I agree - They are illegally moving into a property they have no right to. They neither own it or are paying rent and do not have the permission of the owner to be there. I hope that these people are arrested for trespassing. You can not just decide to move into any home just because it is vacant. If the owner and the authorities do not put a stop to this it may spark a huge wave of people just taking possession of properties they have no right to. The police that stood by and allowed this to happen should be fired for failing to do their jobs. They are supposed to protect private property not stand by while people illegally enter a property without permission.

I agree. They have no right to this property - and if they think they do, what's to stop them from just taking anything else they want that doesn't belong to them- especially if the police stand by and let it happen. This is called stealing, and yes, the police who stood by and let this happen should be fired.

This is ridiculous! And the fact that the police are just letting it happen only makes it worst.

I can no longer support the OWS movement as this is way out of line.

Ah...the entitled...they feel they deserve everything.

Cops hang back....This is breaking and entering, why are they hanging back? If people can just break into someone else's property, and the law does nothing, total chaos will take place.

I do understand the concept, but breaking laws meant to protect the public as a whole is not the way to go. This is going to get ugly.

Mark - this family has been homeless for 10 YEARS!!! Ten friggin' years and they haven't managed to get their acts together, get jobs and get a roof over their heads. But they DID manage to have two kids they clearly can't afford. Don't expect me to have any sympathy for them.

Mr. VanGelder, I am neither a Christian nor a Republican. I just hate bleeding heart hippies and moochers.

Liberals will be forever fighting for equality (unless of course it involves taking their stuff away and giving it to someone "less equal"), and conservatives will be forever fighting for Justice.

There is a difference people, and your worldview (equality or justice) taints all your opinions. Funny how even this story reveals that those who fight for equality, don't really believe in it, fully.

There is a point being missed here. That is at some point in time we crossed the threshold into EVERYTHING being owned and therefore preventing anyone from existing without being beholden to the "owners" of everything and then taxed accordingly. There "should" be a place where people can simply exist WITHOUT having to pay thousands of dollars each month. There was a time when you could stake your claim and simply live!

So, while I agree with many of you, we must remember that all people should have the basic right to exist without becoming slaves ot others shortly after leaving the nest.

So now OWS has graduated to grand theft of a vacant property. I wonder if they will ever try to place one of their people in my still being paid for every month on time home. A few of them would learn a thing or two about the Second Amendment before it was all over with.

The point being missed here Rob is that nothing is free (and never has been). If a person doesn't want to pay for something then they need to work for it. There are places where a person can go and "just exist". They just don't come with running water or electricity. If a person wants the convenience of modern living, then that person needs to pay for those conveniences or produce them for themselves. Why do I (and other taxpayers) owe someone something just for being born? I don't mind charity, I just can't stand to see someone live off the largesse of others.

So in your opinion Netranger, theft is perfectly ok and doesn't qualify someone as being a scumbag? Cool, thanks for the memo. Can I now have your stuff? Obviously not. I guess you libs really don't believe in Darwinism after all.

Rob - there was NO point, at ANY time past or present when people could simply "exist". Yes, there was a time in the past when you could stake a claim - but you had to work damn hard to survive - and there was NO safety net whatsoever. Nothing is free, never has been. There's always a price to pay one way or another. And you are kidding yourself if you really believe otherwise.

In the cops defense, you don't know how large the group was and they don't want to start a riot in a residential area. So give the cops some slack in this. They may be back later and in larger numbers to deal with the squatters.

Rob: "There was a time when you could stake your claim and simply live"

You seem to be forgetting something. Many who staked their claim did not live or did not make it. Your romanticizing of the past has no basis in reality, and none of our forefathers would ever have considered a handout or a free ride. Your argument is ridiculous.

Netranger: keep em coming, I think we have not yet begun to see the depths of your ignorance. It should make for a good laugh.

What is sad is they didn't even have to do this. All they needed to do is find an abandoned piece of property and start paying the taxes on it. Stick a notice in the newspaper for six weeks, clean up the house, pay the back taxes, and the home is yours. Yet, they couldn't spend a couple of days at a Law Library to look up the laws that would have protected them. They could end up being charged with a hell of a lot of crap for breaking in. What is even worse is they could of been paid to move into a house by a bank. I got paid a thousand dollars every two two weeks to live in a home and give it a live in feeling till it sold. Electricity, gas, water all paid for. Some people deserve what is coming. With a little forethought and a little work you can save yourself a lot of heartache.

I don't get what you are saying Blueburner... This isn't 1865 and I don't owe any black person a damn thing. I earn what I have. At 18 years old I started out with exactly as much as you did. Zero. I earned every last thing I have and I did it with sweat, blood, and tears. I don't want to hear how this world owes you so much for the color of your skin. It don't owe you crap. You think like that you will always be held back. The only thing this world owes you is what you earn. It's 2011 not 1865. Time to live in the era not in the past.

Blueburner- and how about you try comprehending what you read? Yes, people could stake a claim for free land at one time - but they only survived through blood, sweat and tears. THAT was the "price" they paid to "exist."

Do you get it now? Twit.

So what are you saying, blueburner? That white americans today, who have done absolutely NOTHING wrong, should be forced to pay for the sins of ancestors? If you wanna open that box, then you should have to pay for the crimes of every single one of your ancestors, even if you didn't do a dang thing wrong.

As to this story, that family has been on the street for ten years because they didn't do what they had to in order to better their lives. There ARE jobs out there, there's government help for housing, there is NO EXCUSE FOR THEFT! PERIOD. Those of you on here that think this is a good thing, how about you just go give your houses to the homeless? Yeah, didn't think so. It's all about equality, as long as someone else foots the bill for it.

This is the future of the USA. Many cities are happy if people move into decaying areas and pay taxes on the property. Half the houses in Buffalo are empty. Habitats for humanity!

Blueburner and a bag of Hammers - you make the call!!

