When I showed up for my first shift two Monday nights ago, to “occupy” and protect the foreclosed condo of Trang Che, the first thing I saw was a menacing-looking flyer hanging on the front door. It read:
*************************************************************
WHAT WE WILL DO AFTER YOU EVICT TODAY
The person whom you plan to evict has not had adequate time to seek fully informed
legal counsel. The truth about bogus foreclosures is complicated and subtle. Her
legal counsel has done what he can under time pressure; once you evict, we have
lots of time to strike back. And we will.
WE ARE NOT SURE THAT YOU ARE ACTUALLY LEGALLY ENTITLED TO TAKE THIS HOUSE.
Sure, you have a court order – but did you obtain that court order under false
pretenses? You purchased the right to this house, but was the person from whom
you bought it really entitled to sell it to you? Is there a proper chain of title?
Can you produce the papers? Or was this mortgage put into a collateralized
debt obligation (CDO) and sold so that we don’t even know who the true owner is?
FORECLOSURE OR THEFT? WE DEMAND TO KNOW!
You (or whoever foreclosed on the house before you) have already sworn that all
proper procedures were followed. But was this true? Or was it signed by fake “auto-pen”?
Maybe you thought you could use your wealthy muscle to push your way through the
legal system without anyone fighting back and demanding and discovering the truth.
IF SO: WRONG! THOSE DAYS ARE OVER!
From Occupy Orange County, 6:00 AM, Dec. 18, 2011*
*This is the first such notice to a foreclosing bank. It will not be our last.
*************************************************************
I turned to Victoria and said, “Diamond, right?” “Yep,” she replied. “That’s pretty great,” I concluded.
*
Sean and Vern stand guard out front.
Samantha Schaefer, who wrote this weekend’s Register story on our action, is a fine journalist, and we “borrow” freely here from the work of their crack photographer H. Lorren Au Jr. But you could tell the space restraints Samantha’s editors put her under – she had enough material for a full-fledged New York Times Magazine-length feature. And I’m assuming you read her fine piece; this post will just fill in the missing parts.
But mainly I didn’t like the title the editors gave it, “Occupy OC comforts woman facing Foreclosure,” and the picture they used for the online version of Trang apparently weeping (She was probably really clowning around.) Maybe they were going for some Christmasy feel, but they made the pugnacious Trang seem like a figure of pity, and as for us, we are offering a lot more than “COMFORT.”
Trang has certainly been comforted by our ongoing presence, but what we are offering her – and other homeowners who request our assistance – is support, solidarity, knowledge, expertise. We have lawyers in our ranks – and not just Diamond! We have members who work in real estate, and in the mortgage industry specifically. We have media contacts, assuring that these raids are no longer conducted under a shroud of shame and secrecy. And we have members who are willing to engage in civil disobedience to stop or slow down the process, although Trang did not want that, and her particular case seems too far along to stop anyway.
With Trang Che.
And as Trang would be the first to admit, this story is much bigger than her. Three homes are foreclosed on every day in Irvine alone, Trang is just the “everyman” of the moment representing all those victims. It will happen to you or someone you’re close to next.
And even for those of you who say that it’s all the consumer’s fault, all Trang’s fault, for signing on to a mortgage she couldn’t afford without working 70 hours a week for 30 years; even if not all these foreclosures are the legally dubious sorts that Diamond describes in his broadside above; even if you say that the Wall Street-stoked housing bubble was somehow these homeowners’ fault, there’s always this: We bailed out these banks with trillions of dollars of taxpayer money – my money, your money, and Trang’s money – with the promise that they would let consumers re-negotiate their mortgages. And they reneged on that part of the deal. It was a gentleman’s agreement with no gentlemen involved. So I’m comfortable defending Trang’s position, and almost any foreclosed homeowner’s position..
The First Week
Victoria and Sean in the bare living room.
So … Diamond put up a Daily Kos diary about the first night of Occupy Trang, Sunday the 18th. I got there Monday evening, the 19th. We’d been expecting the team of evictors since Monday morning – it should have been a representative from the bank, a locksmith to change the locks, and a few county sheriff deputies. But Monday came and went and the sheriffs never showed. (Although a nice Irvine cop dropped by to ask what we were doing, how many of us there were, and what we were planning.)
