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Man at Brighton Realty Company Flips the Middle Finger to Tenants Protesting High Rent
Published: February 27, 2013
PHOTO BY NICOLAUS CZARNECKI/METRO
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A Call for Change in Freddie Mac Foreclosure Policy
A Call for Change in Freddie Mac Foreclosure Policy from Chris Lovett on Vimeo.
Read MoreAdvocates protest outside Dunkin' Donuts for sick-leave bill
Workers’ rights advocates are planning to show up where lawmakers eat today, or at least where many of them get their coffee, to rally support for an earned sick time bill.
The Dunkin’ Donuts across Beacon Street from the Statehouse will be the site of a protest for activists who are hoping to require businesses to grant sick time to workers. According to organizers, operating as The Massachusetts Paid Leave Coalition, Sen. Dan Wolf and Rep. Kay Khan have filed legislation that would ensure sick leave for Bay State workers.
Read MoreCLVU in the News
City Life marks 40 years of helping residents
City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU), a JP-based nonprofit, is celebrating 40 years of empowering struggling tenants and homeowners with a May 18 dinner fundraiser in Dorchester. Founded in 1973 as the Jamaica Plain Tenants Action Group by activists “who wanted to commit themselves to making life better for working-class folks,” according to CLVU Organizing Coordinator Steve Meacham, CLVU has grown from its small JP roots to an organization with a national reach and many regional offshoots. Read MoreTenants, buyers of foreclosed units tangle over rents
BOSTON– Inocencia Perez and Gerardo Romero thought the arrival of a new landlord meant they could stop worrying about the status of their apartment, on the second floor of a Chelsea building seized by a bank through foreclosure. But instead of newfound security, Perez and Romero — who have three young children — were unnerved when, not long after taking over, the two-decker’s buyer, City Realty Group LLC, raised their monthly rent by $300, to $1,300. The couple said they were given two options: pay up or move out. Read MoreSouth Shore group protests foreclosures, evictions
QUINCY —Visitors to Quincy District Court were greeted by a sidewalk message Thursday morning – a large-lettered banner that read “Eviction Free Zone.” A dozen South Shore residents gathered with the banner to protest 11 eviction cases scheduled to be heard Thursday in the court. The event was organized by the new local group SSAFE, South Shore Against Foreclosures and Evictions.
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Underwater Mortgage Rally Pictures and Video - Jan 30, 2012
City Life/Vida Urbana, joined Chelsea Collaborative, Occupy Boston and Occupy Wall Street, and Mass Uniting for a march on Fannie Mae and Bank of America to demand principal reduction for underwater mortgages. Protestors dressed up as sea monsters and other creatures, carried fish, and wore snorkels as part of the underwater theme.
25% of mortgages nationally are underwater. This means that the amount owed on the mortgage exceeds the value of the house. In this situation a homeowner can make years of payments without ever owning anything.
Wall Street Banks profited off of (and promoted) a housing bubble that left millions with underwater loans, then received trillions in taxpayer bailouts. Still they want to keep homeowners on the hook for wildly inflated prices and evict families who can actually afford their homes at real value.
We can’t get out of the mortgage crisis (or the economic crisis) without principal reduction to solve the problem of underwater mortgages.