Rob 385, I think I should be able to "simply exist" at your place. Since I feel like I have been a victim I don't want to pay anything and therefore I am staking "claim" to your house. Get The #$%^ out of my claimed place right now because me and a bunch of my friends are coming over to "occupy" your house. Oh, by the way, I completely expect you to keep paying all the bills, upkeep and taxes.

The Homestead Act also had a provision that you must improve the land and it was intended to settle the West. The price was to get you to move West and improve the land and to leave everything you had, or pack it into a covered wagon, fend off attacks, and live minimally to pass something tangible to the next generation. The fact of the matter is the home is owned by someone, therefore, it isn't fair game to be squatted in, even if a Bank is the owner. The cost to maintain the house goes up and as a result, the cost for the Banks services go up for all of the bank's customers.

I was very cautious about the whole occupy movement. Is this a further indication of what it is about? It is one thing to rally against corporations, but now it seems permissible to just take what we don't have. No one wants to see a family on the street, it is heartbreaking. But if law enforcement does not act on this occurrence, it WILL send a message that this is type of action is acceptable.

Sure we want equal access to jobs and opportunities. But what does that say about our society when it become acceptable to take from others to obtain that goal.

If we really look at the core of these actions today, and if the occupy movement does support the taking of property, then the fundamental goals and philosophy of these groups should be apparent for all to see. This is really scary if you ask me.

Well, this is the redistribution of wealth in action. Occupy=squatters. I'm sure the neighbors are thrilled, first a foreclosed home bringing down property values and now squatters. So, this is how crack houses get their start and claiming the high road here is a bit much. There is a way to acquire property besides stealing it or squatting, it's called earning a living. If the area you're in is too expensive, time to leave the area. Enough people leaving an area create this amazing drop in prices. Perhaps they should go occupy Detroit, seems there's lots of empty buildings there...and...I doubt the owners give a tinker's damn about those houses.

Something else that bothers the crap out of me is that so many of these so-called 99%ers just assume that each of these cases is about an innocent victim. Let's be honest. How many of these "victims" have no responsibility for where they are by their own decisions? To put it bluntly, if a man smokes or drinks away all of his money, I feel it's his problem where he sleeps, not mine. I don't feel as if I should be required to pay for someone to breed a dozen kids, and it burns my ass that I have to pay for a convict to get a sex change. If a person is truly disabled then we do need a safety net, but otherwise a person needs to contribute. Before the quesion pops up, that means I think it might be a good idea for some of these unemployed parents that "can't find a job" to maybe volunteer at the school they want to bitch about all day while they "diligently look for work" on Facebook. Maybe that will lower the crime rate at the same time by giving more positive examples to the majority of children being raised by one parent. Before you say it, if they have the time to occupy they have the time to volunteer. That's one suggestion, now let's all pull together and fix this country, and damn it, let's all get off our asses and stop letting DWTS or American Idol determine our lives.

wow leson to all this hatetred. what happen to good will twards men. to all of you its hard to get a jobe when you ahve no phome or addres to put down on your applaction

Blueburner, my ancestors didn't arrive to the US until almost 1900. Neither set of my great grandparents took ANY part in slavery. One set of g-grandparents eked out a living in Iowa farming (on property they BOUGHT) while the other took to coal mining in Indiana (living in horrid conditions in a home they BOUGHT).What I possess, is MINE because I BOUGHT it, worked for it, earned it. You can kiss my a**. I don't owe you a thing, nor anyone else. And, before you start throwing any mud about me being a racist, my fiancee is Black, I'm Caucasian, been dating for a long time. There is ZERO tolerance for racism in my world from any direction, including from yours.

While I do have much compassion for the homeless and the children, I am a little suspicious of this couple as well. 10 YEARS being homeless. They sure do have new clothes and the Mom was on a cell phone. Hmmmm How do homeless people afford new clothes and cell phones???? Many many people are having it hard these days. But, this does appear to be some people living off the "system" for FAR too long. Hope they can pay the property taxes on the house they've squatted on. We'd ALL like a FREE house. That is stealing though. I support some of the Occupy Wall Street ideals, but not this.

Lindie having a cellphone makes you not poor? Cellphones are $5 ar wal-mart.....And alot cheaper to use thn the recuring fees for a landline....In other words if you don't use it you don't pay unlike a landline...I personally think you have to be pretty well off these days to have a landline...

And to all you other nuts maybe all these vacant home prices shouls go down you know the old supply and demand theory...But guess what the greedy bankers want to keep them on the books come tax time to write them off as a loss....

It is a nasty world we live in where they kick you out of your home just to let ti sit empty so it appears on their " Books " the way they need it to...

@BlueBurner: If you were in NY in the '70 you should remember that rent control made many of those landlords refuse to invest money into their properties. If the majority of tenants had rent controlled units and your property taxes continue to rise, why would you invest in upkeep.

Also please show me where any piece of legislation was every introduced promising 40 acres and a mule by Congress, or proposed by Lincoln. You should read David Horowitz's Uncivil Wars and the case against reparations. I would advance that 50 years of welfare, public housing, section 8 vouchers, food stamps, minority preferences, and ridiculous give away programs like the "damages" paid to "discriminated against" Black farmers (who only had to claim they attempted to farm) have more than compensated the descendents of slavery. I can justify reparations to living victims such as holocaust survivors or Japanese interments survivors. Why should I pay anything to descendents of slaves when my family never owned a slave. We elected a black President. We have an African American Attorney General, Supreme Court Justice, previous Secretary of State. It's time to judge people on their talents and abilities and look beyond skin color. Bill Cosby was castigated by his own race for speaking the truth. The issue is personal responsibility. Stop playing the race card.

Too bad you people can't protest the criminality of the banks that undermined the economy of this country, doing more damage than Osama bin Laden. Instead you choose to beat up on some homeless people who are living in some house that's been vacant for 3 years, rat infested and a blight in the community. You know, I worked for everything I got too--so what? Why should I go around kicking people when they are down? Is that what you are taught in church. There are always going to be poor people in this world--do you treat them all like they are dirt?

