Thursday, August 27th @ 5pm @ Rosemary William's home: The Fight Continues

[annm4peace]

Foreclose the War Not People's Homes!

Rosemary is our symbol of all of those fighting to keep their homes.

Please try to join us


Thursday, August 27th @ 5pm @ Rosemary William's home, 32nd Street and Clinton Avenue in Minneapolis

As people in the United States like Rosemary Williams fight to keep their homes, the US government continues to fund wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Join with us as we demand the end of the US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq and stand in solidarity with Rosemary, her neighbors, and fellow activists as they reclaim her home from GMAC. We say money for housing not for war! Co-sponsored by the Anti-War Committee, sds - U of M, and WAMM.

[CubFan7125]

1. Squatter

This case is one of the few instances where I agree with the Strib posters. Ms Williams is squatter, plain and simple. She refinanced not once, but twice into an adjustable mortgage. When her mortgage went up to $2200, she could have continued to make the $1200 payments she was already making. Unfortunately she stopped making payments altogether. GMAC then offered her $5000 to get out of a house she wasn't making payments on and she declined. This is simply a case of a woman who made a lot of bad choices and now she has to pay for those decisions. Sadly, she has to pay with her house. I do feel sorry for her.

As for Afghanistan and Iraq, they have nothing to do with this lady not paying her bills. To bring that into this debate puts you on an intellectual debating level with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. Even if we were not in those wars the government would and should not pay for this ladies mistakes.

[annm4peace]

2. Money for HOUSING ! NOT for WAR !

MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR !

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR ! MONEY FOR HOUSING ! NOT FOR WAR !

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[annm4peace]

3. “Rosemary’s struggle is a fight to defend the interests of millions of working people

“Rosemary’s struggle is a fight to defend the interests of millions of working people and low-income people who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure. We march to demand that the banks and mortgage companies stop the foreclosures and evictions,” said Linden Gawboy of the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout.

"A statement issued by organizers explains, “The economic crisis is not the fault of working and low-income people. Banks and mortgage companies sold mortgages with escalating interest rates and penalties that were doomed to fail. Increasing layoffs and the economic crisis will lead to more people falling behind on mortgage payments. Working people and low-income people need a bailout.”

"The statement demands that banks and mortgage companies honor the leases of tenants in foreclosed rental properties. “Tenants by the hundreds and thousands have lost their homes in the last few years, as landlords lose their properties. Lenders who foreclose on landlords put tenants out on the streets." This must stop.”

"The prayer vigil expressed support from various Twin Cities religious communities for Rosemary Williams struggle against eviction and the broader struggle to end foreclosures and evictions."

[annm4peace]

4. Solidarity

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ~Robert F. Kennedy

There comes a time when people get tired of being plunged into the abyss of exploitation and nagging injustice. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. ~Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, 1967

[annm4peace]

5. "They said, 'How could you let this happen?'"

http://www.startribune.com/local/53083007.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1PciUoaEYY_4PcUU

........ It's not surprising that Williams' plight is being followed around the world, nor that she's been featured on everything from Minnesota Public Radio to "Nancy Grace." What's surprising is how many people still think this fine mess is all Williams' fault.

"I was even ostracized by my own African-American community at first," she said, having a bite of lunch between a morning news conference and a stress-busting afternoon swim at a local pool. "They said, 'How could you let this happen?'"

**** As far as I can tell, her most egregious offense was having a mother who dropped dead of a stroke. A community activist who lived through segregation and whose spirit helps keep her in the fight, Williams' mother also helped her financially. After her death six years ago, problems snowballed. Williams, who is divorced, lost her job as a midwife and doula. Her siblings wanted their inheritance. A family member developed medical issues. And she was determined to keep her daughter at Howard University.

So she did what millions of Americans have done. She took out an adjustable-rate mortgage, not fully grasping what "adjustable" meant. When her monthly payments rose from $1,200 to $2,200, she turned to numerous agencies to help her find ways to reduce her payments and remain on the block where her family has lived for 55 years. She calls the experience the "foreclosure washing machine." *****

"You make a call and they say, 'Here are the people you need to talk to.' And you call those people and they say, 'Sorry, we can't help you.'" She laughs. "Washed around. Washed around."

While negotiations with the current owner, GMAC Mortgage (servicing the mortgage on behalf of Aurora), have failed on several occasions, GMAC was back at the table Wednesday. Williams remained hopeful a deal will be reached.

Prentiss Cox, on the other hand, remains outraged at all the finger-pointing toward homeowners like Williams.

"I have been fascinated the last two years to have a front-row seat to the rewriting of history," said Cox, a consumer protection law expert at the University of Minnesota Law School and a former assistant attorney general. "It's amazing to see how effective people in the financial services industry are at getting their own version of history incorporated in a way that works for them."

In reality, he said, the financial services industry has exploded in the last 15 to 20 years, "by inventing products that took advantage of the limits of consumer understanding and the irrationalities that most people have. No one ever made clear that you may be putting your home at risk. They promised lower monthly payments, and said you could pay it all back by just refinancing in the future because home prices always go up. It was an optimistic pitch, yes, that worked in the short term for the people selling it."

There were more than 17,000 foreclosures in the Twin Cities metro area in 2008, with the north side of Minneapolis hit the hardest. Cox, who five years ago predicted a foreclosure crisis, says there was never a level playing field between a lender and homeowners like Williams.

"Were homeowners responsible? Yeah, absolutely, for not being shrewd and tough enough to say no. It's not as if homeowners were going into banks and saying, 'Hey, can you give me a loan that will explode in two years, and an appraiser who will say my house is worth more than it absolutely is?' Then we threw a trillion dollars at the banking industry, and for homeowners? Absolutely no help from the government. It's probably good, then, that people barricade themselves in their house."

Actually, Williams stepped out Wednesday to support another woman fighting eviction. Linda Norenberg of Robbinsdale said she was inspired by Williams to fight foreclosure on her home, which her father built in 1944. She, too, sought advice from countless agencies after being given the run-around by her bank.

Williams is thinking bigger now.

"Whether I stay in this house or not is not the ultimate goal," Williams said. "The issue is to unify, and get fair mortgages and moratoriums issued on foreclosures. If you don't have your house, your mental health goes, too."

[CubFan7125]

6. No facts

I again notice you ignore the facts of the case and go for the emotional argument. I'm sure you mock Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck but you are doing the same thing they do.

I have a couple of questions for supporters of this lady.

1)Was there a gunman in the GMAC office both times Ms Williams refinanced?
2)Why did Ms Williams completely stop making payments rather than make the $1200 payments she was already making?

If she did not understand what she was signing she should have brought her lawyer. There is only one person whose fault this is and it is Rosemary Williams. A friend down the street recently lost his house, if the bank had offered him $5000 for it he would have taken it and laughed at the bank.

[dflprincess]

7. Your compassion for another human being is overwhelming

I don't know why Ms Williams stopped making payments but there have been reports in both the paper and on TV news of people who were told by their banks that the terms of their loans could not be renegotiated unless they were already in default. Many people who have gotten this advice - from their lenders - stopped making payments so they would go into default. Then - a lot of the time, the bank would not renegotiate because the value of the home had dropped below mortgage value.

A lot of people, if the bank or the mortgage company tells you you can afford the loan you believe them. Many people got sold on refinancing when the market was hot and the lender assured them that when the interest rate went up they could always try and refinance at a lower rate because the house would have increase in value - or they could sell and make a profit because of the equity.

A lot of people fall for scams by move obvious conmen. When you're in a bind and you have professionals encouraging you that this is what's best and everything will be okay - it's easy to believe them.