Photo of Jean and Byron Barton from SAFE website: http://safeinseattle.org

Update on the dramatic story of Byron Barton which LRM covered here:  “Family Fights Eviction, Moves Right Back In.”  A press release from SAFE—Standing Against Foreclosure and Eviction–details what’s coming for this week:

“BARTON FAMILY EVICTION BLOCKADE, DAY 5 – JULY 21, 2014 — 6548 41st AVE. SW, SEATTLE

PRESS CONFERENCE, 8:30 A.M. – JULY 21, 2014 — MAYOR ED MURRAY’S OFFICE, SEATTLE CITY HALL, 7TH FLOOR, 600 4TH AVENUE, SEATTLE

We are in 5th day of the Bartons’ Eviction Blockade. Please join at the Barton Home, 6548 41st Ave SW, Seattle. Donations of food and bottled water are greatly appreciated.

In addition, on Monday, July 20 at 8:30am, SAFE will hold a press conference at Mayor Ed Murray’s Office, 7th Floor, Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave, Seattle, WA. SAFE is requesting that Mayor Murray postpone any police action regarding the home of Byron and Jean Barton until the civil land dispute between the Bartons and Triangle Properties, LLC, which bought their home at a foreclosure auction, is resolved in the state courts. The Bartons are currently appealing the legality of the sale of their home by Chase Bank to Triangle Properties.”

Chase Bank?  Aren’t they criminals?

Chase Bank, as most readers will know, is a criminal organization that last year reached a record settlement with the US government over admitted representations Chase made regarding mortgages and the “mortgage-backed” securities they were supposedly bundled into:

“As part of the settlement, JP Morgan acknowledged it made serious misrepresentations to the public – including to investors – about numerous transactions relating to residential mortgage-backed securities. The deals collapsed in 2008 when the housing market plunged and the scale of the risks was exposed, and the resulting financial tumult led to the biggest crisis since the Great Depression…

‘Without a doubt, the conduct uncovered in this investigation helped sow the seeds of the mortgage meltdown,’ said Holder.  ‘JP Morgan was not the only financial institution during this period to knowingly bundle toxic loans and sell them to unsuspecting investors, but that is no excuse for the firm’s behavior.‘”

And now we are supposed to believe that this admittedly criminal organization has the legal right to take a Vietnam vet’s house?  Give me a break.

Again, from the SAFE press release, giving more background on the Barton family:

The Barton house has been in the family for 61 years. Byron grew up in the house, and the couple inherited it after Byron’s mother passed away from Alzheimer’s disease. Due to financial difficulties resulting from Byron’s mother’s illness, the Bartons were forced to mortgage their house, but were given a predatory sub-prime loan. Realizing that their interest rate was rapidly increasing, the Bartons began reviewing their mortgage paperwork only to realize that their lender, Washington Mutual Bank (WaMu), had forged several signatures on the mortgage paperwork, greatly exaggerating the Bartons’ annual income in order to sell them a loan the family could not afford. JP Morgan Chase Bank acquired the mortgage after buying WaMu shortly after it was placed into federal receivership in 2008. Chase Bank proceeded to foreclose on the property despite the fact that the loan allowing them to foreclose was illegal, and the Bartons were challenging the loan in court. After the foreclosure, on April 11, 2014, Chase Bank sold the Batons’ house to Triangle Properties, LLC. Triangle Properties has continually tried to evict the Bartons since they bought the property from Chase Bank.

Byron Barton is a Vietnam Veteran who ran a remodeling company with Jean until 2012, when he had a stroke that left him paralyzed on the left side of his body with an atrophying hand and a severe speech impediment. Since the stroke, Byron has lived in a hospital bed, and can only be transported by wheelchair. In addition to carrying for her husband, Jean Barton works at Mary’s Place, a day center for homeless women and children. The Bartons have no place to go that can accommodate Byron’s medical needs, as well as their two children, who also help care for their father.

The Barton Family is just one victim of a systemic system of predatory lending run by the banks and enabled by the courts. SAFE works with victims of this system to help them defend themselves and their communities against financial abuse and violation of their fundamental human right to housing.”

And the last, inspiring part:

“Byron, Jean, and SAFE have vowed to continue fighting until their family’s rightful home ownership is restored. Please join us in helping the Bartons save their home!”

We should all vow to continue to fight until the foreclosure fraud has ended and all victims of it have been made whole.  All power to the people and the Bartons in particular!

(h/t Scott Stafne)