Occupy protesters focus on foreclosure

SOUTHGATE, Mich., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- Occupy Detroit demonstrators rallied Tuesday to protest the eviction of a couple from a metropolitan Detroit home.

The Occupy Detroit protesters were among about 20 people who protested Fannie Mae's scheduled Jan. 2 eviction of auto mechanic Rob Henry and his wife, Debbie, from the Southgate home in which they have lived they since 2004, The Detroit News reported.

The couple said Bank of America had not told them their mortgage was sold to Fannie Mae and they now owe $170,000 but the News said the house was valued at a much lower price. The couple has struggled to pay the mortgage since Debbie Henry stopped working after suffering a stroke in 2008.

The Henrys turned to Occupy Our Homes, a nationwide protest focusing on foreclosures whose members joined Occupy Detroit protesters, families and neighbors at the rally.

"This Occupy movement is the only thing that's going to get us through this," Debbie Henry said. "If we lose our home, we don't know what will happen."

The national Occupy movement designated Tuesday a "National Day of Action" against foreclosures.

Occupy Detroit protesters also were to rally at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Detroit home of a tenant who has received an eviction notice, the News said.

"Every hard-working American family deserves a place to call home out from under the threat of eviction and homelessness," said Shannon McEvilly, a spokeswoman for Occupy Our Homes and a member of Occupy Detroit.

Of the Henrys, McEvilly said: "They don't just want to stay in their home. They want to pay this mortgage. It's not just a matter of helping these families staying in their home. … This is a societal problem."