Rally today at 3pm to support the McClendon family

[Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaign]

Press Release

For Immediate Release:                                

Friday, March 25th, 2016                                                             

Press Contacts: Toussaint Losier 773-236-0559 

Arlene Richardson 708-252-5735

                                                                                                                          

Facing homelessness, threats of arrest, South Side family and supporters protest Fannie Mae foreclosure policies

Press Conference - Friday, 3/25 – 3pm – One South Wacker, Chicago, Illinois

 

Visual: Following eviction, family members, neighbors, and supporters rally outside the downtown offices of Fannie Mae to deliver their anti-eviction petition.

For several weeks now, the McClendon family has occupied their modest South Side after their eviction. Lost to a reverse mortgage scam, the McClendon family has taken this drastic action as they have nowhere else to go. To date, the bank, the Federal National Mortgage Association, or “Fannie Mae,” continued to refuse their offers to repurchase the home, stating instead that the family must first leave. Instead, this taxpayer subsidized company pushed forward with the eviction and then repeatedly sent realtors, laywers and police officers to threaten them with arrest, including three squad cars of Chicago Police Department officers earlier this week. 

“Our family has made it clear to Fannie Mae that we are not leaving until they give us a chance to buy our family home back from them, fair and square,” explained Arlene Richardson, one of the family members who was recently evicted. “The people from Fannie Mae probably don’t have to worry about any vacant buildings, but around here, empty homes don’t stay vacant for too long. They get broken into and bring our neighborhoods down. Fannie Mae doesn’t care about what happens to neighborhoods on the South Side, but we do. We live here and we’re not leaving.”

After Ms. Richardson’s mother, Bertha McClendon passed away in April 2010, she and her other siblings learned that their elderly mother had been tricked into a reverse mortgage loan by a broker who would later been indicted for mortgage fraud. In spite of strong indications of fraud, the McClendon family found its repeated attempts to either save their home from foreclosure or repurchase it denied. In 2015, a Cook County judge certified their foreclosure and issued an eviction order. 

According to the McClendon’s, the only reason Fannie Mae is pursuing an eviction against them is to have the home empty when they pursue a mortgage insurance claim with the Federal Housing Administration, overseen by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But the McClendon family has obtained a recent statement from HUD officials indicating that their regulations do not mandate that the home be empty when the mortgage insurance claim is filed. To date, nearly three thousand people have signed their online petition: http://start2.occupyourhomes.org/petitions/fannie-mae-keep-the-mcclendon-family-in-their-home

“What people need to remember is that Fannie Mae is operating off of taxpayer money,” explained Shirley Henderson, a Chicago Anti-Eviction Campaignmember  who is supporting the family. “That means that if the McClendon family’s home is left empty and vandalized, taxpayer money is being wasted. This family has a human right to housing and it’s in our best interest to support them.”  

In 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Authority, the federal agency that oversees Fannie Mae, sued the city of Chicago to avoid responsibility for fines and penalties associated with its vacant property ordinance. Three years, an agreement was reached which allowed Fannie Mae to avoid paying fees and fines associated with its vacant properties. 

Thus far, the McClendon family has refused to leave their home vacant, instead demanding that Fannie Mae give them an opportunity to repurchase the home without it being left empty. Next month, the family will go back before a Cook County court judge to challenge the legality of their eviction. 

 

What:    Rally and Petition delivery

When:   Friday, March 25th at 3pm

Where:  One South Wacker, Chicago, Illinois

For more information, contact Toussaint Losier 773-236-0559

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