Roxbury Housing Rally Demands That Banks Let Foreclosed Tenants Keep Their Homes
BOSTON/Roxbury - Over 80 people rallied on Cobden and Cardington Sts. on the Roxbury side of Egleston Square Sunday to demand that giant banks that own several properties in the neighborhood stop all post-foreclosure evictions immediately and sell the properties to residents that live there or to a non-profit willing and able to set up a resident's coop. The event was organized by the housing advocacy non-profit City Life/Vida Urbana and the Bank Tenants Association - an organization of residents in foreclosed properties.
Advocates say that they are pursuing a block-wide strategy in the neighborhood to demand that all banks that own property there - including Deutsche, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Guaranty, Aurora and US Bank - sell all their holdings to local residents. Currently they are working on a deal with Wells Fargo and expect other banks to follow suit. If successful, they hope to pursue a similar strategy block by block in other affected Boston neighborhoods.
Photos by Jason Pramas
City Life organizer Melonie Griffith explained the situation in her speech to the crowd on Cobden St., "We promised that we'd be back, right? So we're back. And we're back stronger this time. We started out our demand building by building - doing eviction blockades at people's homes when the bank just refused to work anything out and we said we will not be moved. We said we will not leave, we will join hands together and fight these evictions. As long and as hard as we could. By any means necessary, right guys? [crowd agrees] So now, along with that - cause we're not ending that - there's a phase 2. As we defend these people sometimes people just have to be moved even when we'd say we won't be moved. They have to be moved. The bank goes to those extremes to make sure they get families out. And once they do, they do this: they leave the buildings vacant for more than a year. This building has been vacant for over a year. With no one to tend to it. No one to look about it but the residents here.
"This happens so often throughout the city. We started on Cobden St. and Cardington St. It's one of the harder hit areas - well, streets - in Roxbury. But it doesn't mean that they're the minority street. In fact, they're in the majority when it comes to streets that have already been hit hard by foreclosure. And so we're starting here and we're going to let the banks know that if we have buildings that continue to be vacant - perfectly good buildings that can be taken by families that just want a place to live - we will move families in. And force to make a decision. We're not doing anything wrong. We're actually doing something right for the neighborhood. These buildings are open up to vandalism. They make the crime rate go up. It's just terrible. A lot of people on this street right now are really pissed off that this development was even put up. They felt like they didn't have a say. No one asked their opinion. And it's right. They didn't have a say. No one asked they're opinion. They came in. They made money off of it. They flipped some of these properties so many times, I don't even know how the city let it happen. But it happened.
"They came in they made their money and now they want to see families torn apart and buildings vacant. They have no idea what goes on here. We occupied a unit that was left wide open. So if it wasn't us it could have been anybody else. They don't care about this property. And so we're going to force the banks to make a decision. We've had some negotiations through our non-profit. With Wells Fargo. We have so many banks here, we can't even pinpoint them sometimes, but with Wells Fargo - who actually owns a couple of the buildings. Those negotiations seem to be going pretty good. So far. But that's just one of the banks. There are so many different banks here - each one of these units is owned by a different bank. And so we're asking today that the other banks do like Wells Fargo did and say 'You know what? If we have somebody that can somewhat help with this problem. Help keep communities together. Help keep families housed. Then lets join hands with them and work together.' So we want to first and foremost thank Wells Fargo for being willing to start negotiations. For making demands that the other banks follow, stop being hard-headed, we've done this long enough, enough families have suffered. Enough is enough! OK we're asking that it stop right now.
"We've gotten together and we've organized - organized, guys, right in the heart of Roxbury. It's a start. It's a start and we can really come for the future. I have high hopes for this area that's been hit so hard by foreclosure and so many other areas too. And so we've united together to take a bite out of bank crime. And we're going to continue to do it wherever we need to do it until the bank decides to sell. A lot of these people that lost their homes at elevated value are in perfectly good position to repurchase the homes. And if the previous home owner can't then a lot of times the tenant will. And the bank refuses to allow this to happen. And it's just not right. Investors come - they don't even have to come to Boston, they can do the paperwork with fax machines, through the computer and by phone - as long as they show the ability to just purchase cash, make a quick deal, the banks are all for it. Why not work with us. It might take what 15 days longer? And some of those investing deals they take longer than the regular deals; so it's not even the case. But it just allows them to continue doing what they've been doing to us over and over again. It's time for us to put a stop to it.
Video by David Ludlow
"So we want to stop post-foreclosure evictions. So it's not that we're moving away from that, we still want to stop all post-foreclosure evictions. We want to keep families in their homes, but this is phase 2. We want the bank to act diligently. We want them to act in a manner that shows that they're really trying to do something. A year and half later is just not good enough. Is it good enough, guys? [crowd says no] Could we have went to court and told the bank 'I'll see you in a year and half?' What do you think about it for a year and a half? Do you guys think that would have worked. [crowd says no] So why should we allow the bank to do it to us? Why should we allow our communities to be blamed? Why should we allow our neighborhoods to be crime-ridden? Why not get together and organize and produce neighborhoods that are strong enough to stand on their own without depending on the same system that's tearing them down?
"We have many bank tenants that are here today. Many people that still face foreclosure and eviction from the same banks that have put families out before. And it just doesn't make sense. And if we don't get to them quick enough, they're happier. Because then they can get them out even quicker. And every time we learn something new, they try something more. And let them keep doing it because they're just making us stronger. What doesn't kill us? [crowd says makes us stronger] Right? We're getting smarter. We're learning more. More and more we're realizing that we can fight back. And we're taking people for where they're at. This community is a community they're suffering almost like us - the homeowners that purchased and lost. We lost everything. They lost a lot too. The average house on this street was probably purchased for about 12 thousand dollars and kind of remained that way. And these people are forced to pay taxes on 400 thousand dollars a year. Because they live in an area where investors came in an jacked up the prices. It's just not fair. And we need to fix the situation. We need to help them feel better about trusting others. Trusting the sense of community that they once had. We need to get back to that day.
"And so for now, we're going to occupy. And we're going to unite. And we're going to get together. And let people know that we cannot be divided. We can't be divided. And we're going to defend each other the way that we should.
"So hopefully the bank will see that we're doing what we need to do - may not always seem right but we're doing what's right. And we're defending people and we're laying down some criteria. Because we are in a position to lay down criteria. We don't have to beg. We didn't do anything wrong."
After the Cobden St. rally, the crowd marched a block to Cardington St. and held a short rally at a foreclosed property there before concluding the proceedings by holding hands in a large circle and expressing their commitment to continue their fight until victory. Several other organizers and tenants spoke at both locations.
There was no police presence, no incidents and no arrests. The family occupying the Cobden St. unit has not yet faced eviction, and is staying put for the time being.
