From Tents to Occupy Our Homes?

Black Swan

The Occupy movement appears to be shifting its focus from erecting colonies of tents about public buildings to challenging bank malfeasance in home foreclosures. Occupy Our Homes appears to be their more recently focused battle cry.

Does this signal the next stage in development of this loosely organized movement to evolve into a more rationalized political force, or is this the dying gasp of a failed movement with the closure of most major city tent encampments?

Over the past year the Obama administration and several state attorney generals have failed to reach a settlement with some of the nation’s largest banks. Martha Coakley, Massachuetts Attorney General, has given up on the administrations failed attempts, and has now sued five of the largest US banks for deceptive foreclosure and mortgage modification practices. Occupy is aware of this, and may attempt to join the state legal efforts by adding political demonstrations in several cities.

Sources:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9166035-foreclosed-homes-empty-lots-are-next-occupy-targets
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505123_162-57336798/no-place-like-home-occupy-wall-street-targets-foreclosures/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/06/occupy-our-homes-foreclosures_n_1130375.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/massachusetts-ag-foreclosure-lawsuit-banks_n_1123393.html

Amerika

I don't get it. What would the OWS hope to accomplish? Wouldn’t this effort only help the banks? Wouldn’t the banks love to keep these loans on their books at full value rather than foreclose? Right now the banks continue to put off foreclosures pretending that these home loans are solvent, home values remain at full loan value, when in fact neither are realistic. This allows the banks to continue to pay big executive bonuses, mislead stockholders into believing the assets have a higher than their realistic worth, and leaves the homeowners stuck in their homes and unable to sell and move on with their lives. Wouldn’t it be better to make banks foreclosure on all insolvent loans? This would force the banks to take huge losses immediately if they don’t work out some sort of deals on the loans? I think having the banks foreclose on all these loans would be the only way to make banks willing to work out principal balance reductions.

Matt Holck

the occupants our continuing to pay a loan they can't pay ?

Denerick

They are either unwilling or unable to construct a rational argument and make their case like grownups and so resort to publicity stunts and 'direct action' (ie, a substitute for rational discussion) These truly are ideological children.