Tuesday came and went, and the sheriffs never showed. Wednesday came and went, and the sheriffs never showed. People were all, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” And I was all, “Well, the mortgage company has never seen anything like Occupy Irvine.”
Wednesday night I said to my pal Sean, “I’m starting to think they’re waiting us out.” Sean, a Marine who worked for years in the mortgage industry, agreed, “I’m starting to think the same thing.” Says I, “Well, let’s make it a competition then. Let’s stay here till they get here, as long as it takes.” Sean laughed in concurrence. We’ve been there permanently since.
The mortgage holding bank won’t speak to us – not even to Sean whom they know personally. But they did tell the Register that they’ve decided to hold off till after the “holidays.” Now we are wondering, do the holidays include New Year’s? (Or Epiphany, Martin Luther King Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s, the rare Leap Year Day we have in store?) No, seriously, we don’t think we can stop this particular eviction for good, but today – Tuesday the 27th – Trang IS having an operation, and it would be good for her to at least have another week to recuperate at home, before she has to pack up for good to stay with her brother in Compton.
*
- Diana, Vern and Trang in the kitchen.
Anecdotes. Tuesday morning I woke up and watched through the front window as the neighbors walked by, most glancing at Trang’s home with curiosity. One stooped-over old man stopped and eyed me suspiciously. I waved, he beckoned, and I went out to talk to him.
What was happening here, he wanted to know? I told him Trang was on the verge of eviction, and Occupy Orange County was there at her request, to give her support, witness the eviction, and help bring attention to the issue.
He told me, “My name’s Joe. I live right next door there. Come and get me when the sheriffs come, I want to be there too.”
All the neighbors seemed friendly and sympathetic. But of course there are always the ones who spy from dark windows, peeking through their Venetian blinds, and muttering to themselves under their breath. The next day another Irvine cop came, soon to be joined by his superior, Sergeant Russell. An anonymous tipster had called and reported that we were “squatting” in the condo. The officer was apologetic. He knew we weren’t squatting, but it was still a call that he was required to respond to.
I hope the anonymous tipster fumed while watching us from their darkened window, me and Sean laughing and joking with the two Irvine cops. These cops know us from our stay at the Village, and have come to respect us. I think they realize that THEY are part of the 99% too.
“This guy I want to burn his ass.”
Finishing up the latest Dave Ellis hit piece, at Chez Trang.
The Register story captured some of what is inspiring about Trang – her generosity, her charm and effervescence.
They got some but not all of the important details of her biography, which would be: Her family’s ostracism of her due to her disfiguring birthmark. Her defying the Communist government by selling banned books on the black market. Her times in “re-education” camp NOT getting re-educated. Her eight – yes, EIGHT attempts to escape to America until succeeding. (“YOU again!?”) Her brushes with pirates and sex-slavers. Her teaching herself English and getting her LVN (nursing) degree. Her working seventy hours a week until she could afford to send money back to her family to bring THEM over here. Her triumphant purchase of her own condo in Irvine seven years ago (after being mugged one too many times in LA.) Her loss of one of her nursing jobs, falling behind in her mortgage payments, and being taken for a ride by unscrupulous mortgage lawyers who took her money and did nothing.
What made ME smile was when she came up to me, after finding an old contract with the worst of these lawyers who had taken six thousand dollars from her and not done what he promised, pointed at his name, and said in her heavy accent, “This guy I want to BURN his ass!”
[I’ll finish this section Wednesday or Thursday. I want to make sure I get the guy’s name and his broken promises right, but Trang’s recovering from surgery right now. Burn his ass here we will.]
*
“Forget it, Jake. It’s the Register comments section.”
The comments section of the online Register, even with the new non-anonymous format, is a notorious hotbed for racism, bigotry, intolerance, and just general Ayn-Randian mean-spiritedness. Still, we were set back on our heels a bit by the vituperation unleashed on Trang Che in the comments to Samantha’s story. According to this lynch mob, Trang is a “criminal,” a “thief,” “greedy,” “liar,” and “another liberal trying to get something for nothing.” She’s “materialistic” because that is “a typical trait of Vietnamese women.” A “soul-less, lying, thieving liberal.” She should “go back to her government issued mansion in the Communist paradise of Vietnam. While she’s at it, she can take all the Occupy deadbeats with her.”
