Foreclosure Hazards At Oakland - I

April 11th, 2008

Oakland duplex residents have faced many a hazards including their water-supply bill remaining unpaid by the lender, so that they could be evicted out with ease. Real estate activists say that these kinds of tactics are pretty much on the rise as more and more properties remain on the brink of being foreclosed. The lenders had stopped paying the water supply altogether at Ida Hancox’s duplex pre-Christmas when the housewife was busy preparing dinner.

Only a few residents around Hancox can deny that the tenant was the major sufferer in this situation. This new way of dealing with rising foreclosure issues cannot be ruled out. Payments of utilities such as the payment of water-supply bills are included in the rent, and they should be up to date by all means. These costs were not meted even half-way through with the recent economic circumstances, and remain the responsibility of the landowner alone. Nevertheless, there are many times when the landowner had moved out of the town all together to escape payment of mortgage!

As more and more properties get foreclosed, Handcox and her neighbour Kim Isaac-Ray who is also a mother of an eight year old, have reported to the Bay Area utility community that they considered the lender was behind all this. This was indeed a ploy to get rid of the tenants and a way to decrease the utility bill with the water getting turned off. This process of eviction has now become a local disturbance but still it continues to pose problems nonetheless.

Local activists have decided upon the common idea that even low-income renters have the right to continue to stay at their residence without facing daily harassment of any sort. Legal advocates however continue to see this as a rising issue, as more and more atrocities of this kind continue to be the everyday challenge of many dwellers in the area.

Oakland continues to be the frontal playground for these inhumane practices among all the other major Californian cities. The others have at least managed to incur some sort of protection for the residents but not Oakland! In case of the rising number of foreclosures in Oakland, continues to be the victim along with its citizens. It is quite a vicious circle of unfortunate situations following one after the other in case of Oakland and the financial security of its citizens. Only time will tell if the situation can be brought under control.