Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign Press Release
October 21, 2011
The Hill Family, their neighbors and local supporters will go to the downtown offices of Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company to challenge the bank's effort to evict them from their Bronzeville home. While the family's resolve of to stay in their home has drawn support from community organizations and elected officials, the Hill family has yet to receive a response to their letters and faxes from Bank of New York Mellon, which purchased the Hill family's home at a Cook County Sheriff Sale in July. Instead, the Bank of New York Mellon, the most world's leading manager of bonds, real estate and other high-income investment vehicles as well as a recipient of a $3 billion no-interest bailout, has hired agents that have repeatedly threatened the Hill family with eviction.
In 1995, Ms. Patricia Hill, a retired police officer and, now, CPS teacher, was taken into foreclosure after Saxon Mortgage Services suddenly increased her monthly mortgage payments by $600 in April 2009. When she followed up, Ms. Hill was told that this was an imposed escrow for taxes and insurance. In spite of her efforts to resolve this discrepancy, Saxon continued to demand the increased mortgage payments. When she inquired about a mortgage modification to return her monthly payments to standard amount, she was told that the investors in her mortgage, represented by Bank of New York Mellon, refused to agree to a modificaiton. In Chicago, property owners on the South and West sides of Chicago have found that they are less likely than their counterparts in other parts of the city to receive a modification, too often because of the calculation of investment managers at Bank of New York Mellon and other Wall Street financial institutions
In three months, Saxon began foreclosure proceedings. But in a rush to take her to court, Saxon did not properly notify Ms. Hill that they were foreclosing on their mortgage. As a result, she was never able to present her side of the story in court. More than a year and a half later, she learned that her home had been auctioned off to the Bank of New York Mellon for nearly half of what she had owed on the home. After attempting to challenge this process in court, Ms Hill's argument were denied by a judge who formerly worked for JP Morgan Chase, a retail bank that was formally a subsidiary of Bank of New York.
On Friday, Ms. Hill will be joined by participants in Occupy Chicago to call attention to the way in which Wall Street banks continue to undermine the livelihood of local families. Like too many Chicagoans, Ms. Hill found herself "underwater" in a home with an inflated mortgage worth more than the actual value of the home. Rather than seeking to work out a solution that might keep the Hill family in their home, this Wall Street Bank has only sought to push the Hill family to the curb and leave another building on the South side vacant.
At the Bank of New York Mellon's Offices, the Hill family and their supporters will demand:
- Stop the threats of eviction
- Overturn the foreclosure and sale of Ms. Hill's home
- Negotiate a reasonable, fixed-rate mortgage for the current value of the home
What: March and Press conference
When: Friday, October 21st at 12:30pm
Where: 125 S. LaSalle St
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Perhaps, a good foreclosure attorney New York could help them in their battle.
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