McGriff family evicted; two arrested
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This morning (April 5, 2016) over 20 officers from both the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office arrived at Liz McGriff's house, along with a Uhaul truck, a crew with lots of plywood, and lots and lots of crime tape. The street was blocked off to traffic while they seized the home, removed whatever belongings were in the house, and boarded up the windows and doors. A crowd of over 20 supporters gathered to voice their disapproval, and two protesters were arrested. No surprise, the police were not gentlemen. People were shoved and knocked to the ground. One officer attempted to block me from videoing the scene, and put his hand in front of my lens. I also was shoved by cops on a couple of occasions when they felt I had moved too close.
Liz was removed from her house. But the battle against MidFirst Bank has not ended. Midfirst is not an originator of mortgages. It "acquires" them. It's located in Oklahoma, and has no branches in NY. They buy up mortgages that have high interest rates and/or where the owner is stuggling to make payments, and then they resort to tactics that make it impossible for the homeowner to save the home. They issued Liz two home modifications. Both had monthly payments of hundreds of dollars more than she was paying before the modifications. They refused to negotiate with her even when her financial situation improved. After they foreclosed, they told her that she could buy back her house for $129,000 cash (higher now). Her house is assessed at $73,000.
There are now at least 14 vacant Midfirst foreclosed homes in Rochester, and over 70 more are in some stage of preforclosure. Their goal is to empty the houses in order to collect Federal Housing Administration insurance.
Stay tuned. Meanwhile, here are some of my photos (in the gallery below), and also check out the heartbreaking video I took of Liz after the eviction:
A statement from Pat Mannix regarding the eviction of the McGriff family:
My neighbor, Elizabeth McGriff, just lost her battle since 2014 to save her home and avoid eviction.
Liz bought her home in 2001 for $56,000. She lost her job and struggled to pay the mortgage. She went through several loan modifications, one with an interest rate topping 8 percent. McGriff couldn't keep up.
"I've tried numerous times (to renegotiate) and the amount of money they were asking for is ridiculous," she said. "If i was struggling to pay $800, how am I going to pay $900?" Liz could have kept her house if she paid the bank $129,000 upfront. That includes the amount of her original loan, plus numerous fees. The city assessed the property at only $73,000.
So after 15 years of paying her mortgage and taxes, today she is left with nothing. The neighborhood is faced with an empty house for who knows how long. On the scene, police are becoming violent and gathered protestors are being assaulted. Meanwhile, a bank in another state is the winner, once again.
Do not ever think this is not also about each of us. Life could happen and tomorrow it could be any one of us. We can only be secure if all of us are secure.
Fig was inteviewed outside of the jail where the two Take Back The Land Members were being held:
Take Back The Land Rochester meets on Wednesday nights. 7pm at the Flying Squirrel Community Space, 285 Clarissa St.
Related: Scuffle with police at eviction protest leads to arrests | McGriff continues struggle against MidFirst Bank! Housing is a human right! | Joe Woods Takes Back His Home After Being Evicted
