Forced out of work by five heart attacks and three rotator cuff injuries, Bobby Hull, a marine who served during the Vietnam era, had struggled to make his mortgage payments, and until recently, was resigned to losing the Minneapolis home that has stayed in his family for 43 years.
But the efforts of the city's Occupy movement, Occupy Minneapolis, and local like-minded advocacy groups has infused the construction worker with new hope.
"It's been a big relief," says the former Marine, who since retiring from the military has made his living as a mason and plasterer. "I'm not trying to have false hope. But I'm hopeful."
Starting today, Occupy Minneapolis, in coordination with a local housing advocacy group, expects to launch an extended sit-in to protest Hull's eviction. They plan to pitch tents, erect protest banners and transform the home into a "community hub," as they await his planned February eviction, which they've vowed to resist.
The protest coincides with a nationwide anti-foreclosure offensive scheduled to kick off tomorrow. Signaling a shift in tactics amid the removal of protesters from public spaces around the country, Occupy movements in many cities are planning similar sit-ins at the homes of beleaguered homeowners. In fact, today marks the official launch of Occupy Our Homes, an anti-foreclosure campaign, which according to Salon, is expected to happen in 20 cities.
The protest effort at Hull's home offers a window into the mechanics of this new tactic, which often appear to grow out of cross-pollination between seasoned advocacy groups and Occupy protestors.
"We've developed a model that I hope will become a national model for how this works," says Anthony Newby, an organizer for Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, which facilitated the sit-in. "We want to identify homeowners who are going to foreclosure, and then we just leverage the momentum of Occupy to create community support for people in crisis."
Nick Espinosa, an organizer for Occupy Minneapolis, along with his fellow protesters, originally learned of Hull's situation after canvassing with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, according to the housing group's executive director, Steve Fletcher. At Espinosa's request, Fletcher gave the protesters a crash course on canvassing so that they could reach out to foreclosure victims in a professional manner. After the training, Occupy protesters and members of the housing group used a list of locals facing eviction -- compiled by Neighborhoods Organizing for Change -- to track down struggling homeowners that were open to their support. That's how they found Hull.
Espinosa said Neighborhoods Organizing for Change has been an "incredible help in helping us to learn more what [protest of foreclosures] "looks like."
Hull is the third homeowner whose house Occupy Minneapolis will try to save. The protesters are already camped out at the residence of Monique White, who also faces eviction. According to Fletcher, they learned of White's case from the Northside Community Reinvestment Coalition. The coordination is another instance of an advocacy group providing logistical support to help Occupy resist the evictions of homeowners who have been foreclosed on.
Previously, Occupy Minneapolis had staged a short-lived occupation at another foreclosed home; it ended in arrests. In that case, Occupy protesters themselves discovered the homeowner, says Fletcher, after she showed up in Hennepin County Government Plaza to share her story. Regardless of what have inspired the three protests, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change members have participated with Occupy Minneapolis in all of them.
Like many of its sister movements around the country, Occupy Minneapolis has struggled to maintain its public presence. According to The Twin Cities Daily Planet, police seized tents from the plaza on Nov. 29, "effectively evicting" their public occupation.
Occupying foreclosed homes appears to be one of the most effective ways for the movement to adapt in the face of such crackdowns, says Espinosa.
"It does seem like this is the direction of where a lot of this energy is going," Espinosa says. "It's a way to bring the fight from Wall Street onto Main Street ... to really get neighborhoods in a tangible way where they see what we have to offer them."
For the extended sit-in at Hull's home, protesters will set up tents and transform the house into a "community hub," where protesters will hold meetings and enlist the support of neighbors.
Espinosa says protesters will encourage community members to sign a pledge to resist Hull's eviction, support a moratorium on foreclosures and defy their own possible evictions.
Hull, who served as a demolitions instructor during the Vietnam era, has lived in his home since 1968, when his mother purchased it. The title later was transferred to him, and he eventually paid off the loan.
