As the Financial Times reported today (Oct 24, 2012), In July, when Edward DeMarco refused to implement a debt-reduction scheme championed by the White House, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, accused him of making a decision that ran contrary to the best interests of the nation.

… If Mr Obama wins re-election, Mr DeMarco’s days may be numbered, with senior White House officials quietly telling housing industry activists in recent weeks that he will be replaced.

We’re counting this as a small victory in a string of many more that are needed in the future.

The actions being taken to hold Freddie and Fannie accountable are especially timely given Acting Director Edward DeMarco’s defiant refusal to modify loans with principal reductions for struggling homeowners whose homes are underwater. The stories of homeowners fighting to keep, or get their homes back from Fannie and Freddie are highlighted here.

After hundreds of protests around the country, kicked off in a coordinated national campaign this past September by Right to the City—a coalition of organizations which includes CJJC; the Home Defenders League and New Bottom Line —thousands protested in the streets from Los Angeles, to Chicago, New York to Washington.

Acting Director Edward DeMarco’s defiant refusal to modify loans with principal reductions for struggling homeowners whose homes are underwater has done nothing but motivate and inspire us to get louder.

Our coordinated national campaign is due to Fannie and Freddie’s influence over the entire banking and financial system. Fannie and Freddie have become the government. So… We made noise. We protested. We marched. We shared the stories of families impacted by Fannie/Freddie policies.

 

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Read some of the stories of our own members who are fighting to keep their home, like the Perez family who refuses to be moved from their Oakland, CA home. 

Or check out the courageous Fabulous Five who sat down in front of Fannie Mae headquarters in Washington and refused to leave.  

As CJJC’s Nell Myhand stated at the Fannie/Freddie protest Sept. 27 in Washington, DC:

“I am taking an arrest to call attention to my demand for community control of housing. As Ella Baker said about the courageous young people who sat in at lunch counters in the segregated south during the Civil Rights Movement to challenge unjust law, ‘it’s bigger than a hamburger.’ “

And though it may have been a ‘coincidence’ — after our huge protests in Los Angeles Fannie and Freddie ok’d limited principal reductions in California. How you like us NOW Fannie/Freddie? Here are protests from New York, Chicago, to Los Angeles.  

Read CJJC member Manuel De Paz’ story about the nefarious actions of BofA and ultimately of Freddie Mac  

And check out Nell Myhand, a housing counselor at CJJC and her partner Synthia Green’s story here. 

We filled Fannie and Freddie offices. We sat in front of Ed DeMarco’s house, we were arrested, we held the line. We were relentless.

And it seems someone listened.

It’s time for us to Clean House at Fannie and Freddie! Stand with millions of American homeowners and foreclosure eviction victims and with the hundreds of people who will directly confront Fannie and Freddie officials at their main HQ and demand they do what’s right for we, the people, who own 82% of them. Why? Because we need our homes more than Fannie or Freddie need one more!

• Right to the City National Alliance (RTC)

• NEW ROAD—a 9-member regional coalition that uses the “sword and shield

model;” it includes the following RTC members — City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU),

Springfield No One Leaves (SNOL) and Direct Action for Rights and Equality

(DARE) in Providence, RI.

• Mid-Hudson No One Leaves–RTC member in Pooghkeepsie, New York

• Causa Justa/Just Cause—RTC member in Bay area

• Miami Workers Center—RTC member in Miami, FL

• Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE) –RTC member in Los Angeles

• Occupy Our Homes Atlanta

• Alliance for Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) in Los Angeles

•Home Defenders League

•Alliance for a Just Society

•Chicago Anti-Eviction Network

•Mexico Solidarity Network

•Moratorium Now Coalition

•Chelsea Collaborative

•Lynn United for Change

•Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team