Deutsche Bank Stop Putting Around

Bankers, brokers and other elites came together on Saturday, August 30th for a posh and pompous romp at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts. The Deutsche Bank Championship featured world class golfers, thousands of spectators, and is sponsored by multinational Deutsche Bank.

As it happens, Deutsche Bank is also the leader in home foreclosures in Massachusetts. Protesters from across Massachusetts and Rhode Island picketed outside the tournament, greeting each shuttle bus with their message to stop the evictions and stop the predatory lending that leads to foreclosure.

About one hundred people attended, representing organizations such as CLVU, Lawrence Community Works, SEIU Local 615, Students for a Democratic Society, the National Lawyers Guild and others. Among the protestors were several tenants and former owners of foreclosed homes across the region.

One woman from Lawrence, MA, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, expressed her frustration by saying “the bank tells us to leave, but all the houses are abandoned. We need to talk together, to negotiate in order to keep people in their homes. We came here looking for the American Dream, not the American Nightmare.”

It’s no coincidence that so many immigrants, people of color and low-income families are bearing the brunt of this crisis. Mortgage companies have targeted these people for predatory lending scams such as sub-prime loans.

Between February 2007 and February 2008, 31,516 foreclosures were initiated in Massachusetts alone. The number continues to grow exponentially.

Two weeks beforehand, City Life/Vida Urbana, a Boston based tenants rights organization, sent a letter to Deutsche Bank demanding they support MA legislation that would put a moratorium on evictions in foreclosure cases. CLVU also demanded the bank call in their top ten servicers to the negotiating table. They declined as expected and the protest was on!

Many tenants and former owners shared their stories at the protest. Those most directly affected, such as Miriam, an East Boston tenant currently living in a foreclosed building, are pushing the organizing forward despite the fear that banks and real estate agencies try to instill in them. Speaking at the rally, she said “Many people are suffering, but together we can move forward and we will win!” Protesters were enlivened and inspired by people’s stories of struggle.

The demonstration was only a small component of the multi-faceted campaign to resist evictions after foreclosure. When it comes down to it, participants are prepared to physically block evictions. We’re proud of our 7 for 7 track record. Saturday’s protesters will return to their respective neighborhoods invigorated and ready to continue the door-to-door organizing that is the heart of the struggle.

It’s so ironical that those who are now the tenants were the landlords earlier and those who are the landlords were the tenants… foreclosures have changed a lot in everyones life in the US.

“If prices are rising one has only to wait. They would reverse themselves and begin to fall.” Discussions on inflation these days hinge on this nineteenth century model of the competitive economics, where a rhythmic sequence of expansion and contraction in economic activity was assumed. And economists preferred to suggest unhindered play of market forces rather than pro-active government intervention. The situation changed by mid-twentieth century with Keynes.