After some thought I think I understand these strong negative reactions. These are koolaid-drinking rightwing Republicans, who have been told for years by FOX News and Rush Limbaugh that the real cause of the financial crisis (and hence any financial problems they’re having themselves right now) can be traced to those damn minorities buying homes they couldn’t afford. So now they feel they have found the personification of this villain in the hardworking little frame of Trang Che. We should have seen this coming, I suppose.
Under the Reg’s new commenting policy you must use a Facebook account to participate, to discourage all the anonymous stone throwing that used to be so prevalent there. So my friend Marselle found it irresistible to check out the pages of some of these haters to find out what makes them tick, or at least how they present themselves to the public. And, interestingly, most of them like to call themselves “Christians.” I wonder, what does that mean to them, being a Christian? I suspect to them it’s something like being in a club where you’re better than other people who aren’t in that club. Maybe it also means always following all the rules to a tee, but probably more the former. I know one thing: Jesus would kick some of these people in the groin. Even on His birthday.
You all know I don’t bother with bleeding-heart arguments on the Orange Juice Blog. I prefer “the other side is the real criminal” arguments, and the “it could happen to you next” argument. And I am not too Christian not to wish foreclosure on some of these commenters.
Going Forward
Finally sure that she's safe at home for the holidays, Trang decorates her Christmas tree.
As I’ve said, I don’t think at this point in the process we can stop Trang’s eviction for good, but we do intend to stay around and do what we can to postpone it as long as possible – at least to give her enough time to recuperate from today’s operation at home.
But we know there are hundreds more of you out there, dozens of Orange County residents being foreclosed and evicted every day. And if you want our help, you can contact us here. And if we think we can help you, we’ll be there for you.
We want you to know that, even when our tent village is gone, we Occupy Orange County more than ever. We want you to know we are your True Militia. We are the Tea Party for Thinking People.
.
.
.
***********
UPDATE Dec. 27, 3 PM
This just in:
We have great news coming from our Occupy Foreclosure action at Trang Che’s home. Here’s what I can share for now. The eviction has been
canceled!! [postponed – ed] The next possible date is January 3rd. Trang was able to hear the news just before she went into surgery. There’s more in development that we’ll be able to share later. All Good!! Thank you to our amazing Occupier Team and to our MoveOn partners. You’ve been amazing!! Truly! Not only is Trang having her moment to speak truth to power- Thank you OC Register and CommonDreams.org!!!–but we are creating a new field of possibilities. Amazing things happen when we reach out to each other, ask and receive help from one another, build and rebuild community, remember we are family, remember we are Tribal, remember we lose nothing in loving one another through our words and through our actions. Lives have been changed through this Occupy Foreclosure action-and not just Trang’s life, but all our lives. Occupy Foreclosure= Occupy Our Hearts. Stay tuned! Come “like” our page for up to the minute updates. ~VictoriaSean and Diana have really held down the Occupation over the holidays and Kate is a dynamite, never say die phone advocate. Well Done, Folks! You are AMAZING!!
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Foreclosure-of-Occupy-Orange-County/312539968780936
Contact Alternet and ask them to reprint this. I’m serious. This post of yours needs more eyeballs.
Maybe it’s time to crank up the venerable craigslist machine!
Fine job, edipublishtor!
“Maybe it’s time to crank up the venerable craigslist machine!”
Are the occupiers going to be renting out their new “aquisition” by the room? Will they put the money in a bank – get a checking account? Pay gas, electric & water bills?
Are you referring to Trang’s house or to your house?
I’d show up at the General Assembly tonight if I were you!
People calling Trang Che a thief should realize that the financial industry sucked upwards of 13 trillion dollars from the USA, and it would have cost just a little over 1 trillion to settle the ENTIRE portfolio of underwater mortgages.
The remainder of the money went to Wall Street because they leveraged all those mortgages and made bad bets using them as collateral, and then we the taxpayers had to make those firms whole.
That is what the Occupation is about — retribution for the corrupt activity by the 1% that have hijacked our democracy.
Why doesn’t the person just pay her bills?
LOL .. it takes a cook…
Dear Cook,
Did you even READ the article??? Or do you always express your opinion without knowing all the information?
