Via Occupy Homes Minnesota:

Despite acknowledging that the Cruzes foreclosure was due to a bank error and repeated claims that they are working “behind the scenes” to get the Cruz family back in their home, PNC Bank has refused to accept the documents necessary for the loan to be modified. So Alejandra and David Cruz, along with several supporters, are going to make a hand-delivery to PNC’s headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA!

TUESDAY: Minneapolis

Send-off: We will be having a send-off rally in front of the Cruz home, 4044 Cedar Ave S, at 5PM this Tuesday to support the Cruzes battle for justice. Bring signs, messages of support, and your wonderful self!

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/310205149071280/

WEDNESDAY: Chicago

Action on Freddie Mac: the Cruz family will make a stop at Freddie Mac’s regional headquarters in Chicago on Wednesday to demand they stop tearing up our neighborhoods with their eviction profiteering.

THURSDAY: EVERYWHERE!

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION: Across the country, while Alejandra and David arrive at PNC headquarters, people will be demanding that PNC live up to their word and work with the Cruz family!

Actions being planned in:

Atlanta
Chicago
Cincinnati
Milwaukee
Minneapolis
New York
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Washington, DC

And many more to come! Please, organize an event in your city! Email occupyHomesMN@gmail.com and let us know if you want to help!

Thursday, June 07, 2012, Bloomington, MN-- Before the plates were cleared from the luncheon, Freddie Mac trainers and dozens of conference attendees were startled by a group of Occupy Homes protesters who taped off the entrance and plywooded the doors to their scheduled "Default Servicing Workshop."

A dozen protesters chanted in call-and-response: "This is a crime scene, and Freddie Mac is the criminal. They have been conspiring with PNC Bank and countless others to profit off of families getting thrown out of their homes." Yellow caution tape reading "occupy" was unrolled, emulating the pitched confrontations Minneapolis police have had at the Cruz family home on Cedar Ave in recent weeks.

"We demand that you work with PNC Bank to get the Cruz family in their home," protesters cheered. As Marriott hotel security escorted the protesters out, they chanted "Eviction stops here!"

The Cruz family fell behind on payments during tough economic times. According to Occupy activist Nick Espinosa, the bank failed to withdraw an online payment due to a glitch in its own system. Instead it demanded a multiple-month payment, and when the Cruz family was unable to oblige, the home went into foreclosure. Recently, the family and protesters have grabbed headlines by repeatedly blocking the sheriff's eviction, resulting in 23 arrests and massive MPD force to secure the modest home.

Freddie Mac, which owns the title to scores of foreclosed homes like the Cruz home, visited the Twin Cities region to host a week-long training for its servicers to help them manage through the housing recession and, according to the event's web site, "avoid preventable foreclosure."

"If Freddie Mac is committed to avoiding preventable foreclosure, they need to work with families like the Cruzes who can afford to pay their mortgage," said Cat Salonek, an organizer with Occupy Homes MN. "Freddie Mac and PNC have the power to return the Cruz family home today."

Sheriff's deputies tried twice this week to evict Occupy Minnesota supporters from a foreclosed home they were defending.

On Wednesday, aggressive efforts of Occupy Minnesota foiled a 4:00 PM sheriff's raid on the foreclosed home of the Cruz family. The deputies retreated.

On Friday they returned again at 4:00 AM, armed with battering rams, jack hammers and massive bolt cutters. There were about a dozen occupy volunteers sleeping at the house. All but two were ordered outside - the two couldn't find their shoes. The five people secured to the building were forcibly removed and arrested, currently held until Tuesday morning.

Again the sheriff's crew was driven back by the occupy volunteers who came up the alley and entered the back of the house. The deputies retreated with their prisoners leaving the home in shambles.

A rally in front of City hall at noon on May 25, featured the broken door and speeches by supporters including three members of the Minneapolis City Council. The door was then delivered to Sheriff Stanek's Office in City Hall. The sheriff declined to meet with the demonstrators. The broken door was left at the front door of his office. A major source of frustration was that the bank was working with the Cruz family to clear up the situation and renew the mortgage. The sheriff's actions cut across this progress and was seen as unnecessary and punitive by those close to the situation.