by Marvin Ramírez
With the help of members of ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), Armando Ramos and Fernanda Cardenas’s foreclosed home, which has already been foreclosed, was successfully spared from being sold in an auction on the steps of of the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland. In the photo below, a young man representing the auctioning OCWEN company leaves after failing to auction the house. (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)
As foreclosures continue to inflict their devastating effects on families – especially hard-hit Hispanic and African-American households who live under a stage of fear waiting for the day when the sheriff comes and put a lock on their house – many are fighting back with a little help from ACORN, with a new strategy.
It’s not the first time that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), that uses laud protests when an auction is about to take place.
The law says that a public auction must take place on the stairs of the courthouse, at the main entrance, and it must be publically announced days in advance.
So, when the auctioneer approached the top step outside of the courthouse, members of the ACORN, the owners and their friends, simply will not let the auction to take place by protesting with high noise.
The noisy protest is aimed at stopping the auction of a home, and in this case, it was the house of Armando Ramos and Fernanda Cárdenas located on 63rd Avenue in Oakland, which they have owned for five years. About 30 protesters were able to prevent the Cárdenas home from being auctioned on March 12.
However, Cárdenas said they still fear that they could be evicted from their home some other time soon.
Cárdenas said when they first bought their house their interest rate was 6.5 percent but it was an adjustable rate that could go as high as 14 percent, so they got a second mortgage with a 9.9 percent rate.
However, he said their monthly payments jumped from $2,600 to $3,700 and they can’t afford to pay that amount. Their joint income is of about $5,000 per month.
Cárdenas said they have tried to negotiate with their lender but their lender hasn’t been responsive.
(KTVU.com contributed to this report).
