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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke earlier this week said the high number of homes in foreclosure and sitting empty across the US was a “significant barrier” to an economic recovery. Bernanke suggested Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need to assume losses on the homes to decrease supply. Bloomberg reports that home foreclosures are on the rise in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. East Coast states are seeing foreclosure rates increase with a 2 percent rise in New York and a 7.4 percent rise in New Jersey. Meanwhile in West Coast states hardest hit by the burst of the housing bubble, rates of foreclosures are slowing. Foreclosures dipped 10% in Nevada and 25% in California through November 30th of last year. Bloomberg reports the pace of foreclosures may reflect a difference in legal processing requirements with so-called judicial states seeing a slow-down while courts review foreclosure paperwork. However, the drop in numbers in California means little to the thousands of families who are evicted and face homelessness. Homeowners have been refusing to leave their property in increasing numbers and they have found support from activists of various grassroots organizations, including Occupy Wall Street protestors and, here in LA, a group that has dubbed itself Occupy the Hood. Activists are literally occupying foreclosed homes alongside the homeowner to stave off eviction. We interviewed one Occupy protester, Ryan Rice yesterday at an action to save the home of Bertha Herrera in Van Nuys. Herrera, a social service worker on disability, community volunteer, and grandmother, was evicted literally minutes after our interview with Rice. Uprising contributor Lydia Breen was there and she reports that LA County Sheriffs broke into the home at about 8:45 am yesterday. A locksmith and representative from Coldwell Bank accompanied the police. About 15 occupiers and Herrera were escorted out of the home by the sheriffs, who put three protestors in handcuffs but released them outside the home. Herrera thanked the protestors or their efforts saying, “God is looking at the cries of the people and he has sent a Moses to rescue us.. I believe that you guys are part of that rescue.”

Lydia Breen with the Trailer Trash Project filed this exclusive report for Uprising.

Visit www.trailertrashproject.com for more information.