Judge Orders Mediation as Rep. Ellison & Community Rally to Halt Rose McGee's Eviction

50 community members, holding red roses in solidarity, rallied in support of Rose McGee as she faced off against Fannie Mae in settlement court alleging wrongful foreclosure. When Fannie Mae still refused to offer a fair deal, the judge ordered for them to return for further court mediation May 14.

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"The outcome of the court process today was very disappointing," said Rose McGee. "The offer that Fannie has made is unreasonable. If they made a reasonable offer, I would gladly accept it. I think now that I’m being used as a scapegoat because they’re faced with so many cases like mine that they don’t want to set a precedent of losing this one."

Rose, who has been fighting her foreclosure for over a year, fell victim last May to a process called "dual tracking": as CitiMortgage told her they were modifying her loan, they sold the home to Fannie Mae at a sheriff sale. In January, Rose met with Fannie Mae executives in D.C. who promised they were working on a loan modification--but she was dual tracked again when they continued pushing forward with the eviction at the same time.

This legislative session, Rose became the primary spokesperson for a Minnesota Homeowner Bill of Rights that would ban many of the foreclosure abuses she’s experienced. Although that bill died in committee, federal limits on dual tracking will go into effect in January 2014.

Today's rally came as part of New Bottom Line's national Dump DeMarco campaign, calling on the Obama administration to fire Ed DeMarco, the federal administrator overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and replace him with a permanent director who will implement national principal reduction--resetting mortgages to fair market value.

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"We need to be finding ways to keep people in their homes, not kicking them out," said Rep. Keith Ellison, who spoke at the rally. "Ed DeMarco has consistently refused to write down these loans to make them affordable. Other members of Congress and I have taken the extreme but reasonable step of calling for him to be fired. Big banks need to change the way they’re doing business in our communities. Enough is enough."

President Obama has come under fire recently for his reluctance to fire DeMarco, as well as his administration's "too big to fail/jail" policy toward the Wall Street banks. Before Rose's court appearance, her supporters delivered 330,000 MoveOn and CREDO petition signatures demanding President Obama prosecute the bankers whose criminal actions crashed the economy to the US Attorney's office, where a federal representative accepted them. Over a dozen other cities around the country organized similar petition deliveries as part of a national day of action with Home Defenders League and Campaign for a Fair Settlement.

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Occupy Homes MN Presents Brother Ali "Work Everyday" (Official Music Video)

Occupy Homes Minnesota is proud to premiere the new video and single by internationally renowned hip hop artist Brother Ali "Work Everyday." The video highlights common people standing together to demand justice for us all. It features Jackson Browne, Tom Morello and heroic residents fighting for their homes with Occupy Homes MN.

We are deeply grateful for the solidarity Brother Ali has shown throughout our movement’s history as we’ve won loan modifications for numerous families facing eviction from their homes and moved families experiencing homelessness into vacant homes to fight for the right of every human being to have safe, equitable, and affordable housing and to strive towards a community control of housing

Brother Ali’s support has been invaluable, from supporting Monique White, a North Minneapolis homeowner who won an incredible 11th hour victory to save her family from foreclosure, to committing an act of civil disobedience on behalf of the Cruz family where 39 arrests took place across five eviction attempts to defend their home from a fraudulent foreclosure. Most recently he is standing with Rose McGee who is currently facing the threat of imminent eviction.

Artists and musicians have played a critical role in social movements throughout history, and we salute those who help create the soundtrack to our struggles for justice, equality, and democracy that help us get up and do this work every day.

Connect with Brother Ali at BrotherAli.com, Facebook.com/BrotherAli, and Twitter.com/BrotherAli

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Rose McGee

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Dear Citi Morgage and Fannie Mae,

I am Rose McGee. Please support me in my effort to get CitiMortgage and Fannie Mae to allow me to stay in my home. I am like you; I have worked hard all of my life. I have contributed to my community. I pay my taxes. I tried to live out the American dream by buying a house. I have lived in my home and paid my mortgage for almost 20 years.

And like some of you I am middle aged and have raised my children in my home. It is the source of my fondest memories, children growing up, backyard barbecues, basketball games in the yard, graduation parties. For nearly 20 years it has been my home.

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