Protesting Foreclosure
What effect will a protest have on Fannie Mae’s ability to foreclose? Not much (as the article points out). What it does do is add a voice to those who feel that their home was taken away in an unjust fashion.
9 arrested in Pasadena protest over home foreclosure
By Nicole Santa Cruz /Los Angeles Times
Nine people were arrested Wednesday afternoon in Pasadena after protesting the foreclosure of a La Puente woman’s home.
A group of about 70 people supporting Rose Gudiel and her disabled mother began protesting outside Pasadena City Hall, then moved to a Fannie Mae building nearby. Fannie Mae owns the loan on Gudiel’s house.
The building’s management determined that the protesters were being disruptive to business. After several warnings, the crowd dispersed and after a third warning nine people were arrested, said Lt. Pete Hettema of the city’s Police Department.
“Everyone was pretty cooperative,” Hettema said. “Obviously, the people in there were attempting to make a statement.”
Protesters held signs and chanted phrases such as “Shame, Shame Fannie Mae.” The group was associated with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and the Service Employees International Union.
Amy Schur of Los Angeles attended the protest. She called Gudiel’s actions courageous and said the woman’s situation is an “unfair, wrongful foreclosure.”
“This is about families across the city and across the country who are having their homes wrongfully taken away from them,” she said. “There are a lot of preventable foreclosures out there.”
Gudiel, 34, said she just wants to sit down and talk with representatives who might be willing to negotiate instead of foreclose.
“Every corner of that house is part of my American Dream,” she said.
A court date on the arrests is set for Dec. 7.