Foreclosure is NOT the End

You're in danger of losing your home. The bank is sending you ominous notices of an impending foreclosure. When you try to get anyone on the phone, you get a wall of silence or, worse, they offer you a wallet-gouging modification.

Do you have any reasonable alternatives?

In the movement led by City Life/Vida Urbana, homeowners are getting their homes back AFTER foreclosure, and tenants are staying where they are. Foreclosure is NOT the end. City Life has pioneered a movement of resistance to eviction after foreclosure- resistance that often brings the bank back to the table and makes them willing to sell the house back to you, or to an intermediary non-profit bank (Boston Community Capital), which will then sell it back to you.

A key understanding that helps a lot is that it can be OK to walk away from negotiations and let them foreclose- you often have more negotiating power after foreclosure. Foreclosure does not equal eviction- by being informed about your rights and by working with legal services, you can stay in your home for a good amount of time after foreclosure. Frequently, enough time to force negotiations with the lender, especially when the real value of your house is less than the mortgage value. City Life has created a movement that is getting properties back at the real value- affordable for many who could not manage a mortgage at the inflated, housing bubble price.

Tenants in foreclosed buildings are protected by a new state law, and cannot be evicted as long as the bank owns the property, but can be evicted when an investor buys the building. So it's essential for tenants to have a good 'fight back' strategy in place- "we shall not be moved" signs in the windows, knowledge of legal rights, and a strong movement behind them. The signs in the windows and the will to resistance discourage investors from buying the property. Not to be propsing a 'one size fits all' tactic, investors that are not interested in evicting the tenants and that look to be good landlords can be encouraged to buy the property. Resistance brings leverage.

We call it the sword and the shield. Public protest (the sword) and legal defense (the shield). If you're in a foreclosed building, whether you're a tenant or a homeowner, come to the City Life meeting every Tuesday at 6:30 at 284 Amory St. in Jamaica Plain, in the Brewery Complex. You'll be joining a growing movement and one that is successful at keeping people in their homes.

Dave Burt is an activist with City Life/Vida Urbana.