Where else should OWS occupy?
- They should go home! (44%, 68 Votes)
- The White House (42%, 64 Votes)
- REOs (14%, 22 Votes)
Total Voters: 154
As winter rapidly closes in, participants in the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement have started looking for new digs. Rather than the icy and windswept public parks that were the home of the movement at its inception, OWSers now plan on occupying foreclosed homes.
By mid-December, the movement projects they will have occupied more than 30 homes nationwide that are either in danger of foreclosure or that have already been foreclosed on and now sit vacant. In addition to foreclosure squatting, representatives of the movement have also vowed to peaceably disrupt foreclosure auctions in order to forestall trustee’s sales and keep lenders from repossessing more homes.
first tuesday take: Occupying foreclosures may prove more difficult than occupying public forums such as Zuccotti Park. There is a rich history of code and case law on both a state and federal level that protects demonstrators occupying public space.
However, there is perhaps an even more imposing canon of property law that protects the owners of private property from trespassers. After the trustee’s sale, the bank usually owns the private property — and trust us, lenders know exactly how to have trespassers evicted quickly.
Although the Occupiers are taking on a significant challenge with this move, they are meeting Goliath at his front door and stand to make considerable headway on the new fair housing front if they are successful. It is a big “if,” but more power to them. Better than agents using them for a midday rendezvous. [For more information on Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and fair housing, see the November 2011 first tuesday article, A new age for fair housing.]
re: “Occupy movement’s next stop? Foreclosed homes.” from the Los Angeles Times
Joe, keep telling yourself that, but use spell check.
Raging liberals real estate newspersons here. Completely out of touch with reality. I read these more for amusement than anything else anymore. These guys make Obama look conservative.
I too find First Tuesday’s comments outrageous. Allan and Jim have nailed it. I’d like to learn more about these “agents having midday rendezvous” in foreclosed houses. How insulting can First Tuesday be to the people it’s supposed to serve. Yikes.
I am in complete agreement with the previous contributor, Allan, and was also asking myself as I read the First Tuesday article, how in the world can an organization like FT line up with such an antagonistic attitude against the brokerage community, and at the same time have that much praise and approbation for anarchistic take-over communists. Here’s wishing that the FT corporate offices or vacation homes in the Caymans never become the target of the OWS (and anything else that is allowed to be taken over) perestroika movement.
You praise the Foreclosure Occupiers with a “more power to them”. Are you nuts?!? This is a forum FOR REAL ESTATE AGENTS. Whose side are you on? Did you forget that (1) Agents are trying to sell those foreclosures (2) Who’s going to provide security for those agents? (3) Selling off these low-ball foreclosures ASAP is critical to restoring the housing market (4) Who’s going to pay to clean up the trash and human waste when these jerks get thrown out? (5) What happens when the banks try to exercise their legal right to evict these trespassers? Right! The same things that happened when they tried to clear the parks – they torched the place. So now we can add arson to their offenses.
And you want to praise these criminals!?!
Agents Brokers you must know the whole housing mess was backed up by the federal reserve. any problems with OWS starts there, at the fed. I have no idea why they are in the city parks.
But they are right, my family fought and died for freedom, not corp profits.and more debt.
With 25 years in biz this happens every 10 years or so. fed Backed, congress approved. kick backs accepted.
Hopefully you will Google search Fed Res Audit 2011 1st audit in 100 years,deside with the facts, Huffington Post. And HAPPY HOLIDAYS HAPPY SELLING SK