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Community Activists Demand One-year Moratorium on Foreclosures and Evictions in Cook County


Thursday, August 9: Public Meeting with Cook County President Toni Preckwinke and Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart 

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2012.  Homeowners, Tenants, Neighbors, and Occupiers will meet at UE Hall, located at 37 S. Ashland, on August 9th, at 6:30 PM, to with Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinke to demand a 1-Year moratorium on foreclosures and evictions in Cook County.

In 2010 Sheriff Dart announced a moratorium on some evictions, the second moratorium since 2008. That announcement came exactly five days after the Chicago Anti Eviction Campaign, homeowners, tenants, and public housing residents delivered a five-day eviction notice to Tom Dart’s office, demanding that he institute a moratorium on all economically motivated evictions.

In a place like Cook County–where there are 3,700 evictions each year, overwhelmingly aimed at poor families–this one-month moratorium was a victory, even if a partial one.

But things have gotten worse–not better–since 2010. Chicago has gone $25 billion underwater in mortgages to Wall Street, with half of all homes in communities of color underwater. The largest banks admitted to committing massive fraud and received a slap on the wrist, while the federal office investigating the fraud still has no staff. Our public officials seem woefully unaware of these facts, as evictions schedules near almost 100 a day.

“There is no serious action being taken to help keep people in their homes. Modifications always seem to fail. We need this moratorium,” says Virginia Morales, member of Communities United and homeowner facing wrongful foreclosure from CitiMortgage.

“There are too many forceful evictions in public housing that have taken place because people were arrested but not convicted in most cases residents are evicted because they don’t have legal representation which would have saved their homes,” says Henry Warfield public housing tenant and organizer with Chicago Anti Eviction Campaign.

“This moratorium is necessary to offer protection of the Human Right to Housing. Our Cook County President and Sheriff are aware that the eviction process is flawed and unjust a moratorium is the moral and legal thing to do! We the people are uniting to find community based solutions to enforcing our Human right to Housing.” says Willie Fleming tenant and organizer with Chicago Anti Eviction Campaign

Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction and the Chicago Anti-Eviction campaign work in various communities in and around Chicago. They fight to keep people in their homes, and claim land for people who are homeless. The homeowners and tenants that lead Communities United Against Foreclosure and Eviction and the Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign believe that housing is a human right, and they recognize that the demolition, forceful eviction in public housing big banks’ predatory lending practices and subprime mortgage loans have been the main cause of the current housing crisis.

Event flyer: http://www.scribd.com/doc/102385102/Updated-eng

Event page: http://www.facebook.com/events/330013340418765/

For more info, see http://stopeviction.wordpress.com/ and http://chicagoantieviction.org/

Source: occupychi.org




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