But about four years ago he took out a $250,000 loan on the home to start a contracting business. Shortly thereafter, he suffered five heart attacks and three rotator cuff injuries. With no steady paycheck, he tried for two years to negotiate a loan modification with Bank of America.
But that didn't happen, and in an event that speaks volumes about the housing bust's devastating impact on real estate values around the country, Hull's lifelong home sold at auction for a mere $83,700, nearly $200,000 less than what he owed on it.
"I should be able to be back to work by February," he said. "If they had just postponed it, I could be back to work."
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article described Hull as a Vietnam veteran. He did not serve in Vietnam but as a demolitions instructor during the Vietnam era.
What is the point of acting to keep someone in a home that they can no longer afford and will continue to struggle to keep when they can be starting over in a place more in line with their actual means? It's cruel.The man owes a quarter of a MILLION dollars on a place that isn't worth even half that amount. He got the cash. Now he should be forgiven for the debt AND allowed to keep the house? That's nuts. Why should any bank, credit union, or even private person EVER underwrite a mortgage if it is so easy to renege on the deal?
I agree with you 100% , that said we are the bad guys, people actually believe in this day and age that a legally signed loan document is open to interpertation depending on a persons circumstances or should even be forgiven,, sad days we live in when no one is responsible for their own actions
I am so sick of people overextending themselves financially and expect to be bailed out. How the hell did he get the second loan? Don't borrow money and expect to have no consequences if you don't pay the loan back!!!!!!
OH WELL ... LIFE IS A BITCH ... I KNOW ... I AM A VIET NAM VET AND HAD THE MORTGAGE LENDER TAKE MY HOME IN NORTH HOLLYWOOD EVEN THOUGH I WAS CURRENT, NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT, AND WAS NEVER LATE ... AND THE MORTGAGE LENDER ACCUSED ME OF FRAUD TO GET THE HOME ... BUT DID THEY HAVE TO PROVE THAT IN COURT???? NOPE ... ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS MAKE AN ACCUSATION, AND USE THE COURT SYSTEM TO ACHIEVE THEIR ENDS ... I KNOW ... THEY DID THAT TO ME ... SO AS I SAID IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS ... OH WELL ... LIFE IS FUKED
What I don't understand about this country is why multi-million dollar corporations who through mis-management have been run into bankruptcy get to 'restructure' their debt and obligations, emerge from bankruptcy as a born again viable enterprise, and go about their business as usual while people who fall on hard times through no fault of their own aren't given the same level of consideration in restructuring their obligations to keep a roof over their head. It's not like the mortgagees can't afford giving such people a break by suspending payment obligations to give a bit of relief and extending the loan to compensate for the suspension period.
I totally agree with you !! It's SHOCKING at how 'un-informed' the general public is in these matters. Why should these multi-million dollar corporations get financial help for their debt and local obligations....while average citizens are thrown into the streets ? Corporate America gets 'bailed-out'....because we all know who's backing them up...the buck stops with our Government ! I find it appalling & unfair...the lack of humanity these days...our country should be BETTER than this ! Thomas Jefferson 'fore saw' what could happen...and he was right...all those years ago ! Our government fails to learn...greed has taken over & blinded them to what this country was founded on !
He signed the loan papers, he is responsible for that debt. I am also a vet, and I feel sorry for this guy,but that is how it is. What bothers me is that Bank of America refuses to even negotiate with him. They are more than willing to bend over backwards to illegal aliens, by offering banking services and not requiring a Social Security Number, or any real identification. Those ID cards supplied by Mexican embassies are given out like penny candy with very little verification. Yet, they will not even give a break to a U.S. citizen.
Very well said Golfigure. Seems like so many ppl. who don`t care about others, live in a black or white or yes or no world and can`t think beyond that.
Individuals can and do the same thing. However, if there is no way , then there is no way out. Instead of protesting they should reach in and make a donation.
