When We Fight, We Win!

Several weeks ago we asked you to sign the petition to stop WRI from evicting Vaniyah and her eight beautiful children and you signed! We asked your to call the private equity group and demand they give the family time to relocate on their terms and you did!

When Vaniyah reached out she was so upset with WRI that she had no interest in working out a deal that kept her family in the house, she just needed a fair amount of time to find acquit safe housing for her and the family.

We quickly organized a press conference, launched an online petition, organized a call in day, and delivered the petition directly to WRI's Atlanta office.

Because of your calls and your signatures, which we hand delivered to WRI's Atlanta office, Vaniyah has been given 60 days to find a new home and the housing authority has agreed to make finding a home a priority. This simply would not have been possible without EVERY one of ya'll!

  Thank you all for your signatures, for sharing, for calling! Together we stopped an amazing family from being put on the street! Please consider making this important work possible by investing what you can into it. We operate on a shoe string so every dollar counts!

When we fight, we win!!

Michele Swan Arrested by Henry County SWAT Team After Fighting Wrongful Eviction

Michele Swan has been locked in a struggle to gain ownership of her home ever since a contentious divorce from her husband, Triveni Omar Singh, in 2012. Despite being granted ownership of the home in her divorce, Ms. Swan was ignored by Chase bank when trying to transfer ownership, and ultimately the home was foreclosed on; sold on the Henry County Courthouse steps to an investment firm.

American Residential, the group that bought the property, has continually refused to negotiate with Michele despite her efforts to buy back the home. Instead they opted to break into the home and remove all of the items of value; furniture, electronics, clothes, and personal momentous. Michele reported the theft to the local police department and detectives asked for entry to the home to discuss the burglary. Per Henry County detectives Michele’s personal items and everything of value was removed and placed off site by American Residential.

Since the foreclosure Michele has been subject to one difficultly after another in her attempt to regain legal control of her home. After being evicted by WRI Group, a property management firm affiliated with American Residential, Michele reclaimed her home in an attempt to rectify the unjust sale to American Residential.

After occupying the home publicly with support from community members for weeks, and receiving no response from American Residential, Michele and her allies where removed from the home by Henry County Police by over twenty officers. After Michele and supporters complied with an order to leave the property, Michele was arrested for criminal trespass and remains in custody at Henry County Jail, supporters are working towards her release.

Update: Michele has been denied bond and has been charged with criminal trespass, theft by taking, and burglary. This is a sad precedent to set for nonviolent housing justice protesters. Tonight there will be a vigil at the Henry County Jail.

There was a time in this country that women were not recognized as land owners, and claims to property by women were not considered legitimate; that dark chapter in American history is supposed to be closed. It is a cruel irony Michele had a rightful claim to her families home, and has been begging the financial institute that profited from Michele's clear injustice to sell her the home at a more than fair price(FYI Michele's loan has been pre-approved for months); yet tonight she sits in a jail cell with fairly serious charges.

It was just years ago that Wall street and the big banks crashed our economy and over 11 million Americans lost their homes and even more lost all of their wealth and NONE or the architects of the worst fraud in human history face jail time...but there's Michele Swan surrounded by a SWAT team for standing up to a system that continues to stack the deck against regular everyday people.

We have an obligation to support Michele Swan, please make a contribution to the bail fund.

We also encourage everyone to sign and share Michele's online petition and follow the hashtag #Justice4Michele on twitter and instagram. 

Michele Swan's Bold Fight for Her Family's Home

A quick rundown and update on the #Justice4Michele campaign:

In 2012, Michele Swan of 1012 Grace Marie Ln, in Ellenwood, GA, signed an uncontested divorce agreement, approved by a judge in Henry County; this agreement, which is still valid, and in-hand, specifically stipulated that Ms. Swan, not her now ex-husband, would be given the rights to the family home at the aforementioned address. She thereby inherited the remaining note on the property, which at the time amounted to $140K. Over the 2 years since the divorce, Michele repeatedly & unsuccessfully attempted to speak with Chase Bank, the mortgage holder, in order to have the note transferred into her name. She was fully equipped & capable of making the payments, the family having hitherto made all payments punctually, often in excess of the monthly amounts owed. Chase ignored Ms. Swan completely, stating that they would only speak with her ex-husband, who was equally unresponsive. The situation culminated in Chase moving ahead with foreclosure, in spite of Ms. Swan’s ability to pay, persistence in attempting to do so, and legal right to the note, on Nov. 4, 2014. It was sold at courthouse auction to American Residential Properties (ARP), an investment group based in Scottsdale AZ, at a price of $121K.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Ms. Swan and her 3 children were forcibly evicted from the home in mid-December. After she spoke with WRI, a property management group affiliated with ARP, she was assured that for the interim, she could send them a check in the amount of $2K, in order to effectively rent her own home from them. She sent a cashier’s check (from Chase, no less), and retook residence. It was returned 2 days later; WRI did not acknowledge it, or respond to Ms. Swan thereafter. At that point, Occupy Our Homes Atlanta (OOHA) & friends stepped in; we held a press conference on her behalf on Jan. 5, 2015, which was attended by GA State Senator Fort (D), who made a statement on Ms. Swan’s behalf. From that moment, we made a number of efforts to identify and contact those responsible for the eviction, not to accuse, but to foster an engagement between Ms. Swan and the investment group, so that she might purchase her family home of 11 years from them after the illegal foreclosure occurred. WRI initially acknowledged association with the property, & directed us to speak with ARP in Scottsdale. A paralegal with ARP assured us we would receive further info that day. This did not occur. As a result, a group of activists, headed by Jackie Rodriguez of OOHA, together with Ms. Swan, went to the Buckhead office of WRI, armed with a petition of over 2,600 signatures demanding a negotiation. WRI feigned complete ignorance, and claimed to have no further association with the property. They suggested we contact the “owners,” & again, we spoke with a Senior Paralegal with ARP in Scottsdale, who stated that they had “legal, valid title to the property,” which they intended to enforce. She suggested Ms. Swan use her attorney (something many private citizens do not have) to speak with her ex-husband, & indicated that they had no interest in negotiation with Ms. Swan, because they were not selling; they were “in the business of leasing homes.” This struck us as odd, because this very home is now listed as active on MLS at a price of $190K.

Ms. Swan came home today to find all the locks changed, and the garage jammed. She was able to gain access nonetheless, and she will remain, with the support of OOHA, indefinitely. Spread the word. Bring ARP (@amresprop on twitter) to the table, let them have their money back, and let Michele and her family have their home back. That is all anyone is asking for. #Justice4Michele


Jim Chambers
Guest Writer/Activist
Owner of Henry & June Atlanta