Occupy Movement Start Disrupting Foreclosure Auctions

The Occupy moment has now started to disrupt foreclosure auction. The activists interrupted the bidding outside court in Norwalk chanting ‘Shame on you’ and ‘Banks got bailed out. We got sold out’. The houses put up for auction belong to either the banks or title firms.

Many times per week investors converge in Norwalk to bid for foreclosed houses. The noon auction in front of the Superior Court premises of Los Angeles County involves high stakes. Generally the event runs on a low key.

Last Friday the potential bidders sat on chairs in the open and the auctioneer seemed his usual relaxed self. But just as the bidding was about to take off a commotion broke forth. Some protestors began marching waving posters and shouting angry slogans. Some wore T-shirts marking them as belonging to labour unions of the locality. Others sported arm bands on which was written 99%. (The word has gained fame to denote the other hapless ones.)

The Occupy Los Angeles has been evicted from City Hall but that has not stopped them from continuing with their civil disobedience movement that has caught national and world attention.

The demonstration was against foreclosures said one of the activists who had lived in the lawn of the City Hall for about two months. He hitched to Norwalk to take part in the action. Abe, the protestor, said it was his anger against the foreclosing banks and their reluctance to fix the problem that drew him to the movement.

The demonstration was staged in tandem with Good Jobs of Los Angeles – an amalgam of labour unions and other organizations of the community. There are some who are worried that the labour unions could be riding piggy back on the movement but Abe was not concerned. He did not think there should be any alignment with any power body but anybody who wants to support them is welcome.

The noise and din made the bidders get closer to get their voices hear. The properties right across the county was on the auction block.

When a bid was finalized the protestors yelled, “Whose home is that? Whose home are you buying? Do you know that families are breaking apart? People fought for those homes, and you guys are just taking them away”! Initially the bidders found it entertaining but when a microphone added to the din they became annoyed.