Occupy group plans to move people into foreclosed homes
NEW YORK – With some of its urban encampments closed by police and others under siege, the Occupy movement says it's opening a new front in its battle against big banks by moving poor people into empty, bank-owned foreclosed homes.
The group announced "a national day of action" Tuesday in the Occupy Our Homes program to fight fraudulent lending practices and what it termed "illegal evictions by banks" — the institutions Occupiers blame for the nation's economic predicament.
The group said it would try to disrupt auctions at which foreclosed properties are sold by banks and other mortgage holders.
The new action was to take place in more than 25 cities across the country.
"Millions of Americans have lost their homes in the Wall Street recession and one in four homeowners are currently underwater on their mortgages," the group said in a statement on its website. "The 99% is bearing the brunt of a crisis caused by Wall Street and big banks."
At least 500 activists marched through the East New York section of Brooklyn to a vacant foreclosed house they planned to occupy, fix up and turn over to a poor family.
Tasha Glasgow, 30, said she's been living with her two children in an apartment in an abandoned house in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. She said the unit has no oven, and when she turns on the water in the bathroom, it floods the apartment downstairs, so she has to carry water upstairs in a bucket.
"I just want some place where we can live better," she said.
Such occupations constitute trespassing, since the bank owns a property once the homeowner defaults on the mortgage.
Matthew Smucker of Occupy Wall Street defended the move: "Peaceful civil disobedience is a proud American tradition in the face of large injustice. … The illegal behavior to be looking at is the illegal foreclosures by banks."
Asked why she felt entitled to live in the house, Glasgow said, "There are a lot of homeless people in the country and all these empty apartments that they could be living in. Why not just give 'em to people? All these people out on the street, or living in their cars — they could be inside. "
She said she was worried about being evicted, but said, "I have people who have my back. I'm doing this for a good reason — for my kids." She referred to her daughter, Tanisha, 9, who she said is autistic, and a son Alfredo, 5.
Glasgow said the Queens apartment had been decent until the landlord walked away several years ago. "The super told me, 'From now on, you got a problem, call 311"' — the phone number for non-emergency city services.
Sean Barry, a staffer with the community group VOCAL-NY, said it would work with Glasgow's boyfriend, Alfredo Carrasquillo, to fix up the home for the family. He said the move was encouraged by neighbors, who've seen the home stripped and vandalized since it became vacant. "It's destabilizing the neighborhood," Barry said.
Barry said his group would make an inventory Tuesday of other foreclosed homes in the area for what he called the "Occupy Real Estate Listing Service."
Occupy action targets bank foreclosures
NEW YORK – With some of its urban encampments closed by police and others under siege, the Occupy movement says it's opening a new front in its battle against big banks by moving poor people into empty, bank-owned foreclosed homes.
The group announced "a national day of action" Tuesday in the Occupy Our Homes program to fight fraudulent lending practices and what it termed "illegal evictions by banks" — the institutions Occupiers blame for the nation's economic predicament.
The group said it would try to disrupt auctions at which foreclosed properties are sold by banks and other mortgage holders.
The new action was to take place in more than 25 cities across the country.
"Millions of Americans have lost their homes in the Wall Street recession and one in four homeowners are currently underwater on their mortgages," the group said in a statement on its website. "The 99% is bearing the brunt of a crisis caused by Wall Street and big banks."
At least 500 activists marched through the East New York section of Brooklyn to a vacant foreclosed house they planned to occupy, fix up and turn over to a poor family.
Tasha Glasgow, 30, said she's been living with her two children in an apartment in an abandoned house in the Far Rockaway section of Queens. She said the unit has no oven, and when she turns on the water in the bathroom, it floods the apartment downstairs, so she has to carry water upstairs in a bucket.
"I just want some place where we can live better," she said.
Such occupations constitute trespassing, since the bank owns a property once the homeowner defaults on the mortgage.
Matthew Smucker of Occupy Wall Street defended the move: "Peaceful civil disobedience is a proud American tradition in the face of large injustice. … The illegal behavior to be looking at is the illegal foreclosures by banks."
Asked why she felt entitled to live in the house, Glasgow said, "There are a lot of homeless people in the country and all these empty apartments that they could be living in. Why not just give 'em to people? All these people out on the street, or living in their cars — they could be inside. "
She said she was worried about being evicted, but said, "I have people who have my back. I'm doing this for a good reason — for my kids." She referred to her daughter, Tanisha, 9, who she said is autistic, and a son Alfredo, 5.
Glasgow said the Queens apartment had been decent until the landlord walked away several years ago. "The super told me, 'From now on, you got a problem, call 311"' — the phone number for non-emergency city services.
Sean Barry, a staffer with the community group VOCAL-NY, said it would work with Glasgow's boyfriend, Alfredo Carrasquillo, to fix up the home for the family. He said the move was encouraged by neighbors, who've seen the home stripped and vandalized since it became vacant. "It's destabilizing the neighborhood," Barry said.
Barry said his group would make an inventory Tuesday of other foreclosed homes in the area for what he called the "Occupy Real Estate Listing Service."
Occupy action targets bank foreclosures
