City Life carried a straightforward message to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday: we want to negotiate.  “Fannie and Freddie both have offers pending for owners to buy back property, but they refuse to negotiate until those owners are evicted,” said City Life organizer Steve Meachamn, “It’s unnecessary punishment.”

The picket line began at Fannie Mae headquarters and fanned out to march a few blocks to the Wharf Hotel, where Freddie Mac’s CEO, Charles Haldeman, Jr. was to address the Boston College Chief Executive Officers’ Club at lunchtime.  At the hotel, City Life put Count Bankula (a fictional representative of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) on trial for multiple charges: using public funds to evict families offering to rent or buy back their homes after foreclosure; creating blight by holding properties empty for speculation instead of renting to displaced families.  When the verdict came back, Bankula was found guilty on all charges!