Chase Bank Trying to Evict 79 Year Old Grandmother

On January 1 of this year, Susie Johnson turned 79 years old.  Her family should be celebrating this milestone and the start of a new year,  but instead they're fighting Jp Morgan Chase to keep a roof over Grandma Susie's head.

Last week, Ms. Johnson received a notice from Chase Bank, offering "cash for keys" to get out of her home of over 20 years. Now that they have settled with the Department of Justice for $13billion for their role in the housing crisis, it seems like Chase Bank thinks they're off the hook and can continue to put people like  Susie on the street. Well not on our watch.

Today, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, Grandma Susie's supporters will delivered her petition -- signed by over 6,000 of you -- to Jp Morgan Chase headquarters in New York City, as well as to Chase Bank branches around the country, but we still need your help. In Atlanta a group of us walked inside Chase bank and refused to leave until the manager agreed to accept the petition, then we passed out flyers to folks outside asking them to help us save a Grandmother from being evicted at the hands of Chase Bank.

Will you stand with Grandma Susie and help make sure the message gets heard?

Please call Jp Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon at (212) 270-1111
Here is a sample script you can use:
"Hello, my name is (your name) from (city and state), and I'm calling to demand that you stop the eviction of Susie Johnson, who lives at 470 Meade St in Orange, New Jersey. Susie is 79 years old, and never missed a payment before being foreclosed on, but now your bank is pushing to evict this senior citizen from her home.  $13billion dollars isn't really relief if it's not helping to keep people like Susie in their homes. Stop the eviction and work out a deal that keeps Susie Johnson in her home for good. 


It's time for JP Morgan Chase to do the right thing -- halt foreclosures and negotiate with families to help restore the home equity and community wealth their reckless actions have destroyed. We know that together, we hold the banks accountable and make sure they relief is getting to the people that need it the most.
Please sign and share the online petition here.
When we fight, we win!

From Atlanta to Minneapolis

Today we delivered almost 10,000 petition signatures to a local Chase Bank Branch demanding Chase stop Minneapolis resident Sergio Ceballos' eviction and negotiate with him.

Last week a judge granted Chase Bank's request to evict Sergio Ceballos, even as they were considering him for a loan modification. That's called "dual tracking" and it's illegal under the national mortgage settlement--but that's not stopping Chase.

Sergio could be evicted as soon as next week--and cases like his are distressingly common, especially in communities of color. Chase, which played a key role in causing the crisis in the first place, is now flagrantly violating the terms of the new settlement--and STILL no bankers have gone to jail for their role in this mess.

It's clear the laws aren't enough to hold the banks accountable. If we want them to change their ways, we'll have to take action ourselves. So today solidarity actions were quickly organized all over the country.  We were happy to have Sergio’s back here in Atlanta and will take bolder action should Chase decide to move forward with eviction by force.

Sign the Ceballos petition nhere.

From Atlanta To Minnieapolis

Today AFSC joined Occupy Our Homes Atlanta to help deliver a message to Jamie Dimon in solidarity with Occupy Homes MN and two families in Minneapolis fighting against Chase Bank. 


We showed up at the Chase bank branch in the Westend, walked into the branch and delivered hardship letters for Jaymie Kelly and Sergio Aguilar along with pictures of them both. We made it clear that we would not accept their eviction and that we wanted the message sent to Chase that we need real solutions, not evictions.

After delivering the letter we spent about an hour outside the bank asking Chase costumers to deliver hardship letters to Chase employees while they do their banking. Dozens of Chase costumers agreed to ask Chase staff to work with Jaymie and Sergio.

Occupy Homes MN has joined with residents in Minneapolis' Central and Powderhorn neighborhoods to declare an "Eviction Free Zone". 




Three of the residents in the Eviction Free Zone are fighting against Chase Bank to stay in their homes. 

Jaymie Kelly has lived in her home for 30 years. After falling victim to a predatory loan, Chase expects Jaymie to pay $255,000 for a house currently valued at $81,000. 
After two attempts to meet with Chase and negotiate, the bank still refuses to discuss a responsible solution that will allow Jaymie and her daughter to stay in her home. They are proceeding with the foreclosure process and Jaymie is facing eviction in just a few weeks. 
Jaymie refuses to leave her home, declaring her right to stay in the neighborhood where she has lived her entire life.

