A New Way Forward

[Lynnette Allen]

I am so inspired by A New Way Forward and the video on their site, -"It's Time To Break Up The Banks". Great interviews, after the excellent initial presentation.
I so appreciate Dianne Foster's organizing the streetcorner forum at the Federal building here in Bellingham June 10th at 4PM. I'm helping to get the word out about it.
I hope we follow up on what Spokane did, writing up a community bill of rights and working to get it passed here in Bellingham. I believe We The People can empower ourselves now through this movement. Finally - a way to get to the crux of the matter!

[Lynnette Allen]

Hi Heather, thanks for asking. Here is the link to A New Way Forward site:
http://anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/
Here is the link to Envisioning a Sustainable Spokane: A Community Bill of Rights - official site
:http://www.envisionspokane.org/billofrights_official.html - I love it!

[Heather K]

Hi Lynnette! Can you provide a link to the video you mentioned?
Can you post a link to Spokane's bill of rights you mentioned?
Thanks!

[Keith Foecke]

I plan to move my bank account and mortgage out of the big banks and into a local credit union. The second thing that I want to do, and advise everyone else to do, is to pay off my mortgage as fast as possible and to get out of debt.

If your lease or mortgage requires you to have a full-time job in order to afford it, find a way to change your living situation to one that you can keep even when there is no more work. If you can cash out your equity and buy a place that is smaller, but that you can own free and clear, do so.

http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/Archives2008/OrlovPartOne.html

The elephant in the room is that we may build a sustainable and healthy comunity that can withstand peak oil and global warming, but if we lose our shelter (because of job loss or any of the reasons that a failing economy offers us), we will be homeless!!

even renters are not immune:

20 days after the Trustee's sale, the subsequent purchaser has standing to ask the local Superior Court to evict you. They have to file and serve a summons for unlawful detainer, complaint, motion for order to show cause, and an order to show cause requiring you to appear and show cause why a writ should not be issued. The writ is the document that empowers the sheriff (NOT the purchaser) to evict you. The order to show cause is your opportunity to explain why you should not have to leave. You will lose this argument so don't raise it. Your options are more manageable if you move out and then sue your landlord. What you cannot do is stay in the property after a writ has been sent to the sheriff for enforcement expecting that the sheriff will not evict you. They will. Maybe not immediately, but they will.

http://www.avvo.com/legal-guides/ugc/renters-rights-to-foreclosed--properties-in-washington-state

To have a fiscally healthy community, we need fiscally healthy citizens.

Don't let the big banks own your future.