The Occupy SF Housing coalition joined forces with Occupy SF on Sat., Jan. 14 in San Francisco’s Mission district.
Tenant and housing groups were protesting the complicity between real estate speculators and banks as they attempt to evict thousands of San Franciscans.
Several people climbed on top of the Wells Fargo roof at 16th and Mission and unfurled a banner that read: “Banks: No Foreclosures/Evictions for Profit!”
“We can not allow banks and speculators to dictate who stays and who goes in our communities,” said Maria Zamudio, a CJJC tenant counselor and organizer.
For too long the working class has been a target of predatory equity scams, loopholes in Ellis Act evictions, and unscrupulous home loans.
Jose Morales, a CJJC housing rights member, was evicted after a long fight to stay in his apartment. The eviction was based on the Ellis Act. It hasn’t deterred him from continuing his activism. He told the crowd: “I’m 82 and a half but you still see me walking around with my sign.”
Said Zamudio: “Foreclosures and evictions unbalance communities, jeopardize health and well-being, and leach wealth from neighborhoods. Housing is a human right. If banks and speculators continue to act as landlords, they must respect tenant protections that San Franciscans have struggled to achieve.”
Occupy SF Housing is a coalition which includes Occupy SF, SF Tenants Union, Housing Rights Committee of SF, Causa Justa:Just Cause, Eviction Defense Collaborative, ACCE, Homes Not Jails and other community groups and individuals. The coalition came together to stop banks from evicting tenants and homeowners through foreclosures or through their partnerships with real estate speculators.