And having lived through Jim Crow and experienced that terror, I'll discuss my racial history and experiences in this country whenever I want. Apparently that time and those attitudes are still in force given the comments on this board. You think black people haven't worked since they've been in this country? Really? This country exists because black people worked for free and if they lived in the projects its because racist people wouldn't hire them over white applicants or rent to them. My family was in farming, or tried to be, 13 acres we still have. You people don't know what you are talking about. We pay white corporate farmers not to grow stuff, hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. And you're upset about some old black farmers? And now corporations are making sure most people work for free or they'll find some Chinese or Latino person to enslave. And you approve of that!

And the United States didn't even have a Holocaust, why would it pay reparations to Holocaust survivors; it happened in Germany under Hitler. The country can put Afghanistans & Pakistanis on the dole, but throws its own people on the street. What kind of sense does that make?

Who are you people?

Well said.

Blueburner....tell you what: Just get over it. If you want to cry all day long about atrocities from long ago, feel free. Personally, I dont care. And neither do most other folks. Go fly your flag and rally your people....at the end of the day, it wont mean a damn thing. Know why? Because nobody cares. We're all coming unhinged....globally speaking....and thats in the present. The past is the past. Do you see me posting on here about the various acts of criminality that I, or my family and friends, have endured at the hands of African-Americans while I was living in NY for 30 yrs? No, you dont. Why? Nobody cares. Get the point now? Please get past the race issue and focus on whats important. Namely, saving your a$$ with the upcoming strife we'll soon encounter. As one human to another, Good Luck to you and yours.

Wow, talk about Grand Theft. Stealing a house is pretty grand in my book.

What makes you think these atrocities no longer happen? You target African Americans who mugged you? Why not be mad at the white bankers who damaged the finances of millions and millions of people, put them out of work, and bribed your elected officials? Apparently we've found ways to "regulate" over 500,000 black people in NY using stop & frisk arbitrarily by policemen who post racist things about black people on Facebook, but can't find a way to stop the spirit of Madoff in the banks of this country.

People are their histories and it's because of African American history that this country was once a proud democracy, although perhaps Native Americans might have something to say about that. Do you say shut up to Jews who commemorate the holocaust every year? Do you say shut up to women who fight for income inequality? I don't care whether you want to hear these complaints. I have a right to discuss my history and my experiences as an American and I will.

Blue,

Your racism is apparent. You think it was only white bankers that caused the bank meltdown? I personally know of quite a few black mortgage brokers that did their part in that fiasco. I'm equally certain that black bankers played their part as well. You say people are their histories and are responsible for it? Does that mean that you personally are to blame for every atrocity your ancestors committed? Yeah, I didn't think so. So how do you explain that? Is it just the victim mindset your culture has taught you is your birthright? How about this? Let's try to judge each person we meet by the content of their character instead of the color of their skin. Those words sound familiar? I don't like the crimes some people commit any more than you do, and I think they should be prosecuted for them, just like you do. But the difference is that I don't think all black people are to blame for the dirtbags that choose to steal and kill, so why do you try to blame me just because my skin tone is similar to some of the people who helped run this country into the ground?

Ummm, Blueballs, errr, BlueBurner, if a black guy muggs me, he is breaking the law and all bets are off. I am DEFENDING myself. These people are black, but are taking a home that isn't theirs. This occupy movement is going too far and needs to be squashed quick!

Blueburner seems to live in some alternate universe, one where all white people are bad and all black people are good. That, by one person's definition is racism. As to malfeasance coming from black people in power, look no further than Franklin Raines. He stole millions from taxpayers when he was in charge of Freddie Mac and got a slap on the wrist. Oh, and Blueburner, actions like the ones taken by Raines affect all people adversely, not just white people or only black people. Feeling sorry for oneself often creates a need to find scapegoats.

Blue Burner,

JimP has a point that nothing was ever free. Yes, technically the land was free in the Homesteader act, but these were unsettled lands. It was dangerous and a lot of work, and the people paid with their sweat and labor and sometimes their lives. And before anybody thinks I think otherwise, slavery is bad. But it was more cheap than free. You did have to buy the slaves and feed and clothe them, although in most cases that was done to a bare sustenance level if that. And it was wrong. Not saying it wasn't.

If you want to ask about fairness and justice then why don't you ask why were people allowed to buy homes that they could not afford with escalator charges attached to them ? Which group of people benefited from the defrauding of the nation through financial malfeasance ? If you spend the time and think about the greater issues you will fully understand that the focusing on an isolated incident of a temporary takeover over a property is just another smokescreen to divert peoples attention away from the main issues.

If you want to ask about fairness and justice then why don't you ask why were people allowed to buy homes that they could not afford with escalator charges attached to them ? Which group of people benefited from the defrauding of the nation through financial malfeasance ?

Banks know how to run a credit check. The govt never forced any bank to make loans to people with bad credit. If you believe this lie, that this govt could actually force banks to do anything (when it's always the other way around), then you probably didn't attend college. If banks were just giving houses away, everybody in the country would have a house.

In addition, bad loans didn't cause this near depression. As the various attorneys general will tell you, the ones who've been investigating this malfeasance, is what caused this meltdown were risky financial investment practices of the banks who chopped up EVERYBODY'S mortgage and securitized them, bundled them up and sold them as A++++ MBS's when they knew they were crap because once they conned your pension fund into buying them, they shorted them.

You know, there's a lot of information--books, articles, even movies--about how this mess started. Try reading and reflecting instead of just repeating what Bill O'Reilly tells you. Start with 60 Minutes if you don't like to read. Here's a link too http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/153217/The_Absurd_Zombie_Lie_About_the_Economy_Right-Wingers_Desperately_Cling_To_--_And_Why_It%27s_Totally_Wrong/

I can see how easily people can be duped. No wonder Rush Limbaugh is so popular.

