NEWSHOUSING

With today's "Occupy Our Homes" kickoff, the Occupy movement has gone from inhabiting the most public of spaces to the most private. They're not taking over just any home, though -- organizers are defending homeowners around the country facing imminent foreclosure.

It's a natural next step for the young but increasingly influential movement. The effort has already been met with great media coverage, and will likely be critical in once again refocusing public conversation on the plight of the 99%. Besides that, there's little question Occupy Our Homes will be successful in saving some homes from foreclosure by exposing the unfair and deceptive banking practices that have driven many homeowners to that point.

But Occupy Our Homes isn't the only avenue for holding banks accountable to homeowners. Dozens of homeowners, their family, and their friends have started petitions on Change.org calling on their banks to treat them fairly and modify their mortgages to allow them to stay in their homes.

One of those homeowners is Monique White, whose story is told by Change.org member Nick Espinosa:

Monique worked for 11 years as youth counselor at a group home to help troubled teens transition back into their communities. In February 2010, the nonprofit shut down due to state budget cuts. Although Monique still has a part-time job at a liquor store where she has worked for the past 8 years, this has not been enough to afford her mortgage payment.

Monique has gone through the process of trying to get a loan modification writing a hardship letter and sending document after document to US Bank, yet they still refused to work with her and have foreclosed on her home.

'A house across the street from mine just sold for $9,500, and the bank would rather kick me out and let the house sit empty than renogotiate my $130,000 mortage. It makes absolutely no sense,' explained Monique.

Sadly, Monique's story is not unique. Lesliane Bouchard, a disabled California schoolteacher, is facing foreclosure by First Mortgage Corporation. Vicky Aase is trying to stop foreclosure on her Los Angeles-area home after being brought to the brink of foreclosure by Bank of America. Liz Wootan, who provides reasonably-priced rental units for middle-class tenants in New York, could lose her rental property. These homeowners have all stood up for themselves using Change.org, and our hope is that many other homeowners begin to use our platform as one more tool at their disposal in their fights to save their homes.

And it can work! Just ask Seattle-area mom Vera Johnson, who managed to stop Bank of America's efforts to foreclose on her home. Sometimes the victories are smaller, but still important. For instance, many homeowners complain that banks frequently lose documents and shuffle them between multiple representatives who often know nothing of the customer's earlier conversations. Through Change.org, numerous homeowners have won the decent treatment and single point of contact they deserve.

Change is possible, and Change.org's tools can make it a little bit easier to win. If you or someone you know is facing foreclosure, consider starting a campaign on Change.org today.

When Vera Johnson started her petition on Change.org this summer, she was at the end of her rope. For 18 months, Vera had been attempting to stop the foreclosure on her home and business of 32 years and secure a permanent loan modification with Bank of America. The obstacles were numerous and increasingly tiresome. A Seattle Times columnist reported that Vera had "faxed and FedExed documents once, twice, three times, had partial payments rejected and even watched a loan officer at her own Bank of America branch sit on hold for an hour and get nowhere."

In Vera’s own words, "We are in a system where we're all looked at as account numbers, profits, risks, losses—anything but people."

Vera took her fight to Change.org and quickly collected more than 15,000 signatures from Washington State residents. To build pressure on the bank, she delivered the signatures to a Bank of America executive and spoke to media outside BofA's Seattle offices. She even appeared on national television, drawing more people to support her cause.

For Vera Johnson, fighting foreclosure isn't just about keeping her home. It's about keeping her job. Vera runs a thriving nursery business on her property in Seattle. Recently divorced and raising two kids, Vera needs this job to provide for her family.

Last week, Vera was scheduled to have, what she thought would be, a fairly productive meeting with Bank of America to discuss the final steps of her loan modification application. She also planned to deliver 10,000 Change.org signatures to Bank of America representatives.

Instead, Vera was met with some rather hostile and just plain over-the-top security measures.

U.S. soldier Aaron Collette was home from Iraq for just an hour, before he decided to shoot a video message with his Dad to Change.org users. Yes, it was that important to him.

In the video, Tim Collette thanked everyone who’s helped him stay in his home through September. He added, “Chase does not like you guys.”

Aaron Collette told supporters, “We love you guys a lot for what you’ve been doing.” Aaron continues,  “And I appreciate more than you guys will ever know [that you helped] my dad keep his house. This is my home. This is my place to come back to. My safe zone…Thank you.”

Members of the Economic Fairness Oregon (EFO) team are in Bend, Oregon right now, meeting with Tim Collette as he prepares for a big day with two very different events - an emotional reunion with his son, Aaron, who returns from Iraq tonight, and the public auction of his home by JPMorgan Chase at 3:30pm PT at the court house.

Saadia McConville from EFO writes, "We are all excited for Tim and Aaron's reunion, and also anxious to see what unfolds at the courthouse. Chase tried to force Tim to sign a deed in lieu of foreclosure, which would have cost him his home and taken away his opportunity for legal recourse. Tim refused to sign this paperwork as it went against what Chase had been promising him, and he now waits to see what Chase will do this afternoon."

Despite the pressure of the impending sale, Tim is elated that his son Aaron will be home later this evening. His room is clean, his bed is made and several members of his family will be arriving in the coming days to visit him during his leave.

