Residents gather to protest foreclosures
By Sean Barron
YOUNGSTOWN
In March, Leah Ifft returned to work after a stretch of unemployment, but several months later, she faced a new, unexpected difficulty: a foreclosure filing.
“This is not right, and this is not just happening to me,” Ifft, of Youngstown, said during a news conference Tuesday by Fight for a Fair Economy, a grass-roots organization that works mostly in Ohio’s eight major metropolitan areas, including Youngstown/Warren.
A few dozen people attended the event in front of a one-story residence in the 3400 block of Lenox Avenue, vacant since 2007, that has tall grass, overgrown trees and a rear door that had been kicked in.
Attendees gathered at the South Side home to address what they say is the predatory way several large banks foreclose on then abandon many homes — locally and statewide.
Many residents are fed up with abandoned, foreclosed homes that are deepening the housing crisis, wrecking the local economy, and contributing to neighborhood blight, explained Ty Beatty, FFE’s project organizer.
After making huge profits, the large banks often walk away from the properties once they’re empty, Beatty noted.
Ifft said the bank that financed her home refuses to accept her payments because she had fallen behind. In addition, Ifft said, she was never notified that a second bank had filed the foreclosure notice.
Hattie Wilkins lives in the 700 block of Fairmont Avenue on the North Side near three foreclosed homes in a row, all of which she’s spent three years trying to maintain, in part by keeping the lawns cut.
“It’s the fault of the banks,” Wilkins said, referring to the blight and neglect. “They foreclose, then act like they forgot the house exists. They should be held accountable for what they make our neighborhoods look like.”
The banks also should work harder to keep people in the homes, which will add stability to neighborhoods and help property values, she continued.
Between 2008 and 2010, big banks have foreclosed on about 265,000 homes throughout the state, Beatty noted, adding that roughly 10 million have suffered the same fate nationwide since 2007.
“Ten million Americans didn’t get together and say, ‘Let’s crash the economy,’” he added.
FFE’s main focus is tackling the job and housing crises, which are closely linked, Beatty continued, adding that his group plans to talk to Mayor Charles Sammarone and other city officials about code enforcement, as well as to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine about holding the banks responsible for their actions.