Wow, BlueBurner you give all Brown people of African descent a bad name. First and foremost NO President of the United States of America in the History of our great country EVER promised former persons/slaves of African descent 40 acres and a mule...PERIOD. Special Field Order#15 issued by General Sherman in 1865 and ONLY applied to specific areas on the islands of S.Carolina, abandoned rice fields and some part of Florida. This was revoked 4 months later BY a President. I am appalled as a Brown woman of African descent the lack of education among my fellow citizens. Please before you start spewing your racist requests of 'retrubution' please check your facts.

BlueBurner I understand that you may have lived a hard life by reading you comments(between your your hate). I have read and viewed documentaries regarding the South during Jim Crow. I am from the NorthEast born in the first half of the 70's and never in all my years experienced racism. I never had anyone tell me I could not sit or go anywhere. I have never been denied education, I had the ability to go to any school I wanted to and throughout my life I have never been in an all 'single race' situation. I have always been in 'melting pot' situations in school and work life. I do not feel that anyone in this world owes me anything, everything I have is because I bought it. My 401k was reduced by 34% because of the 'crash of '08-09. My pockets were directly compromised as a result, but instead of complaining and whining about it I became more proactive.

Blueburner - Affirmative Action mortages are at the root of the fiscal collaspe. Quasi-criminal "political activist" groups such as ACORN pressured the banks to suspend their normal vetting of mortgage applicants with threats of "discrimination" if they didn't loan money to a racial quota of blacks. HUD added to the pressure to make the bad loans (Andrew Cuomo was part of it). The bundling of the bad paper and selling it to the Europeans was the fault of the banks & Wall street, it's true. But they spread the problem, not create it. This entire issue began with Jimmy Carter's "Community Re-investment Act" and expanded by Bill Clinton.

Regarding slavery. A slave hardly provided "free labor". Housing and feeding a slave you may scoff at as minor expenses but in the days before supermarkets, when people had to work in the fields before dawn to dusk to survive, it was a huge benefit. Not PC to point it out but it was a godsend. Back in Africa people died in huge numbers as a result of not being able to feed themselves (and to this day). A white (liberal girl) embarked on making a documentary of ex-slave survivors (in the 1960's), all very elderly in a serious of interviews. I saw some of it. She abandoned the project when she didn't hear from the ex-slaves what she wanted to. Instead of PC cries of outrage they expressed gratitude for having been fed and taken care of - again, no small matter in the 1800's. "And then we were freed", an elderly black woman said. And her husband added "Free to starve!". Blueburner, your entire concept of those days is from the luxury of 20th and 21st century life. You simply don't seem to have a clue that it was another century where simple survival was a enormous strain and to be housed and fed was not a small matter. As for the arrival of freedom after the Civil War. As bad as it was for blacks every "back to Africa" movement failed. Blacks preferred to live in white America with all its issues than in black Africa. And that's still true to this day. In spades!

Monae75: I thank and applaud you.

Thank you@AmericanDefender9

Envy and Jealousy are painfully cold bed partners!

Well, they certainly seem very pleased with themselves.

Theft is, and judging from a house's monetary value, a considerable one.

A family that's been homeless for TEN years, with two kids born homeless. Neither adult has a job to pay the bills or feed and clothe those children. This is a slap in the face to every American that works for their home and to feed their children. This is WRONG.

That's what I'm saying. TEN YEARS? They couldn't get their you know what together in TEN YEARS? I went through a rough time in my life but I got it together. Again, TEN YEARS?!?? What are they doing? Staying in the most expensive city in America taking handouts that's what they're doing.

BINGO Gilbert 54!

Yep. They could have enlisted or figured out something. I guess working fast food is beneath them.

This is what happens when you have benefits that allow people to get by..they will continue to just get by.

It's amazing to me how judgmental every one is. First of all, the longer you stay homeless, the harder it is to reverse it. Secondly, the banks started this whole mess by fraud and theft. They gave mortgages to people who couldn't qualify and they knew it. Sure, maybe those people should have known better, but what about the guy living NEXT to those people who needed to sell his house he WAS paying on promptly to change job locations or divorce or anything else and couldn't because he had to compete with a foreclosure house that was half the price. There are so many facets, so many different situations to this whole lengthy on going ordeal, it is impossible to start getting judgemental. Personally if I lived next to a vacant home I would rather see a homeless family live in it than no one. No one is actually DOING anything to stop this whole freaking mess or correct it in any way. It needs attention, with whatever kind of gimmicks need to be done to do it.

Gilbert54--trespassing may not be a felony, but burglary is. This group of people entered this property illegally, thus making this a burglary. It is fine and dandy to want to make a statement, but they are making it at the expense of this family. They will be the ones eventually arrested for burglary and whatevery additional charges can be thought of. Plus, all of the work they are putting into "fixing" up this house will only HELP the bank, not hurt them.

Did anyone complain this much when banks defrauded this country and threw people out of work? Has anyone complained about banks trying to get a settlement and a release from prosecution for their illegal acts?

It's pretty easy to stomp on a homeless family, but if you had any balls you'd be yelling about how the banks nearly threw this country into a depression.

Blueburner - the banks didn't "nearly" do anything. It was the government who FORCED them too. Are you familiar with a little something called the Community Reinvestment Act? Well, it's the legislation whereby the government forced banks to make loans to people who had no hope of repaying them. Get a friggin' clue.

Oh and by the way? The democrats are ALREADY screaming again that banks are "discriminating" because they have tightened up lending standards. Seriously.

"Did anyone complain this much when banks defrauded this country and threw people out of work?"

Catchy phrase Blue. Do continue to share; basis in reality does'nt matter, just let er rip. Its good comedy.

