People’s Court rules in favor of Barbara Byrd

On Monday, February 1st, a Kangaroo Court erupted in chaos, but the People’s Court ruled that Ms. Byrd should be given the deed to her home free and clear. Everyone rejoiced.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE!

 

Flashback Barbara Byrd denied court hearing Oct. 22nd, 2009 Last fall Judge Alton WOULD NOT HEAR Barbara’s complaint that the foreclosure signer had been improperly certified by MERS, nor that she never had signed a remodification as alleged by the bank. With a wave of the hand, the judge’s final words were, “Case DISMISSED! Proceed with eviction!” Clearly the judge’s concept of justice involved backing financial institutions at the expense of the people.Supporters listened in shock as her lawyer said he would appeal the decision and ask EMC to grant her 90 days to move. Another lawyer remarked, “You call THAT a HEARING? The judge ran over you with a buzz-saw.” To which a courageous Barbara declared, “I am fighting for others as well as myself.Fastforward three months to Feb. 1st for a Kangaroo Court hearing held at the home of Ms. Byrd in Brooklyn Park, MN., as a reenactment of Judge Alton’s dismissal. The lawyer for EMC Mortgage gave a flimsy excuse for improper authorization on the foreclosure, and falsely claimed that the bank had offered Ms. Byrd a remodification. He was booed off the stand which got the judge hopping up and down in rage.Supporters cheered throughout the People’s Court hearing that welcomed Ms. Byrd’s testimony recounting her two years of continuous efforts to negotiate her kangaroo loan with the bank.

And the people say…MORATORIUM NOW!

 

 

Leslie Parks not taking bank to housing court January 21st

Leslie is in the process of negotiation with IndyMac/OneWest bank. Her day in court for 9am, January 21st, was cancelled. 

 

Meanwhile on January 16th, she brought a crowd of supporters to their feet by her speech honoring Martin Luther King Jr. at an event sponsored by the Iraq Peace Action Coalition, MN Coalition for a People’s Bail Out, the Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, and Women Against Military Madness.

Leslie Parks gaining in fight to save her home

On Thursday, January 21st, 2010, Leslie Parks and her supporters will gather outside Hennepin County Housing Court at 9:00 a.m. (on the 3rd floor of the Hennepin County Government Center). On Dec. 8th, IndyMac/One West bank illegally locked Ms. Parks out of her home – in a freezing blizzard. Her court date will begin to address some of the issues that arose from the lockout.

After getting home from work on the night of Dec. 8, Ms. Parks found that the locks to her home had been changed. Upon calling the phone number on the lockbox, the lock-out company informed Leslie that “the bank” had ordered that the locks be changed. This was after the bank – IndyMac/One West – informed the Parks family in writing that they would have no problem staying in the home while refinancing negotiations were under way.
 
On the night of the lockout Ms. Parks left messages with  IndyMac/One West officials, but got no response, even though she called during California time zone business hours. Bank officials did not attempt to contact Ms. Parks until later the next day, while Ms. Parks was filing the “lockout petition” (to assure she could legally get back in her home) and contacting lawyers for the case. Over the course of the afternoon, Terry Laughlin, the CEO of IndyMac/One West apologized for the lockout and ordered locksmiths to the Parks property. It took the locksmiths over two hours to change all 8 altered and damaged locks.

January’s court will hopefully address not just the reimbursement for court fees, lawyers, expenses and lost wages, but drive home the fact there has been a pattern of intimidation and illegal lockouts inflicted the Parks family. In May of this year, another illegal lockout took place, for which IndyMac agents had to pay.

Lynette Malles of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign said, “No matter the court outcome, Leslie is determined to stand up for the rights of her family and everyone facing foreclosure.” Deb Konechne, of the Minnesota Coalition for a People’s Bailout, emphasized, “What gets to me is that Leslie Parks is a fighter all the way!!” “

Mission

The Minnesota Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is committed to uniting the downsized and the impoverished as the leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty.

