Foreclosure Protests Continue to Grow

Some 350 – 400 citizens gathered in Copley Square in Boston on Saturday, May 14, 2011, to demonstrate against the policies of the Bank of America and other large investor banks who have refused to modify the mortgages of homeowners facing foreclosure, despite the banks themselves receiving federal bailout funds. The growing Bank Tenant movement showed its strength as delegations at the rally included City Life’s Bank Tenant Assoc., City Life’s Northside Bank Tenant Assoc., Chelsea Collaborative, Lynn United for Change, Merrimack Valley Project, Springfield’s No One Leaves, Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team, and Provi-dence’s Direct Action for Rights and Equality, as well as local union representatives. NLG Northeastern Law School students and Guild lawyers Melinda Drew, Lee Goldstein, and Jeff Feuer served as NLG Legal Observers for the lively and peaceful protest.

Northeastern Guild law students (l.-r.) Jeremiah Meyer-O’Day, Randy Choiniere, and Sharlyn Grace proudly serve as legal observers at the rally. Photo by Raymond Austin

As each city’s delegation arrived at the scene, they marched behind their banner to join the loudly cheering crowd while chanting. At about 11 a.m., a delegation of 10 demonstrators marched across Boylston Street to present a demand to the Bank of America branch manager, declaring the Bank to be “guilty” and “sentencing” it to reducing principals on defaulting mortgages and stopping post-foreclosure evictions. When prevented from entering the bank, protesters already inside the bank started chanting and singing. When they were ushered out by the police, chants and cries of “guilty, guilty” grew even stronger.

Speakers at the rally focused on the issue of principal reduction. Speaker after speaker described their unsuccessful efforts to get loan modifications from the Bank of America and other large banks, despite the fact that their loans are “underwater” (property value much less than loan value). One speaker had gotten a permanent loan modification from Bank of America, but the bank attached a balloon payment of over $400,000 at the end of the loan, making it impossible to pay off. Another speaker described the fraudulent activity that led up to her foreclosure, followed by an eviction in September, 2008 (where City Life members were arrested); Bank of America later sold her property for 60% of loan value, a price she easily could have afforded. Many speakers noted that banks could avoid the costs of foreclosure and get a share of equity appreciation by doing a loan modification with principal reduction. Nevertheless, the same Wall St. banks that ran the economy into the ground, got bailed out, pay huge CEO salaries, and don’t pay federal taxes have refused to do so and instead are destroying property values by foreclosing and evicting homeowners and tenants.

Other speakers at the rally included Rich Rogers, Executive Secretary of the Greater Boston Labor Council and Boston City Councilor Felix Arroyo, who is proposing that continuing no fault evictions be a factor in whether the city puts money into a given bank. Also visiting the rally was a giant puppet representing Bank of America with a briefcase full of cash.

- Jeff Feuer -
NLG Board Member and law partner at Goldstein & Feuer Law Office in Cambridge.