People like you, ellen, make me sick. You keep blaming the banks for the whole mess, how about asking people to have just a LITTLE personal responsibility? I used to be a loan officer. We sent out this little thing called a Good Faith Estimate that told them, in black and white, what that house would cost them. If they were too stupid to figure out that the monthly payment would be too high, then they shouldn't have been buying a house in the first place! I'm not wealthy, my family lives in a little 1928 crackerbox that hasn't been updated in half a century. Because it is WHAT WE CAN AFFORD, and we took the responsibility to buy within our means. This family is NO MORE DESERVING THAN ANY OTHER. We actually work for what we have, we don't just stand around moaning about how unfair life is and expect others to just hand us what we want.

This is going to start a massive movement of Grand Theft in this country. People are going to start busting into empty properties, taking anything they can lay their hands on in the name of "equality". Just wait till it happens to YOU.

It does not take long for an abandoned home to lose all value. I would rather have the property next to mine occupied. This is the future for the USA.

Catsclaw81

People like you, ellen, make me sick. You keep blaming the banks for the whole mess, how about asking people to have just a LITTLE personal responsibility? I used to be a loan officer. We sent out this little thing called a Good Faith Estimate that told them, in black and white, what that house would cost them. If they were too stupid to figure out that the monthly payment would be too high, then they shouldn't have been buying a house in the first place! I'm not wealthy, my family lives in a little 1928 crackerbox that hasn't been updated in half a century. Because it is WHAT WE CAN AFFORD, and we took the responsibility to buy within our means. This family is NO MORE DESERVING THAN ANY OTHER. We actually work for what we have, we don't just stand around moaning about how unfair life is and expect others to just hand us what we want.

This is going to start a massive movement of Grand Theft in this country. People are going to start busting into empty properties, taking anything they can lay their hands on in the name of "equality". Just wait till it happens to YOU.
Catsclaw81

lmao so then you should be arrested for knowingly lending people money. after seeing in black and white what they could affored it. and seeing they would not beable to make payments on houses after a year a few years because of your greedy bloon payments. you are the one who who need to be slaped around for a while

According to the information shared on 60 minutes on Sunday night, fraud was common practice at these mortgage companies like Countrywide. Investment companies made a lot of money selling risky Mortgage Backed Securities to institutions like pension funds, lying about their high quality, then shorting them. According to govt investigation, a small fraction of foreclosed homeowners lost homes because they couldn't afford them. Most, 75% lost homes because of criminal, fraudulent practices that banks have been desperate to get a release from through settlement. Only more and more attorneys general refuse to release these banks from prosecution. The banks want to pay up and get a release?--let them write down principals.

Many people who lost their homes did so because they got mortgages they knew they could not afford.

In one post Blueburner says everyone is "stomping on a homeless family". I notice in the photo the "wife" is on a cell phone. Strange I don't have a cell phone because I can't afford one. Do I get a free house?

You're damn right. This is just precedent for anyone to go out and "occupy" anything that isn't theirs that they would like to have. I feel like occupying a new, and a hell of a lot more expensive, car on my way home from work tonight. Infact, I think I'll take my boss's Mercedes S500. He won't care, nor will the police, if these people did it, why can't I? (bunch of sarcasm in there).

The police are there to uphold the law, not uphold it only when it will not create bad PR for the department. Anyone involved in this nonsense should be locked up for conspiracy, theft, trespassing, and any other thing the law can throw at them.

.

Well put Brosef!

The housing market will cleanses itself, just as it always has.

Gilbert... so what you want to do is make the government force the banks to sustain grossly overvalued home prices.

The housing market will cleanse itself just as it always has.That's a pile of Crap if I ever shoveled any.

You forget one thing.The housing market was never in as bad a mess is it now!Cleanse?Yeah right of course it'll cleanse itself, and I'll run for President!

Wow.... if only the the U.S Government felt the way everyone seems to feel when they "occupied" land from Native Americans an Hawaiians! The Occupy people are making a point, those houses are vacant because of greed. Nobody knows why the family is homeless we give better shelter to animals than we do people!

They are trying to force the government into making the housing market more equitable. Isn't that what got us into this mess in the first place? These occumorons should take a look at history before trying to force the government to do MORE in the housing market. We do not have the inalienable right to own a home. We do have the right to pursue our dreams and put in the hard work it requires to see those dreams fulfilled.

Gloria you truly have no interest in history. The housing market was far worse during the depression than it is today. The only thing that held it in place was the fact that far more actually owned their homes. If the banking industry collapses, as it did here, the housing market takes the hit.

L O Ki Jo - it always amuses me when I read silly comments like yours - because everyone who posts crap like that actually thinks they are some kind of intellectual genius that is just so much smarter than everyone else.

Just how far back do you want to go? There were NO "natives" anywhere in the U.S. They ALL immigrated from somewhere else. But for those of us who live here in the present, it is 2011, the U.S. is a sovereign nation with laws, and people aren't supposed to be allowed to help themselves to other people's property. Not without getting arrested - or shot.

Gilbert and Gloria you couldn't be more wrong. Government intervention causes housing prices to stagnate or remain artificially high. When prices drop enough people will start buying them because they become bargains. As people buy houses and live in them and make improvements the value goes up and that spreads through the neighbor hood. Your liberal way of thinking is nothing short of delusional. Sorry.

The banks made risky investments that failed and they should have been allowed to as well. I know If I invested my money into something I knew would never pan out, no one would have handed me money to recoup....

Yeah, but indigents breaking into and squatting homes does so much for values in the neighborhood too... Without power and heat, and running water, how long before the house is completely trashed, and who's going to pay for those repairs? Oh, which BTW will lower values even more.

L O Ki Joe, those homes are not vacant because of greed, unless you mean greed on the homebuyer who wanted more than he could afford, then it was taken away because he DIDN'T PAY FOR IT. That's not greed on the banks part, WTF are you talking about?

And the greed of banks, handing out subprime mortgages like candy without doing the necessary checks that are required by law. Now I agree that we should all try to live within our means, but the banks that are facilitating and even encouraging people not to are even more guilty because that is their job, they understand the repercussions.

