Sonoma County Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Occupy Petaluma is lauding the announcement of a holiday moratorium on foreclosures,
The Press Democrat reports. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced a two-week halt to actual evictions, from Dec. 19 to Jan. 2.

CNN reports that the Big Banks will also hold off on foreclosure evictions during the period, although as always with banks there is plenty of wiggling.

Chase was the only major bank to commit to a full ban on evictions. Both Wells Fargo and B of A said they would not evict on their own loans but would still proceed when they are the servicers of other loans.

The foreclosure mortatorium is something Occupy movement across the state have been pushing for. Notes Steve Scauzillo in the San Gabriel Valley Times:

"Occupy leaders now demand: a moratorium on all foreclosures; a re-examining of complex laws that clearly favor banks; courts to examine foreclosure documents, many of which they say are fraudulent or in error.

"In California, banks don't have to prove they own the property and the judge will grant an eviction. This is so wrong," he said.

Bringing fairness to foreclosure evictions is a worthy battle for the Occupy movement, far more than occupying city parks all winter.

Well, today was Black Friday and everyone's interested in how much consumers are spending. Consumer spending is of course good for the economy, but is it good for individual consumers. If you're trying to beat back debt or save money for college or retirement or just cover the bills, getting hooked into the purchase of stuff may not be such a great idea.

The Occupy people were bringing that message to the malls today - with mixed results. It's not clear, for instance, how not shopping at Macy's helps education, as this protester said, as reported by ABC

"I see how the education deficit directly affects the schools; how the teachers struggle with so many kids in the classrooms and a lack of books. It's not fair to this generation."

There is a basic connection between giving money to corporations and struggling with debt - it's the mindset that tells us we have to have what they are selling, whether that was a home loan or a new car or a 47" TV. So there is a lot of virtue in Buy Nothing Day, but it's important that protesters don't make shoppers feel like criminals.

Down the street from Macy's massive store on Union Square in San Francisco, shopper Celia Collins of New Orleans said she worked hard to earn her MBA and pay off her student loans. She had every right to enjoy Black Friday, she said, and the protesters would be better off working within the system to find jobs and support the economy.

"I think they're a bunch of ... crybabies," said Collins, clutching her shopping bags as she watched the protesters march down Stockton Street. "I don't begrudge them the right to do it, but I just don't think they've really very smart."

So in a perfect example of government patsies covering for their corporate masters, New York Mayor Bloomberg says Occupy Wall Street should Occupy Capitol Hill instead. Check this out:

It was not the banks who created the mortgage crisis, it was, plain and simple, Congress," said Bloomberg to an Association for a Better New York breakfast meeting.

"They are the ones who pushed the banks to loan to everybody and now we want to vilify the banks because it's one target," said Bloomberg.

"It's easy to blame them and Congress is certainly not going to blame themselves."

So, Wall Street didn't want to make all that money pushing bad loans and collateralized instruments! They wanted to be responsible bankers like their fathers, but Congress pushed them into it!

Could be ... or perhaps Congress passed all these laws deregulating Wall Street at the behest of the financial industry lobbyists and think tanks, which comprise after all, the top givers to all presidential candidates, including President Obama.

So, why does P.J. O'Rourke thinks it's just about bongo drums???

So I attended Occupy Santa Rosa on Saturday and it was thrilling to see some 3,000 people, from hippies to vets, from working class to blue oxfords all carrying the same message. My sign? "Class Warfare Now," which I'll attempt to explain in a bit. First some media reporting (from the Press Democrat):

A Santa Rosa woman who identified herself only as Darcy stood on the corner of First Street to protest the pending foreclosure of her house of 20 years. She and her husband both lost jobs and have been unable to negotiate lower payments, she said.

"I'm fed up. I'm totally fed up," said the woman, who described herself as an independent voter. "It's time to stand our ground."

A retired Santa Rosa teacher, Mauri Wilber, criticized the government for spending money on wars and Wall Street bailouts while ignoring schools.

Handling bankruptcies and tenant-side work, I see the impact of this economy on people first hand. Times are tough. But as the Occupy protests show, people are starting to understand that the very financial institutions that caused the meltdown, through greedy policies that were nothing more than inside-job gambling, are now profiting. At the same time, Republicans are demanding drastic cuts in government programs, and Democrats don't seem to care enough to do anything about it.

Mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? That's about the size of it.

So Occupy Santa Rosa is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. The parade starts at Sonoma and Santa Rosa Ave. and will march on downtown streets.

The City has denied the movement's request to camp out downtown through Christmas Eve, the Press Demo reports but organizers on Facebook state that "So yeah, basically we aren't "allowed" to camp out at city hall. Contingency plans are being worked out. Don't worry, we aren't going to cancel an occupation ;)"

Not sure what that means but it could be interesting. If you're not getting Occupy Wall Street perhaps some future posts will put matters into perspective.