help and support needed to stop another eviction.
April 30th, 2012
***Please forward widely and share the facebook event with friends***
Friends and neighbors,
Today an eviction notice was posted at the home of the Cruz family, meaning the sheriff or police could come to attempt to evict the home starting Monday. But this time, when the sheriff shows up, Occupy Homes MN will be there standing with the Cruz family. If the bank thinks they are going to evict the Cruz family this week, they have another thing coming. However, for us to be successful in defending the Cruz home, we need you!
Please join us for an emergency rally and kick off of the physical occupation of the home. We will begin to further develop a plan to defend the home and fill roles following the rally, then we will hold a vigil at the home that night.
Monday, April 30th:
Rally 2:00 – 4:00pm
Home Defense Planning 5:30 – 8:00pm
Candle Light Vigil for the Cruz Family: 8:30pm – 10:00pm
4044 Cedar Ave. S
Please take three actions right now to help save the Cruz family’s home:
1) Text @OccupyHomes to 23559 to receive a text message the instant police come to evict, so you know the exact moment that we need to rally to defend the home.
2) Call Brad German, PR executive for Freddie Mac at 703-903-2437 today to tell them to halt the eviction of the Cruz family so that PNC Bank can negotiate a real solution to keep them in their home as owners. Call and email Tony Morante (anthony.morante@pncmortgage.com) – AVP, Market Sales Manager PNC Bank at 412-858-4075 to demand they work out a settlement with the Cruz family immediately.
3) Call and email Mayor Rybak (mayor@ci.minneapolis.mn.us) at (612) 673-2100 and tell him not to use his police to carry out the dirty work of the banks, evicting community members who can afford to pay a mortgage, while the bank refuses to negotiate a reasonable solution with them.
Background:
Alejandra, David, and their family have lived in their South Minneapolis home for the past 7 years. Alejandra and David have fought for years to support the Dream Act which would help undocumented students to gain access to higher education, now they are leading the fight to save their parents’ home. Drawing inspiration from the sacrifices their parents made for them, Alejandra and her brother David became tireless advocates for immigrant rights and equal access to education for all youth. Her family has fought hard for equality, and they are unfortunately not able to stop fighting, as they have seen the housing crisis disproportionally affect people of color, immigrants, and other marginalized groups.
Alejandra, her brother David, and their parents made their monthly mortgage payments regularly for 7 years via online withdrawal from a checking account. One month last year, their lender, PNC Bank, failed to withdraw the monthly mortgage payment after the family sent it in. When the family noticed that the money hadn’t been withdrawn, they called the bank to make the payment. Although it wasn’t their fault the payment was technically late, the bank still demanded 2 months’ payments as punishment for being late. Unable to pay more than the current month’s payment, which is all that should have been owed at the time, the family home went into foreclosure.
The foreclosure crisis has had devastating effects on the Latino community, and until now, many families have been afraid to stand up when they are being mistreated by the banks that have been fraudulently foreclosing on families across the country. The banks have used this fear and manipulation of a complicated legal system to profit from honest, hard working people. Today we are saying enough is enough. We will not leave our homes until PNC and Bank of America come to the table to negotiate a solution to keep our families in their homes.
The Cruz family wants to keep their home and wants the bank to negotiate in good faith a reasonable settlement for their mortgage. Together with Occupy Homes we will defend their home from foreclosure and force the bank to do what is right instead of trying to silence them. They know that if more people stand up for their rights like Alejandra and her family the banks will be forced to do the right thing for all home owners across the country.
Follow our facebook , twitter, and text system for updates, and please TAKE ACTION if you are inspired by the Cruzes’ courage to stand up for what is right in their community and want to help.
Thank you for your support,
Occupy Homes MN