I find it really hard to feel for the banks in this situation, I have no idea why that family is homeless and maybe the parents are at fault but at least the children now have shelter.

plb - It was the GOVERNMENT who FORCED banks to make those loans in the first place. Have a FRIGGIN CLUE!!! It's called the "Community Reinvestment Act."

And the best part is the democrats in congress are ALREADY screaming again about how bansk are "discriminating" against the poor because they have tightened up lending standards. The democrats' idiotic positions and their corruption knows no limits.

Hey Dave there weren't as many houses or people for that matter during the depression as they're are today.You forgot to factor in that little bit of information.

The more houses and people there are in this situation the Bigger the Problem.

soazDAn to each his own.

So, Ellen, you're okay with everyone that actually worked for their money losing it when the banks fail, right? Including, possibly, yourself? Banks run on the deposits placed there by PEOPLE. If the banks fail, those people lose their money. And you think that's okay? Did you ever study the Great Depression? Do you know why so many were suddenly thrown into poverty? Do you understand the limits of the FDIC? You have no clue how the banking system actually works, do you? If we destroy the banks, we destroy the hard work and sweat of millions of people who have placed their nest eggs in the banks.

As for the rest of you, the banks, by and large, DID check these people out. But because of a couple of government entities, namely Fannie and Freddie, insisting that they had to loosen standards to get more people into homes, OF COURSE mortgages got handed out to people that couldn't afford them. That doesn't put all the responsibility on the bank. The buyers should have known what they could or could not afford. They WERE given paperwork in the beginning outlining the terms of the line, I can guarantee it. I spent hours stuffing the dang packets myself, I KNOW what is in them!

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY! If you don't have it, don't go bawling for the rest of us to bail you out!

Grilled Cheese,

Please go back to high school and learn proper grammar. You want to insult people, yet you can't even proofread your own writing. I'm a fan of the Great Society, but not a fan of free housing. In order for the country to prosper, it requires work, but also equality. How is it fair for Chase to borrow 33 times its wealth or for Goldman to sell write-off CDOs at an AAA rating with no consequence? That's insane and it needs to be stopped. People like Grilled Cheese prefer to vote against their economic interest, your apart of a reverse French Revolution. It's unbelievable.

Catsclaw,

How is it the homeowner's fault that Citi Bank took their loan and mixed it with other loans to create CDOs? How is it the people's fault that banks were running an unregulated derivative market? How is it everyone's fault that the banks borrowed more than they could spend? How is the people's fault that AIG gave out insurance policies that they knew they couldn't pay if they crashed? Economists knew the Reagan deregulated system was going to fail and the banks, with the help of Federal Reserve, watched it burn to the ground.

KC - "your apart of a reverse French Revolution"

it's "you're" not "your" and it's "a part" not "apart."

You silly wabbit.

CRA might or might not have encouraged predatory lending. I've heard that argument before and it seems plausible. I did a little research and found this, which seems to contradict that view:

Legal and financial experts have noted that CRA regulated loans tend to be safe and profitable, and that subprime excesses came mainly from institutions not regulated by the CRA. In the February 2008 House hearing, law professor Michael S. Barr, a Treasury Department official under President Clinton, stated that a Federal Reserve survey showed that affected institutions considered CRA loans profitable and not overly risky.

Either way, there are obviously multiple parties at fault for the subprime mortgage crisis. The banks, the government, and yes to some extent even the unsavy consumers.

Gilbert - That kind of legislation is EXACTLY what caused this crisis in the first place.

KC, the market has nothing to do with the type of loan you get. You choose that up front. I told ALL of my borrowers whether their loan was fixed or ARM, the ARMs had a limit on how much they could go up, and I made DANG sure that they knew how high that loan could jump. I would have been fired if I hadn't. People who overbought their homes did NOT pay attention to their paperwork. The bank can't foreclose on someone because the bank is in trouble. They can only foreclose when the BUYER isn't doing their job.

ACORN and HUD were big time players in the subprime mortgage schenanigans, ACORN managed to get itself allowed into banking meetings to insure that the banks were making loans to minorities, even if said minorities couldn't afford the house they were borrowing on.

Once upon a time you had to have a 20% downpayment before you could get a loan. That was responsible lending, people who put together the money for that down payment appreciated that house. Then you had the house that didn't cost nothing and if you didn't make the payments...well, Uncle Sugar would cover for your irresponsibility and you walked away, leaving the bank and the government to cover your butt.

Then you had the banksters and Volker and Paulson and Greenspan et al, those little deregulators who allowed banks to become investors as well as lenders. That is what allowed the house of cards to collapse, along with a host of other irresponsible practices like inflating the value of a house ten times it's real value. All parties are guilty and unless some serious changes are made, changes in morals, values, and returning to those outmoded concepts of integrity and honesty for all people, this current debacle will only get worse.

Gloria you are right that fewer people lived in the US at the time. The problem is that only makes your statement worthless. What you are creating is an apples and oranges situation. So all you can do is to compare today to today.

Hey dave my statement worthless?Show the me the Facts Dave.I bet you can't because this country as it stands NOW has never been so close to the edge economically.Remember dave I said Now.

Catsclaw,

Your avoiding the subject, the subject is not about the TYPE of loan people received. You blamed the financial crisis on people ("PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY") and I told you to tell me how:

Is it the homeowner's fault that Citi Bank took their loans and mixed it with other loans to create CDOs?

In addition, why where companies like Goldman allowed to sell write offs CDOs as AAA rated CDOs?

Is it the people's fault that banks were running an unregulated derivative market?

Is it everyone's fault that the banks borrowed more than they could spend (ie 33 times their wealth)?

In addition, why didn't banks recognize that burrowing 33 times would cause financial collapse like in Iceland?

Is the people's fault that AIG gave out insurance policies that they knew they couldn't pay if they crashed?