Across the country, homeowners are battling with America’s banks for mortgage loan modifications. As of May of this year, less than 750,000 U.S. borrowers had received permanent loan modifications, far below the original goal of helping 3 - 4 million borrowers. The big banks – including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo – have come under harsh criticism for preventing millions of eligible homeowners from receiving loan modifications, resulting in unnecessary (and in some cases, illegal) home foreclosures.

Tim Collette is one homeowner who's fighting back. While his son serves in Iraq, Tim is fighting to stay in his home.

More than 120,000 people on Change.org have joined the Collettes in asking Chase bank to stop the foreclosure and find a permanent solution for the family.

Y­­ou would think, after being caught overcharging 4,000 service members and illegally foreclosing on 14 military families, JPMorgan Chase would be bending over backwards to repair its image with the military.

But apparently, Chase’s customer 'service' only goes so far for our men and women in uniform.

Twenty-year-old Aaron Collette of Oregon is currently serving in Iraq, while his father, Tim, is in a heated foreclosure battle with JPMorgan Chase.

Two years ago, Tim Collette asked Chase bank to modify his mortgage. The bank instructed Tim that, in order to qualify for a loan modification, he had to miss two payments. Once that happened, Chase initiated foreclosure proceedings. Tim has been immersed in a long battle of paperwork and phone calls with the bank ever since.

Tim Collette’s home was originally scheduled to be foreclosed on in June, but thanks to the advocacy of Economic Fairness Oregon, Change.org members and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chase publicly agreed to delay the foreclosure and “find a solution” for the Collette’s. As soon as the media attention died down, they rescheduled foreclosure proceedings for August. 9th – just 10 days before Aaron returns from Iraq.

But Change.org members aren't backing down. More than 83,000 people have signed on in support of Tim and his family. Tim was so touched by the support, he recorded a video message.

Right now, millions of Americans are facing foreclosure on their homes - many of these people, like Tim Collette, played by the rules. Many banks, however, are behaving badly. The good news is that you can do something about it.

If you're facing foreclosure or know someone who is, here are some helpful steps you can take to fight back.

20-year-old soldier Aaron Collette is currently on a tour of duty in Iraq. Next month, he’s scheduled to return to Oregon for two weeks of hard-earned leave. After surviving an IED explosion next to his squad this month, Aaron is looking forward to some quiet time with his family.

There’s a problem, though. Through no fault of their own, Aaron's family will be kicked out of their home on August 9th – just ten days before Aaron returns. JPMorgan Chase is foreclosing on Aaron’s father Tim Collette, and has so far refused to modify Tim’s mortgage.

Tim Collette is on a mission to save his home – at least, temporarily. He’s simply asking for Chase to delay foreclosure proceedings so that Aaron can come home to Oregon this summer.

Like many homeowners in foreclosure, Tim Collette played by the rules. He put a $100,000 downpayment on his home when he purchased it back in 2006. But when the economy crashed in 2008, Tim’s flooring and countertop business dried up. Tim struggled to make his mortgage payments each month, and eventually called Chase for assistance in restructuring his loan.

The bank told Tim that he’d need to miss two payments to qualify. Once he did that (per the bank’s instructions), the bank began foreclosure proceedings. After yanking Tim around for more than a year, Chase decided not to modify Tim’s mortgage and scheduled the final foreclosure date for June 20th.

When news of Tim’s story initially broke, JPMorgan Chase quickly told reporters they’d find a solution for Tim and placed his June 20th foreclosure on hold. But as soon as the media attention waned, the bank called Tim again and told him the foreclosure was back on – now scheduled for August 9th.

U.S. law prohibits banks from foreclosing on the homes of active duty military members, but JPMorgan Chase has mistakenly foreclosed on at least 27 service members. Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said of this mistake, "There is no class of citizen that we hold in higher regard...this is the worst [mistake] we've made. We deeply apologize to our veterans ... and we're sorry."

Tim’s son Aaron isn’t the homeowner in this situation. But this is Aaron’s home. It’s his bedroom. His family. His safe place to return to after serving his country in Iraq. Chase Bank has already shown that, when under scrutiny by the media and with the determined advocacy of groups like Economic Fairness Oregon, they’ll delay foreclosure proceedings. Let’s see what happens when Change.org activists send thousands of messages to Chase Bank in support of Tim and his family.

It seems that Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature have struck a deal that will renew rent control laws that would have otherwise expired next month. The laws protect many working and middle class families by guaranteeing lease renewals and limiting rent increases, so a landlord can't suddenly decide to double your monthly rent. These laws help stabilize neighborhoods and prevent families from being priced out - or simply thrown out - of their homes.

Here's how the political battle shook out: Everyone seems to agree on extending these basic rent control laws. Democrats in the state legislature and Governor Cuomo also wanted to strengthen the rent regulation system. Specifically, they want to make it harder for landlords to pull rent controlled units out of the system (which they can do if a tenant's income goes over a certain point, or if a unit becomes vacant). State Senator Eric Adams, who has started a petition here on Change.org , also wants to re-regulate apartments "that have been deregulated under a flawed system that encourages fraud and tenant harassment."