From Detroit Eviction Defense:
We had a great turnout this morning and through the day at Jennifer Britt’s home, a lively and spirited vigil that started with 50+ people in the yard and on Grand River by 7am. Well over 100 people participated over the course of the day, culminating in a great barbecue with 40+ people eating grilled Italian sausage and listening to live music by Nick Pohl the Rapscallion. \
And our vigil made a difference!
Shortly before noon, we got word that Congressman Hansen Clarke had talked with the head of Fannie Mae about Jennifer’s case after leaving our rally on Monday. Clarke’s office stated, and Fox News repeated on its 5 o’clock report, that Fannie Mae had agreed to suspend the eviction proceedings while it “revisited Ms. Britt’s file.”
Clarke’s intervention added to the continuing pressure brought by Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, and John Conyers. All of this followed our call for action in the preceding days as we picketed Flagstar, rallied at the Federal Building, canvassed the neighborhood, and phoned our protest to Fannie Mae and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. (We we need to keep these phone calls going, info below).
We don’t know how long the eviction is suspended— Fannie Mae said for “at least” Tuesday and Wednesday, other sources in the court system say until Monday— and we are not yet persuaded that the bailiff and the dumpster driver have been told to stand down. So we will maintain a vigil over the next few days.
If you have signed up for a slot on Wednesday thru Friday, please stick to it for now. If walk-ons arrive and we have more people than we need, folks can hang with us for as long as they have time to spare. Supporters and neighbors are always welcome to come by. If we don’t have enough people, we’ll put out the call.
We don’t know where this leads yet but it is obviously a positive step— it means we forced them to listen to the community. We’ll see if Fannie Mae’s “review of the file” is a perfunctory and meaningless exercise, or if it means a serious effort to do what this federally operated agency should be doing: keeping people like Jennifer in her home and stopping the community blight brought on by banking fraud and corporate greed.
Keep your powder dry and we’ll keep you informed about needed actions and mobilizations in the coming days. We’ll send updates as we have new information.
Join us for the regular Thursday meeting of Detroit Eviction Defense, 6pm, in front of Jennifer’s house.
Phone Numbers and Message:
Call the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Fannie Mae and tell them to sell Jennifer Britt’s home to Southwest Housing Solutions so Jennifer and her family can stay in their house at 15701 Warwick, Detroit. Fannie sells to for-profit investors at below market, so why not sell the home to a non-profit like Southwest? Southwest has pledged to sell the home back to Jennifer at an affordable price. Phone calling keeps the issue in front of these officials: Detroit doesn’t need another empty house blighting the neighborhood!
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) , Edward DeMarco, Acting Director, 202-649-3801
Federal Housing Finance Agency, Michael Powers, Ombudsman, 202-649-3805
Fannie Mae Chicago Office: 312-368-6200
Fannie Mae Mortgage Help Center: 866-442-8572
Email: chicago_mhc@fanniemae.com
Ask our political representatives to deliver this same message to FHFA and Fannie Mae, and thank Senators Stabenow and Levin, and Congressmen Conyers and Clarke, for already doing so.
Senator Debbie Stabenow: (313) 961-4330
Senator Carl Levin: (313) 226-6020
Congressman John Conyers: (313) 961-5670
Congressman Hansen Clarke: (313) 962-7700
Congressman Gary Peters: (248) 273-4227
Congressman John Dingell: (313) 278-2936
For background information on the campaign to stop foreclosure evictions, go to peoplebeforebanks.org.
For updates follow us on twitter: @EvictDefense
Contact us at: DetroitEvictionDefense@gmail.com
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