City Council approves plan to prevent displacement of residents, increase affordable housing

Vice-Mayor Rebecca Kaplan speaks in support of the approval of "Oakland's Housing Equity Roadmap." Photo by Lucas Waldron.

Oakland’s City Council took steps Wednesday night to address the city’s current housing problem by unanimously approving the “Housing Action Plan and Policy Framework” set out in the “Oakland Housing Equity Roadmap.” The policy seeks to prevent the displacement of long-time residents, build new affordable housing, and improve housing habitability and tenant health while maintaining affordability.

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Oakland residents call for freeze on foreclosures

Oakland residents converged Tuesday on an East Oakland street that has been blighted by foreclosures, calling for a freeze on foreclosures until the Homeowners Bill of Rights comes into effect in January, 2013. California Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill into law on July 2, which and will prevent banks from forcing families their homes while they are still negotiating mortgages settlements.

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Residents rally against foreclosure practices and to support reforms

Community members held signs and applauded the politicians who promised their support for a senate bill requiring banks to consider a loan modification for any homeowner who applied for one.

The sanctuary of East Oakland’s St. Louis Bertrand Church was filled with house keys on Saturday morning—keys on string encircling the room and hanging from the balcony, keys in jars, in pockets and around necks, keys in hands being jingled in uniform outrage, all because there are fewer house keys in Oakland than there used to be. The display of keys was a symbolic part of Saturday’s rally as over 1,200 people protested the recent wave of home foreclosure.

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Oakland neighborhood fights to save a house from foreclosure

After months of failed negotiations, Fruitvale resident D’Weena Coleman feared she’d be evicted from the house her grandparents built back in 1961. But with help from her neighbors — and some well placed media attention — US Bank suddenly modified her loan, allowing her to stay. Oakland North was there to see it happen.

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Oakland home values a block-by-block prospect

  By Elise Craig and Melanie Mason/Oakland North On the corner of 34th Street and Market Street in Oakland, a Coldwell Banker sign is attached to a chain link fence in front of a house with graffiti-covered boarded windows. Beside it, a black arrow on a yellow plastic sign points to a real estate auction…

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Downsizing a household in the wake of foreclosure

As foreclosures force more people out of their homes across the Bay Area, people like Patricia Lewis are having to adjust to smaller living spaces. Oakland North’s Brittney Johnson talks to Lewis as she holds a garage sale to get rid of many of her old possessions and help her fit into a new apartment.

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