Williams Raided

Watch the video and read the article here:
twincities.indymedia.org/2009/sep/eviction-crime-cops-respond-eviction-resistance-raid-assaults

Willams Still In Home

For immediate release
August 18, 2009

Rosemary Williams and supporters to take demands to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak

On Wednesday, Aug. 19, 11:00 a.m, Rosemary Williams, her supporters and neighbors will gather outside Minneapolis City Hall at 350 S 5th Street (south side, across from the light rail station). From there, we will be taking our demands to Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office.

We will demand that Mayor Rybak use his powers to allow Rosemary to keep her home. Mayor Rybak has connections with the powers that be in the city, statewide and nationwide – with the non-profit and business communities, with the movers and shakers in the DFL and, of course he has discretion over the Minneapolis police department. But most important, as mayor, he should be doing everything in his power to avoid another empty foreclosed home blighting the city.

Since August 7, hundreds of people have come out to support Rosemary Williams to save her family home. Ms. Williams has lived on the block for 55 years. She has spent a year speaking out against foreclosure and evictions on every level, always noting that she has not been fighting just for herself but others in the same situation. Ms. Williams is proving to be ray of hope to other families facing foreclosure around the country.

GMAC, the main servicer of Ms. Williams’s mortgage, tried to evict her bodily from her home on Aug. 7. They tried to buy her off with $5000 and an order to “leave quietly.” They offered for her to be renter…in the home GMAC took from her. Ms. Williams has been declaring for year that she intends to keep the home in the family. And the community is behind her.

Stand off Continues

Stand-off continues at the home of Rosemary Williams

A fifth day has passed without arrests of supporters who are occupying the home of Rosemary Williams. A very moving candlelight vigil was held on her front lawn Monday evening with participation by people of many faiths.

The next day Tuesday, August 11, 2009, plans were scrapped to hold a demonstration at the mayor’s office due to the following letter received by Rosemary Williams’ lawyer, sent from the law firm of Faagre & Benson LLP that represents GMAC:

“GMAC offered $5000 to Ms. Williams to assist in her relocation costs and to allow her to move out of the home peacefully and avoid further complications. Please discuss this with your colleague Emily Chow (766-8012) before noon. If we do not hear from you by that time, GMAC will proceed with contacting the Mpls. Police to secure the property.

As officers of the Court, we have an obligation to abide by the law and the Court’s ruling in this case. We presented and argued our cases before the Court and the court has ruled. You have elected not to appeal that ruling, so the Order is final. I hope that you consider your obligation seriously as you advise your client about her options. GMAC has done everything possible to help Ms. Williams, except giving her the property for free. It has negotiated with potantial buyers, extended the deadline for eviction and significantly discounted the sale price of the home. There is nothing left to do. Even all the protestors and so-called supporters who are claiming to help her can’t come up with the money to buy the propery at the reduced rate. This is an opportunity for your client to vacate the property peacefully so she can move on with her life and GMAC can start the process of preparing the home for resale. I sincerely hope you and your client will choose the peaceful option.”

So how did Rosemary respond to GMAC’s offer? “NO WAY!” –which immediately spurred us on to step up our demand for an END TO EVICTIONS AND A MORATORIUM ON FORECLOSURES!

Eviction in Progress

Minnesota Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign

URGENT!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SHERIFF EVICTING ROSEMARY WILLIAMS AT THIS MOMENT:
COMMUNITY MOBILIZED TO SAVE HER HOME, ARRESTS LOOMING

After months of fighting for her home of many decades, Rosemary Williams is being evicted at this moment, 2:15pm, Friday Aug. 7, by the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department. While the Sheriff’s office has locked Rosemary’s belongings in her home, and Rosemary is sits weeping on the front lawn, the community has mobilized to demonstrate and stop this eviction.

The Minnesota Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and the Coalition for a People’s Bailout have been organizing in the community to resist this and other evictions for months. Both organizations and other community members have vowed to use civil disobedience to save Rosemary’s home. Scores of supporters have assembled at 3138 Clinton Ave. South.

