Putting his own bailout plan into action
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Here’s an alternative to letting homes sit empty. From the Associated Press story ‘Homeless advocates ‘liberate’ foreclosed houses’:
Max Rameau delivers his sales pitch like a pro. ‘All tile floor!’ he says during a recent showing. ‘And the living room, wow! It has great blinds.’ But in nearly every other respect, he is unlike any real estate agent you’ve ever met. He is unshaven, drives a beat-up car and wears grungy cut-off sweat pants. He also breaks into the homes he shows. And his clients don’t have a dime for a down payment. Rameau is an activist who has been executing a bailout plan of his own around Miami’s empty streets: He is helping homeless people illegally move into foreclosed homes. ‘We’re matching homeless people with people-less homes,’ he said with a grin. Rameau and a group of like-minded advocates formed Take Back the Land, which also helps the new ‘tenants’ with secondhand furniture, cleaning supplies and yard upkeep. So far, he has moved six families into foreclosed homes and has nine on a waiting list.
Any organized ‘squatting’ happening here in Southern California?
-- Lauren Beale
Thoughts? Comments?
