McGriff continues struggle against MidFirst Bank! Housing is a human right!
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Below is a partial breakdown of the ongoing struggle Elizabeth McGriff has been going through with MidFirst Bank and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. The videos are first with descriptions after. The breakdown starts with Liz and Take Back The Land protesting in front of and inside the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and ends with a video of Liz explaining her situation from July of 2015. Housing is a human right! Fight! Fight! Fight!
In the video above, taken on February 26, 2016, Take Back The Land Rochester members and Home Defenders protested at the Monroe County Sheriff's Office demanding that they stop the eviction of the McGriff family and re-evaluate their entire eviction policy.
Sheriff Patrick O'Flynn has refused to meet with the McGriff and Horton families facing unjust corporate-sponsored evictions.
Demonstrators brought the issue to the sheriff instead of waiting for him to come to them. They also brought a letter to give to the sheriff. See below:
Open Letter to Monroe County (NY) Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn Regarding Support of Bank Evictions
Take Back The Land Rochester; Thursday, February 25, 2016
Dear Monroe County Sheriff Patrick O’Flynn,
We are contacting you regarding a grave matter--preventable displacement of families from their long-time homes under your jurisdiction. We are calling on you to cancel the eviction of Ms. McGriff at 618 Cedarwood Terrace, Rochester, NY 14609 and schedule a meeting with home defenders and support members of Take Back the Land Rochester regarding the County Sheriff’s eviction procedures.
Stop the Enforcement of Stale and Unjust Eviction Orders
According to notices posted on their respective doors you were planning to forcefully evict two of our beloved families based at the same time of the on same day (February 17, 2016 at 10am), based on stale eviction orders. Fortunately, one of evictions was stayed for so that a court can reexamine the order that has taken the financial institution more than 4 months to carry out. The other order is equally old and stale, but according to the Sheriff Civil Bureau, is still in effect. According to Civil Chief Gambato, from the perspective of the Sheriff, an eviction order never goes stale and they are willing to enforce an order 3 months, 3 years, or 30 years after it was issued. This absurd position is not shared by other jurisdictions in New York State or even in this county (for example, Rochester City Court Marshals, give the bank 30 days to ask for enforcement or make them go back to court to get a new order). Please institute a policy to end the rogue enforcement of stale eviction orders. It is unjust and inequitable for old orders to hang over families for months and years.
Further, it is imperative to declare a moratorium on bank evictions so the entire process of carrying out fraudulent bank evictions finally come to an end on your watch. Unfortunately, the Sheriff has been put in the middle of the conflict between Wall St. banks and Main St. homeowners and tenants. We are asking you to remove yourself from the “middleman” role so these issues can be directly resolved without force or armed police. Precisely for these reasons, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart (of Chicago) has declared moratoriums on enforcement of bank evictions on multiple occasions.
Failed Communication with the Sheriff’s Office
In order to voice our concerns and resolve these matters we have left messages with Civil Bureau Chief Gamboto to open up a line of communication and discuss this matter but we did not hear back. We went down to the Chief’s office and spoke with him at the window and he said that he “received [our] message and was not planning on calling [us] back.” He indicated that he’s more comfortable dealing with advocates for landlords than advocates for tenants. To us this is an odd response from a public servant. Landlords and tenants should be given equal respect and hearing of their concerns. We asked if we could meet with him to discuss the Sheriff’s eviction procedures and he said he was “too busy” but to check back with him in the Spring. Silencing the concerns of the people your office serves and closing down communication in order to escalate the conflict is disturbing, callous, and misguided. All attempts to schedule a meeting with you were equally rebuked by your office. As of today Ms. McGriff’s many calls to Civil Bureau about her eviction also have not been returned.
It is not too late to right a wrong and open lines of communication. We are fighting to elevate housing to a human right and th Sheriff can assist instead of hinder these goals. Monroe County can lead us out of the abyss of mass displacement and neighborhood devastation at the hands of the banks, or we can fall into following strict unjust orders from out of town banks at the expense of actual residents. Please work with us to achieve a community where everyone has a place.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth McGriff, Barbara Horton, and rest of Take Back the Land Rochester
The video above, taken on February 17, 2016, shows Liz and 50-60 supporters standing out in the snow and cold to tell the sheriff and MidFirst Bank that she has no plans to leave her home. Four members of Take Back the Land sat chained together, blocking entry to the front porch. The sheriff never showed up, but three tv stations did (WHEC, 13WHAM, & RochesterFirst), and coverage was also provided in the Democrat & Chronicle. It was a great day! (See the photos!)
Liz was notified by the Monroe County Sheriff's Office that she would be evicted from her home on November 10, 2015. She was told that they would forcibly remove her if she was not out by 10am.
Take Back the Land and community members rallied outside Liz's home to stop the eviction. As a result, the eviction was called off. Watch in the video above!
On October 15, 2015, MidFirst Bank agents broke into Liz's home in order to appraise it. They broke a screen, left a note, failed to repair anything, and were confronted by a neighbor. It took the Rochester Police Department about a month to get Liz a police report that she asked for shortly after the incident. In the eight minute interview, Liz explains what happened. The interview above took place on November 10, 2015.
Liz is trying to save her home and is in a protracted struggle against MidFirst Bank. Take Back The Land Rochester and the greater community have been supporting her and her struggle. She is still in her home after fending off two recent attempts to evict her by the Monroe County Sheriff's Department.
Back on September 2, 2015, Liz and her supporters were victorious against a similar threat. Take Back the Land and other community members rallied in her front of her home and MidFirst Bank called off the eviction that was planned for that day.
In the above interview, Liz tells her story and talks about how she is able to make payments and has tried repeatedly to get MidFirst to negotiate a solution. Instead, MidFirst has resorted to questionable and legally shady tactics to gain ownership of her home in order to collect FHA backed mortgage insurance.
Upcoming events: The Housing Crisis is NO JOKE! Keep the McGriff family in their home | Potluck, introduction to TBTL, and Direct Action Training
Related: Community Rallies to Stop Eviction of Elizabeth McGriff | Joe Woods Takes Back His Home After Being Evicted | Resident Facing Bank Eviction, Pledges to Stay in Her Home | 7 people arrested defending family; police use extortion to coerce homeowner to leave home | Take Back The Land Rochester (on Facebook)
