Thousands of Americans are defying eviction notices and exercising civil disobedience.
BY DAVID ROSENFELD
Horatio Bernard came to the United States from Liberia in 1982 and followed the story of American promise. He went to school for civil engineering, worked hard to support his family and sent his kids to college. His most recent experiences now mirror the American tragedy.
Like millions of others, he took out a subprime mortgage and then lost his home to foreclosure. The bank, he said, refused to reasonably modify his loan despite a federal bailout. And so now, like a growing number of Americans, Horatio Bernard isn’t going anywhere.
“I don’t understand,” Bernard said. “The house will be sitting here for six months or a year. For what? I’m willing to pay for the house. Just adjust the rate. Why can’t they do that? And they got bailed out.”
For the past four months he’s been living — legally speaking — as a squatter in his own home. He doesn’t technically own it anymore, but the keys still unlock the deadbolt and he still pays the utilities. He doesn’t know when, but any day now sheriff’s deputies might arrive to escort him and his ailing mother from the premises.
There’s a lot about Bernard’s story, and the housing crisis in general, that defies logic. Why would the bank rather evict him and take a substantial loss than draw down the principal of the loan? Answers don’t come easy.
