18162 Gallineta St.
Rowland Heights, CA 91748
Bring tent(s) if poss.
Home of Edwardo Acosta
5 adults + 2 kids, eviction scheduled

PRESS ADVISORY

WHO: The Acosta Family and Occupy Activists

WHAT: Protect family from wrongful eviction

WHERE: 18162 Gallineta St.  Rowland Heights, CA 91748

WHY: 99% of foreclosures have questionable activity, 84% have a clear violation of the law, and over 2/3rd have four or more violations

OCCUPY PROTESTERS HELP ROWLAND HEIGHTS FAMILY SAVE HOME

Members of Occupy LA respond to a last-minute request from a family facing eviction despite winning earlier case LOS ANGELES – Members of the Occupy L.A. movement throw their support behind the Acosta family of Rowland Heights, who face possible eviction today due to a wrongful foreclosure. In a last-minute attempt to save his family home, Eduardo Acosta contacted Occupy activists Monday asking for help, after the Sheriff had posted an eviction notice effective Tuesday. This morning, an Occupy L.A. group called Occupy Fights Foreclosure (OFF), has issued a call asking supporters to assemble at the Acosta house.

In a judgment earlier this year, the Acosta family won their case due to fraudulent foreclosure paperwork. The judge ruled in that case that Green Century Investment Group / IndyMac did not have legal standing to evict the family or foreclose on the house. The banks simply waited a month and five days and sent another eviction notice. Acosta, a grandfather whose household includes his wife, two adult children, son-in-law, and two grandchildren, fell behind on the mortgage after several simultaneous adverse events: his wife fell ill, the family’s income took a dive, and their monthly payments shot up from $1600 to $2000. Acosta applied for a loan modification based on reduced income attributable to the economic downturn, and increased expenses due to high medical bills. While the banks were reviewing the Acostas’ loan modification, they also initiated foreclosure proceedings.

Although they hired two supposed experts to help them, in the end the Acosta family lost out on both counts: The banks denied their loan modification application, and decided to foreclose. “It’s been stressful since we got the letter,” said Eduardo Acosta. “We couldn’t sleep. We were up late hours thinking, what are we going to do with our family?” Occupy activists rally in support of Acosta family less than a week after the San Francisco County Recorder released an audit report of foreclosures that shows systematic legal violations and questionable activities on 99% of the files they reviewed.

“We’re standing with the Acostas to try to stop their eviction and stop the foreclosure,” said Carlos Marroquin, a homeowner advocate and OFF activist. “We believe the foreclosure has been done in a wrongful way.” Occupy activists call for a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions until a full investigation of banks’ mortgage and foreclosure practices is complete.

The San Francisco County Recorder audit showed that an estimated 99% of the foreclosures involved questionable activity, 84% of foreclosures in that county involved clear violation of the law, and over two-thirds involved four or more violations of the law. “We suspect that the same kinds of statistics will be found down here in Southern California,” Marroquin said. “So we think there’s reason to believe the decision to foreclose on the Acostas also involved illegal procedures.” Marroquin also pointed to San Francisco County Recorder Phil Ting’s statement on the audit report, “Many of these actions, if not all of these actions, render many of these foreclosures invalid.”

Acosta paid two separate individuals to help his family avoid foreclosure. Although both took the money he scraped up, neither was able to help in any tangible way. “I’m sure there are a lot of people going through this,” Acosta said. # # # FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Carlos Marroquin 323-592-4663

* This event and press release have not been approved by any Occupy group’s General Assembly.