Press Release Headlines

Occupy Your Living Room…or Car? Protest via Foreclosure or Homeless Shelter

Oppenheim Law highlights the 60 Minutes piece about a new generation of Florida families who are out on the street, many as a result of foreclosure; Foreclosure Defense Attorney Roy Oppenheim questions the role Wall Street played in moving the staggering 16 million homeless from living on Main Street to living in cars and shelters

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Dec. 1, 2011 — The social stigma of foreclosure has vanished, it is now a silent protest, reports Oppenheim Law; in today's world, Florida foreclosure to some people can mean Occupy "The Street" versus Occupy Wall Street. This week's 60 Minutes segment, "Hard Times Generation: Families Living in Cars," Scott Pelley shared a shocking fact about the Florida housing market: of all the families without shelter in the United States, one-third are in Florida. And two-thirds of Florida homeless families live on the street.

Social Stigma of Foreclosure Has Vanished

When Florida homeowners decide to strategically default on a mortgage, or don't have the ability to continue paying, there is no longer an embarrassment or moral issue. As one of the children interviewed by 60 Minutes put so eloquently, "it's not embarrassing, it's just life."

Some underwater homeowners are supporting the Occupy Wall Street movement from the comfort of their own living room. Other financially fractured families are living out of the back seats of their cars by night and blending into the real world by day.

While the Occupy Wall Street movement is a choice for some to abandon their homes and camp out in protest, the choice is taken from victims of fraudclosure. As Florida real estate attorney Roy Oppenheim stated, "in some cases we save people from being homeless by defending their homes through the foreclosure process … the flip side is that there are many families who did not seek legal advice and were handed walking papers by the banksters, who illegally foreclosed on and forced them onto the street.'"

The Occupy Wall Street movement continues to resonate with both Main Street, homeowners that are underwater or in foreclosure, and the new generation of families who are living in their cars.

"It's a revolution born by the systemic arrogance of the banking and Wall Street community that pushed our economy off a cliff, onto the street and now continues to hold the whole country at bay with some left living in cars," said Oppenheim.

Oppenheim states that the bailouts of the past few years, that only benefited a small fraction of society, have galvanized the mutual sentiments of the original Tea Partiers and the Occupiers into acknowledging that crony capitalism is not what our founders had in mind and further enlarging a movement that includes not only Occupy Wall Street but Occupy Your Living Room and Occupy Your Car.

Contact:
Lisa Buyer
Oppenheim Law
2500 Weston Road, Suite 404
Weston, FL 33331
Phone: (954) 384-6114

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