Yeah some of the folks here do that, unfortunately. Cook especially.
Come on, Cook, read the actual article. I put a lot of work into it.
Cook, if you read the article, you would know that Trang lost one of her two nursing jobs, leaving her unable to pay her bills.
as sad as this story is and i do feel sorry for her . this is life folks if you lose your job , of course you cant pay the bills . either try and get another job or this is what happens . the ocupoo people what do you want the banks to do . let people off without paying . im sorry this happens to people and i dont wish this on anyone .
Let people off without paying?
Who said that?
Do you think that maybe, just maybe, there could be a creative solution OTHER than the extreme one you mention that could be agreeable to the homeowner AND the bank?
The problem with this comment is that it assumes that we know the identity of the “bank” or true creditor. This is the root of the evil of the MERS and robo-signing practice. Remember, CHE did not originate, or ever promise to pay AURORA…nor did she ever pledged her property as collateral to Aurora. Foreclosing lenders typical lack STANDING.
As often promised to investors…a mortgage backed security trust was supposed to become the owner of CHE’s loan. Yet there is no evidence that the transfers to it ever occurred…systemically this means massive liability for the creators of the Trust. Solution? Photoshop.
Loan servicers have no skin in the game and make money when a buyer defaults. The entire industry is geared toward bleeding value out of real estate before eventually foreclosing and collecting loan servicer fees at the expense of the true creditors….typically pension funded trusts. Under our system….servicers screw borrowers and investors alike.
Pursuant to Aurora’s business practice, the loan servicer uses fake assignments and court affidavits to create the illusion that Aurora owns the note and is entitled to take the collateral. Its this practice that assaults the legal process for determining property rights….i.e. who has the right to foreclose. Servicers take collateral at the expense of investors who later get assigned the “loss” at at Aurora’s discretion after Aurora has maximized its right to claim a fair of the foreclosure proceeds.
Why would the engage in mass document fraud?
Why else…profit.
The estimated cost of transferring each of the 5,000 loans through the proper channels to a mortgage trust is about $1500 a loan. To save money, trust sponsors blew this step off or in some cases failed to keep proper evidence of the transfers. In most cases, they shredded docs and simply relied on the MERS database. That opens the door to huge liability to the trust investors. Solution? Photoshop any needed evidence.
Now…faced with the need to prove a trust owns all these defaulted loans, there becomes a need to create evidence to substantiate the claim of ownership of tens of thousands of loans. In Aurora’s case, rather than create evidence as to which loan belongs to which Trust…Aurora creates individual and official looking assignments, signed by joint MERS\Aurora employees, that claim each of these loans were transferred to Aurora. Its a cheap easy solution that allows them to conceal that a trust is involved and that the evidence of thousands of loan transfers is not available.
Aurora then forecloses, re-sells the property, collects its fees and then determines the Trust in which the loss shall be dumped.
Using Robosigned docs avoids legal challenges and saves Aurora millions in legal fees in BK and other courts. Remember…they lack the proper evidence that loans were ever transferred to the trusts. Thereafter, Aurora adds what legal fees they do incur to the borrower’s loan balance.
Che, like millions of others owes someone. But here its not Aurora. And she will continue to owe the true owner of the loan AFTER the foreclosure….as investors are STILL entitled to collect the full debt.
Both borrower and investor suffer from the fraudulent practices of these loan servicers…Chase, BoA, GMAC, CITI and WELLS etc.
Why should Aurora have any rights to take the collateral from the true creditor let alone take Che’s house by relying on phony evidence?
This practice is an assault on property rights and the integrity of our legal system. This is real basic stuff we learn in kindergarten….forgery for profit is wrong. Democrats and Republicans both have a vested interest in stopping this practice.
The Occupy movement should consider a call to make these mega-banks and servicers….REGULATED UTILITIES.
Joe, do you mind if I write you at your e-mail address on your post (to which I have super-secret powerful access)? If this feels like an invasion your privacy, I won’t. I’m an attorney and and looking at getting deeply into these issues, having been sensitized to this through my involvement in Occupy OC.
This really sounds like South Park’s Underpants Gnomes. Blowing off “step 2” to get to “Step 3: PROFIT.”
