviction of Hernandez family |
Jerome Jackson was a hero in the fight against unjust evictions – not only for himself but for all families defending their homes. He was always there for Detroit Eviction Defense, which he said was "family."
Jerome spent years fighting to keep the house he had made his own. Wayne County and Community Living Services tore up their agreements to support mortgage payments under a program they talked him into in 2004.
Then Fannie Mae relentlessly moved to evict. The battle took a terrible toll on Jerome, but even as his health failed, he fended off eviction.
We will always be inspired by his strength and leadership.
Memorial fund to help pay funeral costs & carry on Jerome's work
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#savedetroit
City-wide campaign:
Save Detroit—Save Our Homes!
80 groups call for end to destructive federal bank policy
Homeowners visited the offices of Senator Stabenow & Congressmen Conyers and Peters as part of a nationwide push for change. |
A city-wide campaign is brewing to stop the surge of foreclosures and evictions that devastate communities. A coalition of neighborhood associations, unions, churches and social justice groups is aiming to reverse the Federal policies at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that drive thousands of Detroit families from their homes. List of endorsers.
Download the flyer that describes the campaign and urge your union, church or group to join the list of endorsers.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#melwattvisit
Fannie Mae head greeted with protest
150 march outside against foreclosures
Inside, we insist: Cut mortgage principal, stop evicting
Detroit News publishes Op-Ed editorial by Eviction Defense activist - read it here
FHFA Director Mel Watt, the man who oversees the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage companies taken over by the Feds, came to Detroit October 2, 2014 to promote a program to help some homeowners – but only those who’ve kept up with overpriced mortgages. Watt did give a hotline number to call – 1-888-995-hope – but had little else to offer the thousands of families Fannie and Freddie are aggressively foreclosing on – even though many were pushed into default through shady practices by banks and loan servicers.
Some 150 people joined a spirited morning protest outside the Detroit Public Library where Watt was about to speak. Inside the library, his carefully-scripted agenda was cut short by a real dialogue where the audience not only told some horror stories of Fannie Mae foreclosures, but also laid out specific proposals that could bring real relief to people facing foreclosure.
A city in crisis - thanks in part to Fannie Mae
We pointed out that in Detroit, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved to evict more than 3,000 Detroit families from 2011 through April of 2013. Today 40 percent of homeowners owe more on mortgages than their houses are worth and nearly one in ten are behind on payments. We want bold new policies: To keep people in their homes by cutting loan principal on Fannie Mae /Freddie Mac mortgages; and to let foreclosed families and community non-profit groups buy back their homes at distressed market value.
See flyer we distributed explaining why Watt's HARP program "Isn't Enough!"
We delivered a letter from Americans for Financial Reform, plus the list of Detroit organizations supporting principal reduction.
Read Detroit News article on Watt & the protest & Bloomberg News-BusinessWeek article: "Principal-Reduction Calls Confront FHFA’s Watt as He Touts HARP."
Thanks to the people & groups who joined the protest.
Watt's proposed initiative for Detroit.
To link to this story copy: detroitevictiondefense.org/news.php#tenants11-14
Tenants plan mutual support
At city-wide meetings
Tenants Defense held its second meeting in November, 2014. About 50 people attended. We discussed the spread of gentrification and the resulting displacement. This is not just limited to Detroit, but is happening all over the country and in other parts of the world. The media does not report our situations or our stories. It was suggested that we need our own newsletter.
Meetings were also held in December and January.
Plans to organize throughout the city
Another suggestion was for a telephone tree so that we can call each other for support. No one should have to face a slumlord or an eviction threat alone. We want to organize units in each building and in different areas of the city.
There is a war on the elderly and the poor. One of our goals is that people not be forced out of their homes.
First Tenants Defense meeting drew 50 people
Outrage at property neglect, forcing out tenants
About 50 people came out for the Tenants Defense meeting on October 25, 2014 at the International Institute in Detroit.
Young and old, black, white, Latin, Middle Eastern, all were concerned about the effects of gentrification (forcing out low-income residents so richer folks can get the property) and other displacement now happening in Detroit.
Our fight vs. the abuse forcing tenants out
They are being pushed out, and feel it! Wealthy property owners like Mike Ilitch and Dan Gilbert, want them out so they can raise rents, let subsidies elapse and cater to younger and whiter renters with more money.
Owners are letting properties go into disrepair and neglect. They don’t clean up trash and flagrantly disregard the law as well as common human decency. Some refuse to accept checks or money orders, insisting on cash only. They prevent visitors from entering the building and act like, as one woman said, “its theirs and they can do what they want.”
We are here to say, no, they can’t. Rules apply to owners too. We plan to organize building by building, supporting each other as we demand rightful living conditions. One demand to come out of the meeting is Renewal of Senior Housing Agreements, because that 25-year HUD program from the 1990's is now due to come to an end.
We are planning for action in meetings every Thursday at 5 p.m., before the regular 6 p.m. Detroit Eviction Defense meeting at 2120 Russell. We're also planning future city-wide meetings, time and place to be announced.
They can't hide from the truth
The powerful testimony was being taped, and we'll make sure it gets to the Feds. Stay tuned for more.
During the bank crisis,the U.S. government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which insure and buy mortgages from banks.
At the hearing, 22 homeowners, neighborhood activists, and members of the legal defense team gave powerful testimony on how Fannie and Freddie are relentlessly evicting families who have trouble paying inflated mortgages. The testimony was broadcast live-to-tape by Tony Trupiano that evening on his "Night Shift" program (WDFN, AM radio, 1130, 7pm). Our new report, "A Hurricane Without Water: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Foreclosure Crisis in Metro Detroit" was distributed at the hearing and can be downloaded from this site.
Check out Curt Guyette's story in Metro Times, and be sure to add your comments.
We are fighting for three things the federal government can do:
1) Halt Foreclosures & Evictions: Fannie Mae has declared moratoriums for hurricane victims. The 75,000 Michigan families foreclosed on in the last year are also victims— of mass unemployment and mortgage banking fraud.
2) Principal Reduction: Fannie and Freddie should help families in need by by reducing mortgage principal to reflect current market values. Families facing foreclosure can hear from homeowners at the rally who have successfully resisted.
3) Due Process for All: As government agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now governed by the 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which says that no person shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." The case opened Feb. 20 in Detroit
A big crowd also rallied on Feb. 13 against Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac evictions. They promised we could give them the message directly! But they never showed up. |