As the fight continues between retired US Postal worker, Jaymie Kelly and Chase Bank CEO, Jamie Dimon, other homeowners in the Eviction Free Zone join in the struggle for fair negotiations with Chase.

After neighbors and supporters called Chase to demand the bank work with these homeowners, Sergio Aguilar received a call from the bank saying they would look into his case. 

But as his redemption period expired on 4/9, Chase informed him they would not work with his family and plan to move forward with an eviction despite the fact Sergio can afford payments based on the current value of the home.

Edgewood Resident Sherrye Calhoun Wins Back Her Home After Bold Action Taken

Around 8:30 AM on Friday August 5th 2012 Sherrye Calhoun woke to Dekalb County Sheriff’s Deputies knocking on her door. They demanded that she leave her home immediately. Over the course of the morning Sheriff Thomas Brown’s deputies supervised her eviction. They had no dispossessory warrant or writ of possession filed with the court. She has lived in the home for 30 years.

Within hours, Ms. Calhoun’s possessions were moved back into her house with the help of Edgewood residents and supporters. Sherrye Calhoun decided that she wouldn't leave her home regardless of the risk.

Sherrye’s neighbors and community groups including SWARM and Occupy Our Homes Atlanta, and American Friends Service Committee got involved, organizing eviction free cookouts, neighborhood canvassing, marches, call-in days, and direct action. As of last week JP Morgan Chase has decided to turn over the deed to Sherrye Calhoun. Sherrye will no longer have to fear a knock on the door from Sheriff Brown’s officers.All over the country housing justice organizations have been working side by side with struggling residents taking bold creative action to address the cruel irony of a growing homeless population alongside an even larger number of vacant homes. Sherrye Calhoun's story is rare and perhaps precedent setting victory in the South

With a growing homeless population all over the country, and millions of "zombie foreclosures"  the idea of folks building community support and simply marching to a vacant home that was once theirs, pulling the boards off and moving in publicly seems in the realm of possibility. If bold actions were taken in communities all over the country banks would be overwhelmed.

What we need now is to match the banks unprecedented greed and corruption with historic creative people power. 

Campaign To Save The Pittman House!

This past weekend the Pittman family held a yard sale on Saturday and Sunday to help cover the costs of a down payment on a loan from Capitol City Community Bank and Trust that would cut Chase Bank out of their lives for good.

The fundraising goal was set at $5,500. Which would cover closing costs and a down payment. Between the weekend yard sales and our online campaign, we've raised around $3,700!

Amazing progress, but we're not their yet. Can you help push us through the finnish line?

Link to wepay account



More about the Pittman campaign:
Tim Franzen American Friends Service Committee

Carmen Pittman is Honored At Graduation Ceremony

Today, after a lot of hard work, Carmen Pittman  received her diploma from BaSix Knowledge Academy. Several activists who have been fighting alongside Carmen joined her family for the ceremony at Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga.

While we were all very proud of Carmen's accomplishment none of us, including Carmen, knew that she was to be honored for advocacy in the community. Over the course of the last six months Carmen has not only become a spokesperson for her families struggle against Chase Bank, she's become a spokes person for for thousands of people facing foreclosures and evictions in the Atlanta area.

It was just six months ago that Occupy Atlanta responded to the crisis facing the Pittman family. They had not only lost their beloved Mother and Grandmother, Eloise Pittman, they found out the Chase Bank was planning on evicting the family as well. Prior to Occupy Atlanta's involvement with her families struggle, Carmen had never thought of herself as an activist or an organizer. That all changed in the weeks and months to follow.

From day one Carmen expressed a desire to learn about the connections between the systems of violence oppression that control our economic system. Carmen has embodied the concept that Occupy Atlanta's home defense work has tried to lift up; that we don't fight for folks, we fight with them.

Carmen has come a long way from sitting in on strategy meetings and attending actions. She now calls for meetings, and plays a key role in planning every aspect of the campaign to save her home. More recently Carmen has also worked with other families who are standing up to the banks.

Today Carmen was awarded the Myra Jackson Pioneer Award for her outstanding activism in the community! Congratulations Carmen Pittman!

AFSC's Georgia Peace and Conflict Resolution Program has been proud to committ resources towards the campaign to stop Chase Bank from evicting the Pittman family and we're excited to see a new much need leader in Carmen Pittman!

Tim Franzen

American Friends Service Committee

Chase Out Chase Bank

This past Friday, January 28th, Occupy Atlanta Marched with the Pittman family to a Chase Bank branch with one simple demand, give the house back.

