Protestors Demand End To Evictions And Foreclosures

By aaroncynic in News on May 17, 2012 4:40PM

Yesterday demonstrators marched through the loop and delivered petitions to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart to demand a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. On the heels of the news that Illinois is the third worst state in the U.S. For home foreclosures, activists set up a mock living room, complete with a rug, couch, and easy chairs, CBS2 reports.

Protesters said the money spent on hosting the NATO summit could be better spent elsewhere. Micah Philbrook, a member of Occupy Chicago said “The United States itself has given over $800 million to NATO in tax funding, and we think that money could be better spent in our own communities, such as keeping people in their homes,” NBC reports. Virginia Morales, whose family faces foreclosure, said “We owe more on the mortgage than the market value of the property.”

Outside of confiscating the makeshift furniture protesters left in the lobby of a Citybank, no altercations with police were reported. After CPD picked up the furniture and loaded into a van, protesters chanted “Free the couch!” Before the furniture was removed, Loren Taylor said “Why can't I live at Citibank, huh? They're kicking me out of my home, why can't I just move in here?” Dart has agreed to moratoriums on foreclosure related evictions before. According to Twitter chatter after the rally, he will hold a meeting to discuss another one.