3 Home Defenses in 1 month in D10 in SF!

District 10 has been the hardest hit by foreclosure, totaling approximately 3500 from 2008 to the end of this year, according to RealtyTrak.   Despite efforts to push for solutions through the AG Settlement and State Legislation, Wall Street Bank opposition increases and foreclosures are getting worse. Dual tracking, when banks put a homeowner in trial modification or forbearance agreement AND a foreclosure process at the same time, has expedited foreclosures as well as provided false hope to homeowners seeking assistance from their lender.

However, residents have taken a more aggressive and more effective approach to save homes one at a time, and in December 2011, each won a victory for their homes and communities

CAROLYN GAGE, San Francisco

On Nov 1st Carolyn Gage moved back in to the home she had been evicted from early in the year. The property was still sitting vacant, and owned by the bank. Carolyn's father built the house and the family had been living there for 50 years. Carolyn was a Deputy Sheriff for 17 years until she was injured on the job in 1996.

She was supported byover 60 Foreclosure Fighters, unions, and community groups gathered and marched down Quesada Ave. in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco to support Carolyn Gage and the re-occupation of her home. Carolyn was evicted from her home of 50 years in January by Bayview Mortgage Capital, a Florida based mortgage company.

After a number of actions and press events, a month and two weeks after Carolyn Gage re-occupied her home, she received a letter from Bayview Mortgage Capital saying they are going to re-open her case and work with her to keep her in her home.

She is currently in negotiations for a fair and permanent modification,

VIVIAN RICHARDSON, San Francisico
Vivian has lived in her Bayview home for 13 years. She had a foreclosure eviction pending and she announced in November that she is not leaving- she would resist any efforts to move her out of her home. Vivian and fellow home defender Carolyn Gage live on a block in Bayview Hunters Point where 11 homes have been, or are in the process of being, foreclosed upon.

Vivian and her supporters generated over 1400 emails and 100 calls to CEO Theodore Janius asking that Aurora Loan Services, based out of Delaware, to work with Ms. Richardson to re-open her case and offer a modification after her home was foreclosed and sold back to the bank earlier in May.

On December 16th, Vivian Richardson received word from VP of Aurora Loan Servicing that they were voiding the foreclosure, rescinding the sale of the house, and begining modification negotiation to restructure the loan.

JOSEPHINE TOLBERT, SAN FRANCISCO
On November 30th, Josephine Tolbert, 75 year old grandmother, great grandmother, childcare provider, and cancer survivor was locked out of her home of 38 years. She had taken her grandson and two children (ages, 3, 2, and 6 month old infant) to the park and returned to find Ash Gujral, owner of True Compass - investment group that engages in land speculation as well as other investments - and his partners changing the locks on the front door.

In 2006, Josephine was diagnosed with cancer. She was unable to work. Although the house was paid off in 2002, she had to take out a loan 2006 in order to pay off bills, support herself while she couldn't work, and rebuild her life. Unfortunately, the loan was at 11.9% and the payments began to increase.

She had fallen behind several times, trying to catch up, until Bank of America refused to accept payments. For the last 2 years she has been trying to get Bank of America to work with her to help modify her loan. Progress was slow, but she was shocked to hear from True Compass LLC, who informed her that they were the new owner and that she needed to leave.

Josephine, although a senior, continues to support herself. She is a licensed childcare provider. When she lost her home on Nov. 30th, she also lost her only means of supporting herself.

After being evicted, Josephine and her supporters moved quickly. On December 12th, after two aggressive actions on True Compass, LLC at their office and at the restaurant of the one of the investors, True Compass and Josephine worked out an agreement that has allowed Josephine back into her home and agreed to sell the property back to BofA in order to negotiate a modification.

Josephine's victory is not yet complete.  She is still fighting to get Bank of America to complete the agreement and offer her a permanent modification with principal reduction.

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"We want to keep as many of our neighbors as possible and make sure the banks do the right thing. We are losing families everyday because of the type of loans these banks flooded into our communities, "says Vivian Richardson, Foreclosure Fighter, "We have to stop blaming foreclosure victims and start demanding that the banks fixed what they destroyed and work with families. The only people that gamed the system were the institutions that were in the position to do so: the banks. We have to change that system and that attitude."