housing

Struggle Changes Everything: Direct Action Organizing Panel & Discussion

Submitted by newengland on Tue, 04/06/2010 - 11:02

Saturday, April 10, 2010
5:00pm - 8:00pm
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston St.
Boston, MA

Panel, followed by discussion, composed of individuals with experience in different organizations around soliciting grievances and mobilizing around labor, housing, and immigration issues.

Panelists will talk about their organizing experiences and strategic orientation. Specifically panel will address how taking collective action and directly confronting bosses, landlords, and other powerful institutions brings a sense of empowerment and consciousness to those involved. Discussion will focus on how best to support, network, organize, and/or supplement these activities.

Sponsored by NEFAC.
Info: boston@nefac.net, (617)544-3932

Bronx tenants sue to remove allegedly negligent landlord

Submitted by Flint on Fri, 04/02/2010 - 10:18

More than two-dozen Bronx tenants are suing to have their landlord removed from their 56-unit apartment building and replaced with an independent administrator. The suit claims that the landlord, Semper Fi Management 4, has for years failed to address nearly 1,000 building code violations at 2710 Bainbridge Avenue, close to 200 of which are classified as emergency, the suit says.

Bank Tenants Fight to Stay in Their Homes

Submitted by Flint on Fri, 01/22/2010 - 17:28

Things look bleak for bank tenants, because banks make bigger profits from selling mortgages than from collecting rents on low-income properties. But in New England, people are coming together to confront banks and, in many cases, they are winning. The cost of contested evictions is forcing banks to accede to tenants’ demands to stay in their homes, while the increasing number of bank tenants fighting eviction is developing into a movement. People are turning to each other for solidarity in direct actions to defend their homes and to make their voices heard.

Read on for stories from Massachusetts and Rhode Island...

ACORN Breaks Into Foreclosed House to Restore it to its Former Owner

Submitted by Flint on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 01:23

by Elie Feasley and Frotchy (Baltimore-Washington NEFAC)

At 3pm on Thursday, February 19th, fifty members and supporters of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) gathered outside a boarded-up rowhome in Highlandtown. ACORN representatives handed out t-shirts printed in black, red, and white proclaiming a foreclosure-free-zone as the crowd of supporters grew. Followed closely by reporters and news cameras, the group used a pair of boltcutters to remove a padlock, broke down the door, and entered the house. Louis Beverly, an organizer with ACORN, declared, "This is our house now!" after cutting off the lock. The house was formerly owned by Donna Hanks, a fiery woman who has seen her life turned upside down by an adjustable rate mortgage and mounting bills. She was evicted last month after falling victim to foreclosure. Clearly exhausted and embittered, but eager to continue the fight, she proclaimed, "This place is gutted. This is wrong." She will soon begin moving back in to the house. Before they left, ACORN replaced the lock on the door with one belonging to Hanks.

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