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Lets Lose Our House - A Modern Foreclosure Tale

WFDD: Occupy Greensboro Movie About Foreclosures Debuts at Carolina Theater

March 1st, 2012 · Posted by

By Kerri Brown, WFDD

Members of Occupy Greensboro are in the final editing stages for a movie about the foreclosure crisis in the United States.

The locally-produced social and political action movie, “Let’s Lose Our House: A Modern Foreclosure Tale” is scheduled to make its debut during a red carpet premier at the Carolina Theater on March 14.

Todd Warren, with the Occupy Greensboro Foreclosure Working Group said corporate greed and a lack of regulation is putting many people in the Triad out of their homes. He said the mini documentary a smart and funny look at the often misunderstood roots of the housing crash.

“Two folks from our Foreclosure Working Group produced a short movie, which is basically Foreclosure 101. It is a dramatization that follows a fictional family that goes and buys their first house and shows how a family can end up in foreclosure, and that it’s not just irresponsibility on their part but part of a much larger financial system,” said Warren.

Warren said local housing counselors will also be on hand in the theater lobby before and after the screening to offer advice and assistance to community members who are dealing with foreclosure issues.

“The Guilford County Home Ownership Center, Greensboro Housing Coalition, The Interactive Resource Center (IRC), which is a homeless day center in town and we are talking to other local churches and inviting them to come out. We also have been talking with individuals that are in foreclosure and we are recording their stories. We want them to know there is help out there and that it is also important to resist and challenge the foreclosures. Unfortunately only about 5 percent of the foreclosures are challenged,” said Warren.

The Save Our Community: Fight Foreclosure!” movie premier at the Carolina Theater begins at 7 p.m. on March 14. The event is free and open to the public.

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Matt Taibbi: Bank of America is a “raging hurricane of theft and fraud”

February 29th, 2012 · Posted by

Delivered by Matt Taibbi on February 29 @ Occupy Wall Street

Matt Taibbi speaking at an Occupy Wall Street day of action, February 29th, 2012.

Matt Taibbi speaking at an Occupy Wall Street day of action, February 29th, 2012.

There are two things every American needs to know about Bank of America.

The first is that it’s corrupt. This bank has systematically defrauded almost everyone with whom it has a significant business relationship, cheating investors, insurers, homeowners, shareholders, depositors, and the state. It is a giant, raging hurricane of theft and fraud, spinning its way through America and leaving a massive trail of wiped-out retirees and foreclosed-upon families in its wake.

The second is that all of us, as taxpayers, are keeping that hurricane raging. Bank of America is not just a private company that systematically steals from American citizens: it’s a de facto ward of the state that depends heavily upon public support to stay in business. In fact, without the continued generosity of us taxpayers, and the extraordinary indulgence of our regulators and elected officials, this company long ago would have been swallowed up by scandal, mismanagement, prosecution and litigation, and gone out of business. It would have been liquidated and its component parts sold off, perhaps into a series of smaller regional businesses that would have more respect for the law, and be more responsive to their customers.

But Bank of America hasn’t gone out of business, for the simple reason that our government has decided to make it the poster child for the “Too Big To Fail” concept. Because it is considered a “systemically important institution” whose collapse would have a major, Lehman-Brothers-style impact on the economy, two consecutive presidential administrations have taken extraordinary measures to keep Bank of America in business, despite a staggering recent legacy of corruption schemes, many of which were simply overlooked by regulators.

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OGSO Presents: Let’s Lose Our House

February 9th, 2012 · Posted by

Let’s Lose Our House is a smart and funny look at the often misunderstood roots of the housing crash. This short film follows the “all American family” from buying their first home to seeing it foreclosed on and shows how banks and the large financial industry destroyed peoples lives through fraudulent practices. This film was produced by the Foreclosure Working Group of Occupy Greensboro, North Carolina.

Join us on March 14 at the historic Carolina Theatre For the World Premiere of Let’s Lose Our House! The stars of the film will be on hand, including ForcloseBot 2000 and Robo Linda Green. The evening will include stories from people who have seen their homes taken from them through fraudulent foreclosures and information about how we can stand up and save our homes from predatory bankers.

More information will be posted here as the premiere date gets closer, so check back!

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Courthouse News: Chase Accused of Brazen Bankruptcy Fraud

January 17th, 2012 · Posted by

By Matt Reynolds, Courthouse News Service

JPMorgan Chase routinely fabricated documents to deceive bankruptcy judges, going so far as to Photoshop documents to “create the illusion” of standing “in tens of thousands of bankruptcy cases,” according to a federal class action.

Lead plaintiff Ernest Michael Bakenie claims that Chase’s “pattern and practice of playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with debtors, judges and other bankruptcy players” bore rich fruit: that Chase secured motions for relief of stay and proofs of claim in 95 percent of its cases.

“Through the use of fabricated assignments, endorsements and affidavits that purport to transfer deeds of trust, notes and the rights to all monies due under the terms of tens of thousands of non-negotiable promissory notes (the ‘MLNs’); Chase has demonstrated a pattern and practice of playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with debtors, judges and other bankruptcy players,” the complaint states.

“Chase intentionally conceals the identity of the true parties in interest entitled to enforce the tens of tens of thousands of residential non-negotiable promissory notes (the ‘MLNs’) for its own financial benefit, at the expense of the class and to the detriment of the integrity of the bankruptcy system.”

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Yes! Weekly: Guilford foreclosures accelerate, but new filings are down

November 16th, 2011 · Posted by

By Eric Ginsburg, Yes! Weekly

Marche Clarke, with the Guilford County Homeownership Center spoke at a recent anti-foreclosure rally outside of Bank of America. (photos by Eric Ginsburg)

Marche Clarke, with the Guilford County Homeownership Center spoke at a recent anti-foreclosure rally outside of Bank of America. (photos by Eric Ginsburg)

Residential foreclosures increased dramatically in North Carolina from September to October, with more filings in Guilford County than any other county in the state. Foreclosure rates went up nationwide by 7 percent, while foreclosure rates in North Carolina rose by 35 percent from September to October according to RealtyTrac, a real estate group that released the report.

Yet the total number of new foreclosure filings — residential and commercial listings that may not ultimately result in foreclosure — fell for the second straight month statewide.

“We’re still on the long term trend of higher foreclosure rates than normal,” said Peter Skillern, director of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina. “There’s a sense that there is a backlog of foreclosures that banks are working through.”

In Guilford County, the number of new filings fell from 279 to 238, the lowest number this year. On average, Guilford County has seen 296 new filings every month, though the last four months have been below that average. In 2010, the average monthly filings were 335, and while 2009 and 2008 were lower, so far 2011 is averaging fewer filings.

Forsyth County’s new filings increased for the third straight month, including 260 in October, making it the most number of new foreclosure filings all year. For whatever reason, October has been marked by the highest number of new filings in Forsyth and Guilford Counties in 2007, 2008 and 2010. The same is true on a statewide level.

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