This eviction is taking place despite this community mobilization and the support of Councilwoman Elizabeth Glidden. Last week’s offer of an arrangement to save her home by a local community development corporation was withdrawn in an unexplained move.

The Sheriff’s department surprised Rosemary by beginning the eviction today rather than Monday as they previously communicated to Rosemary.

No more evictions, no more foreclosures! Housing is a Human Right!

Press Contacts:
Lynette Malles, 651 497-4644
Ann Patterson, 612 940-1040
Cheri Honkala, 267 439-8419

MN Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign
612 821-2364
310 E 38th St
Room 126
Minneapolis, MN 55406
www.mnppehrc.wordpress.com
www.economichumanrights.org

Deal To Save Home Fals Through

Deal to save Rosemary Williams’s home falls through.

Coming together AGAIN to stop Rosemary’s eviction:
News conference: Monday, August 3, 11:00 a.m.
3138 Clinton Ave S, Minneapolis

On Friday, July 31, at about 3:00 p.m., Rosemary Williams got word that the deal with Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC) to buy her home fell through. This, after the drama of July 24, when shortly after a 24-hour eviction notice was served, she got word that GMHC was to purchase her home and arrange to lease it back to her. A week of relief and celebration and hope was capped off by Friday’s devastating news.

Rosemary is not giving up on trying to save her home, and the community is not giving up either. We are mobilizing community members, organizations and all those who want to fight the housing crisis to stand guard at Rosemary’s house and do whatever we can to stop the eviction.

At Monday’s news conference, we will give an update on our plans to save Rosemary’s home, as well as any additional information about the current situation.

Rosemary Williams is a 55-year resident of the Central Neighborhood in south Minneapolis. She has been fighting to save her home for almost a year now. After months of non-communication from the mortgage holders, an eviction was ordered this spring. Ms. Williams, along with dozens of community supporters, tried to use the courts to stop the eviction, only to find out that pursuing “justice” would cost us $49,000. Meanwhile Rosemary has also been desperately trying to get financing to save her home, a process that takes time, especially in this economic and bank climate. Through it all, Ms. Williams makes it clear that she is standing up to inspire everyone to fight against these unjust foreclosures and evictions.

Victory for Rosemary

Media Alert
For Immediate Release: 7-24-2009
Today, July 24, at 9:15 a.m., the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office knocked on the door of Rosemary Williams, 3138 Clinton Ave S, Minneapolis. They handed her an eviction notice, stating that she and her family (including two grandbabies) had to be out of the house by Monday. Ms. Williams, along with the MN Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign and the MN Coalition for People’s Bailout were already prepared with a press conference to announce plans to resist the eviction.
Twenty minutes before the press conference, Rosemary Williams got a phone call from Minneapolis Councilmember Elizabeth Glidden. Word came through that a buyer had been found for the house, and that Ms. Williams could get a chance to lease her home with an option to buy it outright. In any case, the sheriffs were called off. And Rosemary stays in her home.
“This victory shows that when you fight back, you can win,” said Linden Gawboy, of the MN Coalition for a People’s Bailout. “Rosemary has lit the path for millions of others in this country. Stay, stay, stay. Never give up. Our communities depend on us staying.”
Cheri Honkala, of the MN Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign stated, “Rosemary’s victory proves the strength of people’s power. Through a unified struggle made up of directly affected people and allies, mega-corporations like GMAC have run scared. Rosemary has won.”
Rosemary Williams has lived on the same block in South Minneapolis for 55 years. Since she began her fight against foreclosures, she has been speaking not just for herself, but for all others in the same situation. She has testified at the legislature, before the city council and attempted a ground-breaking court case to save her home. She is a heroic example to everyone that taking a stand can have results.
“This is what happens when organizations and community come together and work collectively,” said Rosemary Williams. “I just want to encourage everyone to not just leave in the night like they want you to. Fight for what is yours.”

IT CAN BE DONE!