Breaking News:
(Note to DHS. If there is another way to say 'breaking news' that isn't in your buzzwords book, please advise.)
All kinds of news this week, and it was beginning to pile up, so here's a sample of the most significant stories from this week:
“Van Nuys. Thanks to the investigative work of Occupy Fights Foreclosures, a subcommittee of Occupy LA, and Occupy San Fernando Valley, one foreclosure-rescue scammer is being brought to justice and one family has been reimbursed their fees and given back their loan documents. The entity known as Golden Global Investments is now under investigation by police for misrepresenting themselves as attorneys, charging fees and promising to modify loans when they are not licensed attorneys.
“The discovery resulted after one homeowner with a handicapped child came to a recent Occupy Fights Foreclosures rally at La Placida Olvera and asked activists for help since she was facing eviction, despite having hired a firm to modify her loan and prevent foreclosure.
“OFF's and OSFV's investigation determined that the firm hired by this homeowner was an unlicensed scammer who had defrauded this family and taken their money. After OFF made a few phone calls to this firm stating the discoveries, the firm gave the homeowner back their money and their documents. Police confirmed that this was an unlicensed operation. They are now taking a full report and conducting an investigation.
“This represents the effectiveness of Occupy Fights Foreclosures' investigations and their awareness of the many facets of mortgage and foreclosure fraud.
“A press conference will be held today at 6:00 at the Golden Global Investments office: 14500 Roscoe Blvd, Van Nuys.
“To learn more about foreclosure fraud, people are welcome to attend the inaugural day of Foreclosure Forums presented by Occupy Fights Foreclosures as part of
Occupy Our Homes SoCal:
Saturday, March 24, 10:00 AM - noon at 3655 S. Grand Ave (near 37th), downtown LA or
Saturday, March 24, 4:00 - 6:00 PM at Claremont City Hall 225 West 2nd St, Claremont
Too Big To Fail: A perversion of capitalism
“An unfortunate side effect of the government’s massive aid to TBTF banks has been an erosion of faith in American capitalism. Ordinary workers and consumers who might usually thank capitalism for their higher living standards have seen a perverse side of the system, where they see that normal rules of markets don’t apply to the rich, powerful and well-connected.
“Here are some ways TBTF has violated basic tenets of a capitalist system:
“Capitalism requires the freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail. Hard work and good decisions should be rewarded. Perhaps more important, bad decisions should lead to failure—openly and publicly. Economist Allan Meltzer put it this way:'Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin.'
“Capitalism requires government to enforce the rule of law. This requires maintaining a level playing field. The privatization of profits and socialization of losses is completely unacceptable. TBTF undermines equal treatment, reinforcing the perception of a system tilted in favor of the rich and powerful.
“Capitalism requires businesses and individuals be held accountable for the consequences of their actions. Accountability is a key ingredient for maintaining public faith in the economic system. The perception—and the reality—is that virtually nobody has been punished or held accountable for their roles in the financial crisis.
“The idea that some institutions are TBTF inexorably erodes the foundations of our market-based system of capitalism.” Read more here
Facebook: How to stop insidious social disease
Trayvon Martin rally
Estimates of 30,000 seeking justice for Trayvon Martin heard speakers including Al Sharpton yesterday. A Change.org petition is certain to reach a million signatures soon, if not already. And the police chief has stepped aside as it appears the feds will be investigating separately.
Don't forget the lawn
“The city of Los Angeles could get an additional $350 million in savings and additional revenue by going after uncollected fees, better managing properties and contracting with local businesses, according to a series of reports released Thursday.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-city-revenues-20120323,0,1807429.story
Occupy Fights Foreclosures
The OFF group has obviously been very busy of late. This small offshoot of Occupy Los Angeles now has their own website, and with the foreclosure situation certain to get worse, we'll be seeing more or them at actions. Here's the latest advisory from OFF:
“We've just started a new website and email service and we just added people to our email who have come to our meetings, met us at events, shown interested in our work online, signed a petition, and/or have signed up OccupyOurHomes.org to help fight foreclosures. So this maybe one of the first emails you've received from us. Welcome!
“This weekend Occupy Fights Foreclosures (OFF), an official subcommittee of Occupy LA, will take part in two foreclosures forums on Saturday- one in LA and one in Claremont and we will have our weekly meeting on Sunday at 1-3pm. We also have a clip of a radio show with some of our members on it. See below for all details.
WEEKLY MEETING
“This week's meeting will be at Panera at 5300 Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood. There is a parking lot with free parking but be careful not to park in permitted areas. This location is near the orange line.
“If you plan to attend please RSVP for the event here or Text MEET032512 to +13109123494 to RSVP to join this event. RSVPs will help us save a chair for you at this meeting.
“We also meet every Wednesday at 5-7pm to plan a massive action to occupy or reoccupy 99 homes at the same time. Let us know if you are interested in that as well.
OCCUPY FIGHTS FORECLOSURES ON THE RADIO
“A couple of the people volunteering with us were on the radio this week. Here is a link to KPFK's Beautiful Struggle show from March 20, 2012. Also, Margaret Prescod has had members of OFF on her show as well. We want to thank Kimberly Kim and Margaret Prescod for featuring foreclosure stories on their shows.
FORECLOSURE FORUM #1
“A recently formed coalition called Occupy Our Homes SoCal- which is made up of Occupy Fights Foreclosures (OFF), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and other community groups that want to fight the foreclosure crisis- will hold a series of workshops for families in need of help and volunteers willing to help.
“The first workshop is this Saturday, March 24 from 10am to noon in the community room of Mercado La Paloma located at 3655 S. Grand Ave in Los Angeles.
“This workshop will give a very brief overview of the big picture as it relates to the mortgage and foreclosure fraud crisis, the movement against it, and stories from families in the fight.
“Participants will share their stories with others and learn to change their stories to reflect the systematic fraud. We will also be laying out different options for families and somethings families and volunteers can do to help each other now.
“We will give a brief overview of the origination, securitization, and foreclosure fraud that has plagued so many families. And we'll discuss ways of throwing proverbial monkey wrenches into the machines of fraud that threaten so many families.
“This is meant to be a brief overview and more and more workshops and trainings will take place to help families and volunteers connect to protect their communities.
“If you plan to attend, please RSVP here or Text FORUM032412 to +13109123494 to RSVP to join this training. There is only room for 35 people, so RSVP today to reserve your seat.
FORECLOSURE FORUM #2
“Occupy Claremont invited us to join their foreclosure forum on Saturday from 4-6pm. Peggy from ACCE will also be presenting at this teach-in as well. If you are interested in attending this event let us know so we can forward the information to you.
“We hope to see you this weekend or in the near future. All of our upcoming events can be seen here. Thanks for supporting this movement.
Occupy Fights Foreclosures
occupyfightsforeclosures@gmail.com
310-912-3494
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