No problem. Joe@jarlegal.com
and what creative solution would you have.. if you know the foreclosure process its 3 MONTHS and then 3 weeks i would not call it extreme as you do .. . you amuse me with your thinking of getting something and not paying for it AS EXTREME .. ah yes ocupoo thinking .
Where did I say that any homeowner should not pay for their house? Please, could you stop suggesting I’m saying things I’ve never said?!
I’m not a mortgage broker, but there is nothing stopping lenders and borrowers from coming to mutually-agreeable terms.
I see this Occupy movement doing the work of a superhero — defending the oppressed, supporting those who have fought bravely and — best of all, NOT allowing the voiceless to suffer alone. Good Job! Something about putting their words into action. Here’s to Trang’s swift recovery.
Well said, LVN!!!
How about the banks that give a mortgage for $137,000.00 and then a month later the person gets another appraisal and the appraisal comes in at $89,000.00 and that is on the high end. By now that property has dropped and there is no way the house was ever worth what they sold it for, so now they’ll foreclose rather than lower the interest rate and they won’t refinance because the owner hasn’t the 20% paid into the property now that it’s worth about $85,000.00. There is no way out, so they end up throwing out the property owner and selling the house for less than the $85,000.00 rather than offering him the same thing they are going to end up getting.
What is wrong with that picture? The banks are corrupt and so the hard working 99% are suffering while the 1% are buying up these properties for nothing and renting them out. Bringing in bus load of foreigners from other states that can get welfare so they can get top dollar. That’s what’s happening in Scott Walker country.
Speaking of your governor, Barb, did I mention:
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2011/12/all-hail-scott-walker-coming-to-scott-baughs-office-thursday-afternoon-let-us-go-pay-him-homage/
He will encounter a hell of a welcoming wagon here on my turf, tomorrow.
one giant thing you left out bj tappa . if the loan was for 137,000 he was able to make those payments regardless if the house goes down in value . so what does he do strop paying . because his house is now 89,000 ah yes the ocuopoo state of mind banks are evil . BANKS DONT WANT TO OWN HOMES .. and where are the SO CALLED LIBS he just insulted the foreigners from other states that want to come i expected a uproar . oh its ok it was a supporter of ocupoo you know the real 1% who are out of touch . great job in irvine for messing up the lawn there costing the taxpayers . i know the city council said the lawn was going to be replaced anyway sure OK HMMM
Compassion certainly should be shown to all who are in difficult times. Looks like the lender did just that as they did not kick her out as early as she should. However, if one cannot pay for an item whether it be a house, car, private school, etc…then you generally do not still get to use that item. There are often alternatives such as a cheaper place to live, a cheaper car, or public school (just using the others as an example). Hopefully she has banked the money that she has not been paying to the lender and is in a position to get on the right foot.
One of the biggest mistakes that homeowners have made is taking on too much house and mortgage, or often even refinancing and taking money out. If one is focusing on anything except whether they will always be able to make their mortgage payment when it comes to housing, they are probably making a mistake. As long as one can make their payment, it does not matter what the value does. One must consider disability, job security, pay, etc… The banks are not non-profit and they have the right to take possession of the home and try to limit their losses. The homeowner also has the right to walk away if it is original purchase money (and other criteria which in most cases are met) without fear of being sued personally for the deficiency, which is a huge benefit in CA. If the lender and borrower can’t come to an a compromise, then both are entitled to those benefits.
I am just struggling on knowing what the goal of occupy foreclosure is? Education…do people still not know if they do not pay their mortgage that the bank can come and take their house (yes, after a long period of time). I would also love to know more details of her situation (i.e. loan value, refinances, down payment, did she have to work 70 hours to be able to pay the mortgage, etc…), but I doubt those details are forthcoming.
As my grandmother used to say (and others too)- two wrongs don’t make it right. Just because we don’t know who owns the loan, does not give the borrower the right to stop payment and still expect to live in the home. I do wish that all who are shelter insecure, that they would have some stability in the community. Fortunately, we do live in a society that has some options. I wish her the best in recovery from her surgery and finding a new place that she hopefully can afford to enjoy. From my experience, often ones life can actually be improved by downsizing- it is emotionally damaging to live in a place that you cannot afford.