In addition, why didn't AIG inform the federal government that investors were insuraning AAA CDOs that were actually write offs?

You argue that "doesn't put all the responsibility on the bank", when in fact it most certianly does. Now come back with answers (since your a 'loan man') or ignore my statement, no more red herring.

grilledcheesesandwich

Just how far back do you want to go? There were NO "natives" anywhere in the U.S. They ALL immigrated from somewhere else. But for those of us who live here in the present, it is 2011, the U.S. is a sovereign nation with laws, and people aren't supposed to be allowed to help themselves to other people's property. Not without getting arrested - or shot.

Spot on!

This does not seem to me to be progressive democrats at work here. While much of went on in those mass sit ins might have a progressive democrat theme this action has much more of communist revolution feel. This is class warfare at the worst. Hate the banks all you want but this can be aimed those who pay their bills as much as those in the upper incomes. Why should I pay my mortgage if someone is just going to come out and give me one. Are you telling me that I am a fool to do so.

We obviously need more regulations.. the problem started with the removal of regulations in the first place. It is quite obvious that banks are not able to be ethical in their workings, therefore they need more regulations. It is sad that it would need to go that far but until banks grow up and learn how do things fairly and ethically the government is going to have to step in with regulations to fix things.

sac1-1 you have no idea what you are talking about This started BECAUSE of regulation. Ever hear of a little something called the "Community Reinvestment Act"? Well, it's the legislation that basically forced banks to give loans to people who had no hope of repaying them. Get a clue.

by god man what regs have been taken away????? these people broke into a house and are not trespassing the child protection services should be in there taking these kids away no job or place to live when they were in the shelter then have two kids while living in shelter... are these people stupid or am i for paying my morgage????

Liberals will be forever fighting for equality (unless of course it involves taking their stuff away and giving it to someone "less equal"), and conservatives will be forever fighting for Justice.

There is a difference people, and your worldview (equality or justice) taints all your opinions. Funny how even this story reveals that those who fight for equality, don't really believe in it, fully.

Hard working? The family that moved into that foreclosed home has been at a homeless shelter for over a decade, and decided to breed twice while residing there. They're scum on the bottom of society's boot.

Mattpfl- Every couple I know personally (from several different walks of life, backgrounds, occupations, and income brackets) ALL lost their houses because they 1) mismanaged their money 2) spent more than they made and/or 3) bought more house than they could afford. Not everyone is a sad surprise cancer story foreclosure. One couple bought a house at the very tippy top of their income bracket, then the wife demanded to have a BMW, then they got pregnant. Another got a house at the top of their income bracket and then new furniture, new car, new tv, new decor, etc and couldnt pay the bills. Another spent their closets and bellies into the poor house. Not all foreclosures are the fault of the "greedy evil banks". A lot are the fault of the stupid overspending buyers.

So if people struggle for an extended period of time, then people like Ruken in society can just decide if they live or die? This is a systemic problem that requires a systemic solution that addressed the onset of the situation before it leads to homelessness. A society that throws their most vulnerable citizens to the curb, is a greedy and hateful society despite what they claim. Yes there are shelters out there that help, but they don't have capacity for all those in need. We don't need more shelters. We need real solutions to the problems the poor face in this country.

So then, let me get this straight, the banks are forced by rule of law to provide mortgages to people who cannot afford to make the payments and suddenly they are greedy and evil because they have to take steps to protect themselves? Does this mean that officially No means Yes? Why don't the occumorons go occupy Barney Franks office? He did more foster the environment that led to the Housing market collapse than anyone.

Well Well Well here we have the some people in the group jumping all over Mattpfl.Really?

For you people saying that people who can't afford to pay their mortgages should be swept out into the street.Is that it?

A lot of these forclosures going on today were not because many many of these people took mortgages out they couldn't pay,no no.

A lot t of these people were working and took a mortgage out that they could afford.Then guess what happened?

THEY LOST THEIR JOBS.So that means now they're bums and they should be thrown out of their houses is that it?

Get a freaken clue people.People who were paying their mortgages and lost their jobs should be able to STAY IN THEIR HOMES by making some kind of arrangements for HARDSHIP!You people kn ow what that word is don't you?If you don't look it up!

You people really want to know why these Greasy Slimmy Filthy Dirty Greedy Banks want to forclose and not work with these people?THERE'S A LOT OF MONEY IN FORECLOSURES PEOPLE,A LOT OF MONEY!THAT SPELLS GREED!

People who were paying their mortgages and lost their jobs should be able to STAY IN THEIR HOMES by making some kind of arrangements for HARDSHIP!

Maybe I missed it, but I don't see anywhere in this story where it says this family owned this house and then lost it due to harship. But then again, it's typical for newsstories on this site to be void of any substantial facts.

@Top_Pot: You want a solution to the poor? Here's one: stay in school. These people were screwing in a homeless shelter instead of going to class.

But by all means just blame others for their 'misfortune'.

That, my friend, is the question.

The rightful owners are going to have to spend a fortune in legal fees plus a lot of time and hassle to get these people out of a house they should never have been allowed to enter in the first place. And no telling what kind of damage they will do while they are in there. They will probably strip out all the copper before they get kicked out and take anything that they can. I'm sorry some people are homeless, but taking things that don't belong to them doesn't make it right - it just makes them homeless thieves. And hearing stories like this make me LESS sympathatic to their cause...

Actually you can, its called adverse possession. The intention of the law is to put land and property to the best use, its a utilitarian principle.

I wonder if the utilities are even on.

So Ruken, we should occupy NY Edison and National Grid and force them to turn them on too, Those greedy utilities deserve it, right?

Clearly that would be the next logical step. Those greedy bastards.

There better be cable TV also, and I want at least a couple premium channels.

Exactly, and if OWS was really walking the talk, wouldn't they have helped the people who DID own the home and lost it, versus seizing it to give it away to someone else????????