For marched was sparked by Chase bank's unwillingness to offer a deal that would keep the Pittman's in the house that's been in the family since 1953.

The march brought together around 100 or so activists. The group was remarkable diverse in most ways measurable. Once at the bank there was a number of actions that went down. First it should be noted that the bank itself was shut down several minutes before we showed up. Apparently they were on high alert, along with several other Chase branches in the area.

Once outside the branch some participants put old furnature outside Chase's door as if to simulate an eviction scene, some broke out into dance, some chanted slogans like, "shut it down", there was even an interfaith prayer service, attended by several Quakers, outside the bank.

The demonstration managed to shut the Chase branch down for the last two hours of the bussiness day as well as make a clear statment to Chase bank that holding the Pittman home is a lose lose scenario for them. It's clear that Occupy Atlanta and other organizations will continue to escalate until Chase agrees to truly work with the family to insure they can stay and own the house they've called home for almost six decades.

There was one targeted arrest, but I'll be writinging about that in a seperate post.


Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

The Pittmans to Regulate Chase Bank

Like many families across the nation, the late Ms. Eloise Pittman was a victim of one of the worse cases of predatory lending. The Pittman family has been fighting to save the family home since November 2011. This house for thisfamily is more than a building that gives shelter. It is a home that has been passed down generations since the 1950’s.

This past week we have finally been able to get Chase bank to negotiate with they family. The options they have laid out are terrible. They either want the family to leave or pay over $400,000 for a property that's worth around $100,000. Their options are not acceptable.

When Chase bank needed a bail out they got one to the tune of billions at practically zero percent interest. We will not continue to allow big banks, like Chase, to continue to make profit off the backs of those that they refuse to assist.

Occupy Atlanta begun an encampment at the Pittman home on December 6th, and has had a 24 hour presence since. With the news the Chase Bank is unwilling to work with the Family Occupy Atlanta and community partners plan to March on the Bank this Friday(1/27/12). The plan is to meet at the Pittman(404 Glen Iris, Atlanta) at 3pm and March to Chase bank to demand the deed to the house. Carmen and Valerie Pittman made the annoucement that they planned to fight the bank for their home at a press conference in front of a Chase Bank branch earlier today

American Friends Service Committee Stands with the Pittman family as it is our belief housing is a human right.



Tim Franzen
American Friends Service Committee

National Call In Campaign to Save the Pittman Home

National Call-in on Chase Bank
In the past decade Americans have been subject to a new crime wave: banks robbing families of their homes.

Since the early 2000s banks have been targeting communities of color with predatory loans. In an attempt to feed the monster that we now know as the housing bubble banks began handing out loans that appeared, on face, extremely attractive. The catch: these loans turned ugly fast. By creating and pushing financial instruments like adjustable rate mortgages with teaser rates or pay options, loans with balloon payments, and interest only clauses, banks offered loans that were affordable at a glance, but impossible to pay a few years down the road. In essence, they stacked the deck against working Americans.

The Pittman family has lived in their home in the Old Fourth Ward since 1953. The late Eloise Pittman was a pillar in the community and a leader at her church. She was also a victim of one of the worst predatory loans that Occupy Atlanta has ever seen. When Eloise, a 62 year old retired school board employee, wanted to refinance her home in 2006 Chase gave her an adjustable rate loan totaling over $300,000 for a home that, according to the tax assessor, was worth half that much. Eloise was the victim of a repulsively predatory loan.

Eloise Pittman passed away in late November. Her family is now left with a mountain of debt, and is trying to save a home that’s been in their family for nearly 60 years. Chase has been unwilling to find a solution that keeps them in their home.
The mortgage is owned by Chase. Today, we appeal to you for help. Can you take the time to call, fax, and email the CEO of Chase Bank with a simple message; Make the Pittman family’s mortgage work. Rectify predatory loans.

Keep the Pittmans in their home!
Contact Chase Bank Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon:
Phone: 212-270-1111
Fax: 212-270-1121
Email: jamie.dimon@jpmchase.com

All this action takes is the commitment to send a few messages, the commitment of a few minutes of your time. That commitment could help keep the Pittmans in their home and send a message to the big banks that we will not let them make Americans pay the price for their irresponsible practices. We are the 99%, and we out number bank executives.

American Friends Service Committee stands with the Pittman family, we have the resources to ensure that everyone has the right to a home.