It's cruel because they could be starting over without all the fear and worry about how long they'll be able to float their mortgage payments before getting into trouble again. When financial circumstances change, lifestyles have to change too. And it doesn't have to be about personal fault. People divorce, lose spouses, have illnesses, etc. and need to sell or give up a home and start over. No one is stopping the guy from declaring bankruptcy and moving into a nice apartment somewhere. Why is the occupy movement being so mean to this guy by encouraging him to live a harder life than he needs to live?
I'm also a Veteran, a partially disabled Military Vet.. I do NOT agree with these people "Occupying" this guys property to stop the eviction. If they REALLY wanted to help.. they'd collect the money he needed to STAY in his home and bring his account back to order. This crap of just having a big "camp fest" is STUPID.. MORONIC. Its NOT going to solve a d*** thing and in the end they will ALL go to jail and my brother Veteran will be thrown out.
I agree--they'd do better by collecting and donating the money he owes so he can catch up-which probably wouldn't help at this point if the place has already been sold--instead of "occupying" the property-trashing it like all the other places they've occupied and in the end he'll lose it anyway! My heart goes out to him. Maybe the gov't should have given each and every American $100,000 in bailout funding--that would have kept the economy in better shape than any of the big business fools they bailed out has done!
what is with these occupy people???...they truly have no understanding of how business works...we are all trying to enjoy our slice of the american pie....but the homeowner knew what he was getting into when he put the house up for collateral on a 250K loan...now the occupy people expects to protest for the erasure of his debt....occupy needs to get a life..these people seem to have no sense of having to work for a living...they want everything free....GET A LIFE!!!!even communism wasnt free and look where the former USSR is today....
To Mike Couldnt agree with you more Firstly we Viet vet have been getting the shaft since day oneI for one will never forgive this country for the way we were treated.BNow the opposite occurs just being in the miltary you are a 'HERO'not to take anything away from todays vets! As far as responsibility this has been a long time coming, slow and insidious like "Cooking Frogs".It is truly a liberal phenomena whereby no one is responsible for their actions anymore . Everyone is beuatiful, everyone gets a trophy,you can't talk to me like that(even though you screw up royaly)I don't test well,It's not my fault etc.et.c Think about it and reflect back on the previous years if you are old enough to remember "How is was" and how you were totally accountable for your own actions!
I think that I am as compassionate as most people if not moreso; however, I really don't agree with OWS on this one. It seems to me that this is more of a case for CHARITY more so than asking the financial institutions or the tax payers to bail this guy out of his financial difficulties. (I'm a Nam vet also.) When people fun into financial diffiuclties due to hard times or the result of buying something that they can't really afford, it is NOT the tax payers responsibility to bail them out. This guy took out a "business loan", using this home for collateral. Due to his medical problems he can't pay the loan. That is no basis for him to be bailed out except as an act of "charity" by people who are willing to contribute to a fund to bail him out. Personally, I hate the corrupt corporation; but they DO have a legitimate basis for foreclosure in this case. This is a private matter; OWS needs to set up a charitable fund to help him; but it isn't a basis to criticize the financial institution for a legitimate foreclosure.
As is usual, the man is asking for some help until he can get back on his feet. The Goverment is supposed to protect us from Financial Institutions and other greedy Corporations as well as "Defend the Homeland". It started to stop with the Reagan Administration and came to fruition with all three Branches of the Government being controlled by the Republicans and "Blue Dog" Democrats in the first part of the Century. Obama and Clinton were perfect replacements for the Bushes and continued the enrichment of those at the top. The other funciont of Government was to help ALL those within its borders with the advent of the New Deal and other SOCIAL programs. This is also stopping as we fund the Corporations with tax dollars. continus Tax Breaks for the top 1%, and feel our diaabled, elderly, or unemployed neighbors are just a drain our resources and should just be put out-of-site, or allowed to die.
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Forced out of work by five heart attacks and three rotator cuff injuries, Bobby Hull, a marine who served during the Vietnam era, had struggled to make his mortgage payments, and until recently, was resigned to losing the Minneapolis home that has stayed in his family for 43 years.