THANK YOU. Everyone forgets Barney Frank and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac making banks lend to everyone and give them all the American Dream whether they can afford it or not.

Yes, Thank you, Shane! I forgot about the dang speculators. The housing bubble was not caused by the banks, it was caused by people who have no brains buying something they could not afford! And of course, now, everyone is ticked off at the banks because they refuse to lend to ANYONE.

Please don't leave out Senator Christopher Dodd from the great state of Connecticut ... he was involved with Barney Frank every step of the way.

They've been homeless for TEN YEARS and had 2 kids in the shelters. You don't think they could have gotten their act together then???

If you think there's too much squandering, why don't you give all your possessions to the less fortunate? There are people less fortunate than you. Give all your hard earned possessions away to them. Don't be a hypocrite.

@impatient girl you have no idea who I am, and you're going to call me a hypocrite? I rest my case.

The rich are being accused of stealing, but these are false accusations. The rich have not stolen wealth to create the current circumstance, in fact, the rich have lost more wealth than anybody else. Trillions in assets have disappeared forever -- as the assets have revalued. The accusation has been made that the banks are stealing peoples homes, but they are merely taking control of assets that they own, and are not being paid for by the occupants. When property ownership is no longer protected by law, nobody will be willing to develop new properties -- what would be the point?

"...that we’re fighting for equal housing rights," LMFAO

I must have missed that part in the constitution about 'equal housing rights' or job rights or wage rights. hmm, isnt that called: Socialism. This is ridiculous and anyone who is homeless with no job, but can manage to have 2 kids is a POS, lazy idiot. They should take their kids for neglect.

This is just sickening. Can't wait to see who's gona give me their bleeding heart argument. We make choices and we are responsible for suffering the consequences even when they are not our doing, i.e a car accident. You chose to drive w the knowledge that other ppl, beyond yr control, could hit you and destroy yr car. it aint no different w housing or any investment. NO PITY here, I work for a living and dont look to our F'd up corrupt gov't to help me.

These squatters deserve to be homeless with their attitudes.

What part of homeless for TEN years did you not understand? Having two children while homeless is beyond irresponsible! So, now they get a free home, no jobs to pay the bills or feed those two children they had while homeless. Nobody stays homeless for TEN YEARS by misfortune, only sheer laziness. Are YOU going to given them money to pay the bills and feed those children while they sit on their behinds like they have for the last TEN years? This is WRONG and slap in the fact to every American that actually works to have a home and feed their children!

You clearly own a computer, or perhaps an iPhone, don't you Top Pot? Those can be sold to pay for a months' food for a family, so I expect that to be your last post before hauling this (these) items to the pawn shop, right? Oh wait, are you using a computer at a college? Do go next symester, 20k will go a LONG way to help families, you hypocrit.

I live in Texas where the Katrina "refugees" came. They destroyed the hotels FEMA relocated them to. Crime went through the roof. Top_Pot your view is so simplistic. Try walking around New Orleans some time. Even before Katrina you put your life at risk to be out after dark in most of the city. There has been a complete break down of civilized values. You can place the blame at LBJ's footsteps with the Great Society. We rewarded irresponsible behavior. In the 1950's the majority of Black families had two parents. There was not a huge disparity in illegitimate birthrates between races. Now more than 70% of African American children are born to single mothers. Two parent families, delaying childbirth till after age 21, and graduating from high school will pretty much guarantee one does not fall below the poverty level. Your view of this country being inhumane and ruled by greed is typical of the left. Marxism is so much kinder, that's why the Chinese are so abhorrent to capitalism. Their standard of living has skyrocketed under the embracing of a quasi-free market. Imagine if they eliminated their authoritarian regime and truly embraced personal liberty.

I also believe America is one of the most compassionate and giving countries on the face of the Earth. Let's total up the amount of humanitarian aid given by private citizens in America versus the rest of the world. How much does Europe, or China, or Russia pony up to countries such as Haiti during a disaster. What's amazing is the level of charitable by limousine liberals.

OWS doesn't get it. We need a return to a smaller government that allows individuals to succeed. Our Federal government engages in theft on a massive scale. Remove earmarks, implement term limits, prohibit legislators from being lobbyist, prohibit insider trader by politicians, implement tort reform, and move to a flat tax with a moderate level of income (say your first $30000) excluded from taxation. You do realize that we have one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world so who is stealing from who.

My guess is you don't own a business and have never had to make payroll and generate a profit. Our major problem is in DC not on Wall Street.

Bravo Shane! Couldn't have said it better myself.

Shane for President! That was freakin' awesome!

@ Gary: the wealthy have not lost more proportionately than everyone else. Revaluation of currencies or overinflated/stated assets is not the same thing as loss of actual value. In real value terms, I think the wealthy have accumulated more, and the rest of the population has been left with less. Less in terms of real property, durable goods, services, access to natural resources, and all the other things that add up to standard of living.

You will make me feel much more optimistic about the future if you can prove me wrong.

"The blacks were considered stealing food and looting while the whites were merely scavenging for food to survive."-TopPot

When you are taking a can of beans or loaf of bread without paying, you can be considered to be 'scavenging for food to survive' but when you are taking shoes, battery powered children's toys and big screen televisions, that comes under the heading of 'looting' in my book....Anyone else remember the television coverage where a female Police officer and friend were loading up a shopping cart with shoes and threatened to arrest the reporter for asking what she was doing?...Anyone else remember people walking out of stores with television sets?.....

I don't care what race you are, surviving doesn't include 52" or pumps.....

I'm not complaining that I had to pay for mine; I'm proud that I worked for 30 years and saved enough money to buy it. It's called responsibility. These two people were in a homeless shelter for 10 YEARS, and during that time, did they finish high school or go to college or get some kind of training that would enable them to find jobs? NO ... they had 3 children. Who would want to live like that? Doesn't anyone have any pride left? I'd be embarrassed to shame the parents who raised me with morals and a work ethic and all the people in my family who have always worked for a living.