Via Workers.org:
More than 100 people gathered in bitterly cold weather outside the home of Debbie Henry and Robert Henry, in Southgate, Mich., for a rally and press conference on Jan. 2 to denounce their threatened eviction by Bank of America and Fannie Mae. Southgate is a working-class suburb south of Detroit.
The rally, sponsored by Occupy Our Homes, People Before Banks and the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions & Utility Shutoffs, included neighbors and friends, as well as a large delegation of United Auto Workers and Steelworkers members.
Debbie Henry explained to the crowd of supporters assembled in her front yard what had happened. She suffered a stroke in 2008 and could no longer work full-time. The Henry family fell behind in their mortgage payments and sought a loan modification from Bank of America, which was initially approved. Then, after the family made payments for nine months and demonstrated their ability to pay under the terms of the trial loan modification, their tenth payment was rejected by the bank. The bank claimed it was because the payment was not in the form of a certified check. The first nine payments were not by certified check, but the bank accepted them. Bank of America then rescinded the loan modification.
