Housing
Jane Powell was a woman who loved her home. Powell, an author and home restoration expert who died in November 2012 from lung cancer, spent the final years of her life fighting the bank to keep her dream home, Oakland’s historical Jesse Matteson House, fondly nicknamed the Bunga-Mansion by Powell and her friends. After losing most of her income during the financial crash of 2008, Powell rallied to keep her home from going into foreclosure, all while struggling with illness….
When Oakland resident Debi Mason set out to prevent mortgage associates from the Bank of America from foreclosing on her sister Patricia’s Maxwell Park home in 2007, she had only a few friends, neighbors and advocacy groups to help fend off the foreclosure. But last week, Mason, along with thousands of homeowners in Bay Area cities like Oakland and Richmond that have been profoundly effected by foreclosures and the ensuing blight, welcomed the new Homeowner Bill of Rights, a state…
Nearly 40 people rallied outside of the Wells Fargo branch on 12th Street and Broadway on Thursday, imploring the bank’s executives to change corporate policies they say are increasing home foreclosures in the Bay Area.
Pastor Wilber Kigundu immigrated from Uganda almost 18 years ago. He is currently the senior pastor of Abba Church Ministries in Berkeley, where he preaches every Wednesday night with the intention of both spreading his love for Christianity and providing guidance to those that attend.
Jeanice Spence stood in the doorway of her new apartment at Clinton Commons watching her four-month old kitten frolic amongst the guests gathered to celebrate the opening of Oakland’s latest affordable housing development. She said she feels at ease now, finally, after spending years in homeless shelters and rescue missions, struggling to find a place to call home. A blur of potential tenants walked past her, followed by the occasional laugh or tidbit of conversation, but Spence stood at her…
Oakland residents will vote on November 6 whether to allow the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) to issue $475 million in bonds to repair school facilities and start new projects.
During a heated meeting Tuesday night, Oakland City Council members approved two new plans to address the city’s foreclosure crisis in Oakland, and also accepted with mixed reactions a lengthy police department report about crime reduction plans for the city.
The City Council is slated Tuesday to vote on two different approaches to the problem of multiple property foreclosures in Oakland. One tries to help homeowners threatened with foreclosure in the city’s hardest-hit neighborhoods, while the other would require investors who snatch up properties under foreclosure to fix them up, both inside and out. The new proposals come on the heels of a report called “Who Owns Your Neighborhood,” which was released last June and details Oakland’s foreclosure mess. The…
The demonstrative public show of support for the family of Alan Blueford and their quest to get police departments reports detailing how their son was shot and killed by an Oakland police officer on May 6 resulted Tuesday night in the release of the report to the family during an Oakland City Council meeting. The report was also publicly released online today by the Oakland Police department. On Tuesday night, protesters filled the council chambers, and shortly before the meeting…