Housing
Since California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, a new law limiting the power of banks to foreclose, came into effect on January 1, homeowners in Richmond and Oakland have taken a more proactive stance in resisting foreclosures, protesting inside banking halls at Wells Fargo’s braches across the East Bay and forcing the bank to reschedule home sales.
Every holiday season Nancy DeWeese and her husband, Gary, host a Christmas party. But it’s not your average family gathering, because this is not your average family. At these parties, three dozen children from all walks of life, including the couple’s four biological kids, gather to share in a common experience: Each child has spent part of their lives growing up at the DeWeese family home in Moraga. “They see each other and they’re like, ‘Oh, we started out as…
Judge Gordon Baranco donned his robes at the last minute, putting them on over a grey suit and a tie on which a reindeer tugged Santa in a sled. Baranco normally hears cases in the Alameda County Superior Court, but today he was presiding over a ragtag crowd in a well-used community center, where the homeless and formerly homeless defendants had gathered to have the fines associated with minor offenses waived. Baranco stood in front his makeshift bench, a rectangular…
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.