Moratorium Fridays 4-6pm Ramona, CA. Weekly Protests Against BoA's Illegal Foreclosures

Published 02/09/2011 - 11:10 a.m. PST

Ramona Forum announced Monday that it will begin weekly demonstrations in front of Ramona’s Bank of America on Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m, demanding that the bank stop foreclosing on people’s homes.

The goal is to get the Bank of America to set a new standard for all Ramona banks, said Dave Patterson, forum president.

In a guest commentary on page 6 of this issue of the Ramona Sentinel, Patterson encourages others to join the demonstrations.

“We want the Bank of America to publicly announce a commitment to stop foreclosures on homes in Ramona, and we want them to follow through on that commitment,” Patterson said in a news release. “When Bank of America makes the commitment to stop foreclosing, we will move our demonstrations to Chase bank and demand the same.”

Since 2007 approximately 360 families in Ramona have lost their homes to foreclosure with 140 more currently pending, said Patterson. Projections for 2011 are worse.

“We can no longer justify the high rate of foreclosure with negative assumptions about those being evicted,” Ron Selkovitch, a founding member of the forum, stated in the release. “What we are seeing now is the loss of homes of families that worked hard all their lives and played by the rules.”

“We do not need any more of our good residents made homeless when alternatives are available through honest negotiation,” A. Duttahmed, a founding member of the forum, said in the release. “We are asking the banks to step up to a shared responsibility in our community, and stop foreclosing in Ramona, when profitable alternatives are available.”