Coalition protests foreclosures

NORWALK - About 20 members of a coalition of social action groups concerned with the ongoing foreclosure crisis in California protested Tuesday at Norwalk Superior Courthouse.

The groups, under the auspices of Stop Foreclosures and Evictions - California, rallied with signs and whistles for about an hour across from the regular foreclosure auction conducted in front of the courthouse.

Scott Scheffer, an organizer with the Bail Out the People Movement, said his group is part of a national movement formed to combat "the huge foreclosure crisis that shows no signs of abating."

The foreclosure auctions are held on the courthouse steps at Norwalk as well as other sites in Los Angeles. On Tuesday, about 50 people attended the auction.

The protesters said they are urging Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency and to impose a two-year moratorium on foreclosures, reduce principal on mortgages and make lenders reduce payments of unemployed homeowners.

Organizers say the requests are not unheard of and similar measures were enacted during the Great Depression to stop people from losing their homes.

"It's a life and death issue," said organizer John Parker. "Children are being thrown out on the streets."

Scheffer said while some banks continue to receive bailouts from taxpayers, "we're witnessing the impoverishment of the people."

According to the Los Angeles Times, at the end of the fourth quarter of

2010, although fewer people were falling behind in mortgages, foreclosures remained at record levels. For the quarter, 4.48 percent of all homes in California were in foreclosure.

The protest groups say they have picketed the Norwalk auctions in the past and next plan to protest individual banks that refuse to negotiate with homeowners and are threatening to foreclose.