To whom should the borrower pay the mortgage? I’m serious. If title is cloudy, how does she know that she is actually paying the correct person, rather than continuing to owe a debt to someone else? The bank asserts that it owns the mortgage, but what if there’s good reason to doubt it?
The borrower pays the mortgage service company, just like all the other borrowers do. Right?
Sounds to me this woman got some really bad advice.
Yes, but does the mortgage service company have a contract with the actual owner of the mortgage, or just someone purporting to own it? Do you really not get this?
Everybody gets notice. Go check at the recorders office and see for yourself.
I remember there was some crooks taking advance of the ignorant for a few years, advertising on the radio and TV. But since I haven’t heard these ads in quite a while now, I guess those crooked attorneys have been disbarred or jailed.
It is not at all uncommon for the borrower to pay their monthly payment to the loan servicing company. I highly doubt, but cannot be sure, that most people who are in foreclosure are just not sure who to pay their monthly payment to, but instead are unable to pay their monthly payment. If that is the case, then someone really needs to step up and help her out so the correct loan servicing company can accept her money. I even imagine that the loan servicing company would provide a statement indicating that the payment would be applied to the loan balance and interest.
In this case, does she really just not know who to make the check out to? I did not read anything about that, but know that not everything makes it into an article or post and you likely may even have some more in depth knowledge about these cases. I would think that if someone truly did not know, they could have an escrow company hold the money for them to be applied against the loan when the ultimate owner is found.
Are their lots of cases to where people are paying fraudulent loan servicing companies and their payments not getting applied to their loan? That would be a shame.
Occupy the banks. Then we will have some real progress.
Ok, I didn’t mean go down and rob a bank. I was speaking only in a revolutionary sense. Everybody knows it’s wrong to rob a bank. But it’s okay for the bank to rob us. That’s law and order.
Well what happened?
Did the lady leave? Did the cop toss the occupiers out?
She’s still there. It’s still developing. The mortgage holder er agreed that they will give her and us five days’ notice before actual eviction. It’s being negotiated on different levels. This might end with her having to leave to Compton, or it might develop into a situation where she doesn’t own the place any more but is allowed to pay rent.
Meanwhile there’s a lawyer named Joe Roberts who’s been pursuing a class-action suit against Aurora (the mortgage holder) for not really having a proper chain of title to ANY of the properties they are trying to foreclose on … not sure if that’s going to affect Trang or not.
We had a great party there New Year’s Day!
Thanks for the update Vern, I too was curious what was happening. Glad that the bank is giving her notice, although she probably has had a quite a bit of “notice” in her own mind once she started to not pay the mortgage. Banks often are fine with a good person staying in a place since it is less likely to be torn apart with someone living in it- it can be a short term win-win, but not long term. Not sure what the true likelihood of having a vacant place ransacked in Irvine is, but always a risk. Hopefully she has banked the mortgage payment (or part of it) and is going to be able to stay on her feet and have some money to pay for rent and bills while she is recovering.
Normally, I would say that the only people who win in a class action suit are the attorneys, but hopefully in this case it can lead to some change on how things are done- although, I am not sure that it will change what is done. In the end, if a borrower is not paying the mortgage, then they really should not be staying in the home. Good luck to all…
Who can kick her out really depends on who owns the home, eh? And whether they can do so really depends on whether they followed proper procedures.
Greg, you are absolutely correct on who has the right to kick her out. A lot of people would also say that just because someone does not kick a occupant of a home out, does not mean they have the right to stay there. If someone does not pay for use, then they generally do not have the right to use the property- they should make other arrangements. I generally see that as a main frustration with the general public in regards to foreclosure (of those who have frustration)- I pay my mortgage to stay in my house, yet you don’t pay yours and you still stay in the house. Just because there is not a referee to catch someone doing something wrong and take corrective action, does not give the person the right to do a wrong act.
I for one see an advantage for the ultimate owner of the house (i.e the lender, in most cases) in that there are benefits for having someone in the house since the property will generally be better maintained. Can be a win-win situation as long as the house is vacated when required to be so it can then be sold/leased to someone who can pay for it.
I am also thankful everyday that I can pay my mortgage each month…there is even some guilt as to why some have been blessed why others seem to have gotten the short end. Although, guilt and sympathy can be hard to distinguish sometimes.