Tell Sheriff to stop subsidizing bank profits

Eleven months ago the foreclosure fight in Portland went public with Debbie Austin announcing her intent to fight her foreclosure. Today, back on her front lawn, Debbie reaffirmed that resolve, on the first day that a judge’s eviction order went live.

Last week, Patricia Williams and Darren Johnson were evicted from their home by Sheriff’s deputies and Portland Police in riot gear. They spoke with Debbie this morning, reminding us that “when the Sheriff comes, that’s not justice coming, it’s the banks coming to take our homes.”

So, families organized through We Are Oregon are embarking on a new campaign in the fight against foreclosure: We’re calling on the Sheriff to end their public subsidy of bank profits by STOPPING foreclosure evictions.

Please take a moment to send a message to the Multnomah County Sheriff by visiting this link:

http://action.weareoregon.org/page/speakout/moratorium-on-evictions

We need the Sheriff and the City to step up as leaders in confronting this crisis, and show local governments across this country what needs to be done for our communities. We need meaningful city policy that seeks housing justice: keeping people in their homes, filling empty homes with people who need shelter, and putting community housing needs before bank profits. And we must stop spending public money enforcing big banks’ access to our communities’ wealth.

 

---

Here is the text of the email.

Dear Sheriff Staton,

I believe you would rather be spending your time and resources keeping our streets and communities safe than kicking families out of their homes.

So I’m writing to request you stop spending public money on evicting homeowners suffering in the foreclosure crisis and support a moratorium on evictions. Spending tax dollars on foreclosure evictions amount to public subsidy to bank profits and the profits of a developer industry that is poaching homes for profit in Portland.

Whereas:

• Families across Portland and the whole country continue to struggle, with unemployment, foreclosure, and depressed home values, in an economic crisis that banks created.
• Banks have long since stopped hurting, with taxpayer bailouts, a return to record profits and CEO bonuses, and a still-churning foreclosure machine that is profiting from the seizure of people’s homes.
• No government, state or federal, has passed remedies that match the scale of this crisis.

In a bank-caused economic crisis so great, that affects our community’s jobs, access to healthcare, and ability to pay mortgages, combined with the ongoing efforts of banks to avoid responsibility, no foreclosure can be called fair.

Sheriff Staton, please step up as a leader in confronting this crisis, and show local governments across this country what needs to be done for our communities. We must stop spending public money enforcing big banks’ access to our communities’ wealth. We must put a stop to all foreclosure evictions until banks are held accountable, and they are no longer profiting off a rigged game.

A moratorium on foreclosure evictions is what our community, and nation, needs. Please take this chance to lead by example, and show the world that homes are more important than bank profits.

Regards,

We Are Oregon

Category: Actions, Banks, Foreclosure