ACTION TIME! Save Rosemary’s home!

Update:  An extenstion until July 10 has been granted and changes have been made to the financial conditions involved.  More details to follow.   Solidarity actions may still be needed, so stand by.

By Linden Gawboy, MN Coalition for a People’s Bailout

On Thursday, June 25, friends and supporters gathered at the home of Rosemary Williams to plan for action after getting devastating news. That morning, in a conference call, Judge Lloyd Zimmerman sided with finance giant GMAC and against Ms. Williams, who has been engaged in an epic battle to save her home. We were trying to appeal the judge’s earlier ruling which had denied us a trial. Turns out we could appeal, if we came up with a $49,000 ‘bond’ in two days.

$49,000 is clearly an impossible amount for anyone to come up with. We should not have to pay almost as much as the house is worth to get heard in the ‘halls of justice.’ Since we don’t have that kind of money, we will have to act.

-- First, we aren’t giving up on the $49,000. We hope that someone will take an interest in our groundbreaking legal case (see below) which, if we win, will pave the way for justice in communities across the country. All along, Rosemary Williams has declared that she fighting not just for herself, but for the millions of others in foreclosure. Let’s make history.

-- Second, help Rosemary this weekend. She is holding an estate sale Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June 26-28) at 3138 Clinton Ave in South Minneapolis. If she stays or if she moves, she needs to get top dollar for her excess household items, especially after sacrificing work hours and her health as she has fought this battle. Show up and volunteer to help at the sale if you cannot buy anything. In any case, be sure to  spread the word.

-- Third, Rosemary Williams’s house will not be given up without a fight. When the sheriff’s people come to the door, they will be facing crowds of people who refuse to leave until the house is returned to Ms. Williams’s family. We will have at least 24 hours notice before the eviction, so check our websites daily for the “call.”

www.economichumanrights.org   OR   www.mn-peoples-bailout.org

Background:

Rosemary Williams has been fighting banks, politicians and big business since early this year. She has been living on the same block for 55 years and has been struggling to save her house from the mortgage company, after being swindled into an ARM. After months of not even being able to find out who held her mortgage, she got an eviction notice in March. She has been fighting ever since.

On June 16, Ms. Williams’s lawyers and GMAC’s lawyers went to court, for the judge to hear motions about what could be presented at an expected June 22 trial. To the shock of the courtroom full of supporters, Judge Zimmerman denied all of Rosemary Williams’s motions and ruled out a trial on the 22nd. He did order GMAC to negotiate with Ms. Williams, but it is clear as of today that GMAC has not been negotiating in good faith.

Besides negotiating, Rosemary Williams’s team got ready to file an appeal, to say that our legal case to save her home was critical and it was interest of justice that the case of the neighbors and community be heard. The

Several dozen neighbors and community members signed motions to intervene in the case, stating that Rosemary leaving her home would be a blight to the neighborhood (there are already five empty homes on her block, due to foreclosure). Kicking Ms. Williams out of her home would also be a blight to the culture and history of the neighborhood; Ms. Williams has been a pillar of the community all her life. We cannot allow more destruction. Save Rosemary's home!

Contacts:

Linden Gawboy, MN Coaliton for a People’s Bailout 612-296-5649

Cheri Honkala, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign 612-821-2364