DeCaro Family Vigil Against Freddie Mac! ACTION STEPS!

Freddie Mac, What do you say? Take the offer and let them stay! Close to 100 residents hold candlelight vigil to protest Freddie Mac

Yesterday nearly 100 neighbors and community members gathered in front of Linda and John DeCaro’s home in Springfield to hold a candlelight vigil protesting Freddie Mac’s position to foreclose on and evict the DeCaro family and leave another vacant house in their wake, rather than work with the family toward a resolution!

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO STAND W/ THE DeCaro FAMILY? 

Call Freddie Mac’s PR Director and Demand that they accept Boston Community Capital’s offer w/o the condition that BCC evict and not sell back to the family!

Call PR Director Brad German at 703-903-2437

“My name is                

As a US taxpayer I am a majority shareholder of Freddie Mac!

I am calling to support John and Linda DeCaro in Springfield, Massachusetts. Freddie Mac’s position that you will only sell the house at 152 Lucerne Rd in Springfield at short sale to Boston Community Capital, if BCC agrees to evict the family, is a ridiculous position.

I am calling to demand that you accept BCC’s offer without conditions!

I am also calling to demand that Freddie Mac immediately reduce underwater homeowners principal mortgages to the current market value!”

WWLP Coverage: Springfield Foreclosure Vigil

Springfield Republican Coverage: Freddie Mac rule keeps Springfield couple from saving their house from foreclosure

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SPRINGFIELD, MA — Yesterday, on a cold March night, nearly 100 neighbors and community members gathered in front of Linda and John DeCaro’s home in Springfield to hold a candlelight vigil protesting Freddie Mac’s position to foreclose on and evict the DeCaro family and leave another vacant house in their wake, rather than work with the family toward a resolution.

“We’re not leaving our home,” said John DeCaro to the crowd of supporters. “We will continue fighting against Freddie Mac’s ridiculous position!”

“We will stand and fight with you!” responded neighbors and community supporters.

Bill, a disabled Iraq war veteran who lives across the street, told the DeCaro family in front of the crowd: “Bank of America tried to do the same thing to me while I was at war, but I beat back the bank. I am going to be here to support and stand with you until the end!”

The DeCaro family are facing a foreclosure by Freddie Mac despite the fact that they have made an offer to sell the house at short sale to Boston Community Capital (BCC), a local non-profit bank who purchases homes at current value and then sells back to families to keep homes occupied. Freddie Mac negotiated with BCC and agreed on a price to sell the house at short sale. But then Freddie threw out a curveball: They demanded that BCC not sell the home back to the DeCaro’s and that they proceed with an eviction of the family after the short sale!

“This is a ridiculous position that is not in the best interest of the family or the US tax-payer, who are the majority owners of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after we bailed them out,” said Sue Gamelli, who emceed the vigil and is also fighting an eviction by Fannie Mae in Chicopee.

Linda and John fell behind on their mortgage in 2009 due to a loss of income. They went to Bank of America and were verbally approved for a loan modification under the government’s HAMP program. They started making reduced payments in March 2010 and continued paying for 16 months. Bank of America accepted every payment. Then in 2011, Bank of America unexpectedly told the family that they owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid mortgage payments. Bank of America started returning previously-accepted checks, and scheduled the house for foreclosure.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have come under increased pressure by community groups and elected officials as they continue refusing to reduce principals as a foreclosure prevention tool and instead insist on foreclosing on families and destroying neighborhoods.

“The pressure against Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae is growing,” says Springfield No One Leaves organizer Malcolm Chu. “Tonight was the first action in the DeCaro family’s struggle, but we plan to continue to ramp up actions against Fannie and Freddie to demand that they reduce principal balances to the current value for underwater homeowners.”

On the same day of the vigil, other members of Springfield No One Leaves were joining with hundreds from across the country for a series of meetings with Washington officials convened by the New Bottom Line coalition. Upon hearing of Freddie Mac’s ridiculous position, White House representatives asked the coalition to send information, materials and coverage of the DeCaro family vigil directly to them.

Supporters are encouraged to call Freddie Mac directly and demand that they accept BCC’s offer without conditions to keep the DeCaro family in their home, and that they immediately reset underwater homeowners’ mortgages to the current market value.

Springfield No One Leaves is a community organization dedicated to organizing residents in foreclosed homes to resist eviction and displacement after foreclosure.

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