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Home Squatters

John X
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A US Congresswoman from Ohio, Marcy Kaptur, is encouraging her  constituents to squat in their foreclosed homes, counseling them to to refuse to leave without "an attorney and a fight."  She is advocating that homeowners stay put until the bank "produces the note" that proves it owns the home.

"During the lending boom, most mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street," explains the Consumer Warning Network. "In the rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage. This is the key to 'the produce the note' strategy."

Kaptur addressed citizens from the floor of the House in Washington: "I say to the American people: you be squatters in your own homes.  Don't you leave!"

 


Image by Jeff Turner, courtesy of Creative Commons license.

Comments

Wow

Submitted by Propaganda Anonymous on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 17:08.

Propaganda Anonymous

This is dope!

I mean it sounds very interesting, but it seems to make total sense.

Home Squatters of the World Unite!

That's what I call civil disobedience.

Submitted by Jedi Mind Traveler on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 19:54.
Either you keep shifting around your debt instruments to make it look like you're doing something, or you stop and see what people really need, create some real value for humanity.

Russell Crowe bail-out scheme

Submitted by Red Collie on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 20:24.

The actor Russell Crowe is known more for his movies "Gladiator" and "A Brilliant Mind" than for economics.

Yet recently he proposed a different kind of government bail-out for the ordinary people of America which has been much criticized: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=639850

Basically, he proposes to give everyone a large amount of money (say $100,000) to pay off their defunct mortgages to the banks, and thereby let them remain in their own homes.

Bush and his previous US administration did exactly the opposite: give the richest people in America a large amount of money, so that their banks will own those defunct mortgages, then dump all of the displaced people on the streets!

Is that clear, everyone, despite so much confusing rhetoric? So who did Bush and his cronies represent? Will Obama be able to act any differently, given the other people by whom he is still surrounded?

bailout to the people...

Submitted by ST Frequency on Thu, 02/05/2009 - 22:34.

Jon Stewart has been positing this clearly intelligent bailout alternative:

http://www.uniformvelocity.com/2009/01/jon-stewarts-proposal-for-bailout...

"Give us the money, but only for consumer debt and mortgages. We'll give it to them. Make it clean -- hit the reset button... Then we'll have no debt, they'll have the money, and the world will be made of unicorns and rainbows."

;)

st

Ohio's response to the fiscal crisis

Submitted by mrimbaud on Fri, 02/06/2009 - 09:58.
I like Marcy Kaptur's idea. Very bold and innovative. Her constituents may run into some legal problems, but more power to them (and Marcy)! This approach has been working for decades in Brazil (where I live). Granted the legal avenues for eviction are entirely different, but the result is the same: foreclosed properties are rarely vacant. Even after the bank takes legal possession, it attempts to resell the property with the existing tenants still squatting. The new owners recognize it is their responsibility to evict the "squatters."

I want a house with a rose garden

Submitted by Joan of Art on Wed, 02/18/2009 - 07:32.
I wish I could have squatted in that anarchist fairyland forever- the one the government bought. now i am actually trying to cash in on the foreclosure thing and buy one of those houses for cheap!

She was on "Keep Hope Alive"

Submitted by Giselle62 on Mon, 03/02/2009 - 19:56.
She was on "Keep Hope Alive" Jesse Jackson's radio show and he called her "Captain Kaptur." Pretty rad!

read about Cleveland - fabulous advice it is

Submitted by ugotstahwonder on Sat, 03/21/2009 - 22:06.
I just read about Cleveland, Ohio in, I think it was, The New York Times and it definitely is sound advice for all concerned for people to remain in their homes until the bank takes certifiable ownership. What's happening in Cleveland is, as soon as people vacate, the homes are gutted of anything of value and, of course, in the process, ruined for purposes of providing a habitable home. The local government is pursuing home owners for violations of code and in one case the owner who was in foreclosure showed up to defend on the basis that she no longer owned the home, only to learn that the lender had withdrawn the foreclosure action leaving the presumed former owner holding the bag. So, for several reasons it makes sense to stay in the home. In fact, it seems, that it should be stated clearly at the highest levels that people pursue this course of action, as it is the best one for all concerned.

I have seen so many "sell

Submitted by candlelight on Fri, 08/05/2011 - 10:05.
I have seen so many "sell homes maryland" announcements on the internet that I really get to think this has reached the dimensions of a big phenomenon. I am also interested to buy, given the circumstances, which is why any further news on this topic has major importance to me. I am used to being a patient customer and waiting for the right moment to come when we`re to think about revolving markets.