Occupy Atlanta Departing Rorey Family Home

They were taking a stand, and vowed not to leave.

But, now Occupy Atlanta, Occupy Gwinnett and any other "occupiers" besides the Rorey family, are on the outskirts of .

The reason: A "new threat" affecting the Rorey family's situation. Tawanna Rorey and her husband have lived in the home since 2003. She is a full-time homemaker, and he is an officer with DeKalb County, having worked there for more than a decade.

At a recent Occupy Atlanta meeting, there was mention of some consternation afloat. And, then late Wednesday evening, the group issued the following press statement.

"The dynamics of Occupy Atlanta’s campaign to stop foreclosures and evictions changed dramatically tonight because of a new threat facing the Rorey family.

"This threat has compelled us to pack up our occupation at the Rorey home and move, alongside Occupy Gwinnett, into the neighborhoods of Snellville and surrounding areas.

"Occupy Atlanta is again shown the relevance of its fight against a system that does not work for working class families like the Roreys."

Occupy Atlanta has called a 10 a.m. press conference to discuss their reasons for leaving the family's home, and their next steps. It will be at the Gwinnett County Courthouse in Lawrenceville.

The Days Before

Before deciding to pull out, Occupy Atlanta and offshoot Occupy Gwinnett called a press conference Monday and Tuesday, meeting again on Wednesday, to discuss tactics for helping the family keep it's home. The Roreys are facing foreclosure and eviction.

A symposium on banks and foreclosure proceedings was also planned at the Rorey family home. In addition, the group canvassed the neighborhood to spread their message. They were making dozens of calls to Judge Karen Beyer, the judge who scheduled the Roreys' eviction.

Every moment became a moment to take action.

“Anybody up for a call to Judge Beyers?” one asked, during a recent meeting at the Snellville home.

“Do we say there was an error in her judgment?” another asked.

“Tell them, 'I've found some serious concerns with the case, and I think Judge Beyer should reverse her decision until the lawsuit is settled,'” Franzen called out. 

In helping the Roreys, Occupy Atlanta also was busy contacting local nonprofits to learn best practices for helping families keep their homes. Organizers also batted about ideas of a moratorium on Fannie Mae foreclosures, much like the ban put on Bank of America a few years ago.

Tawanna Rorey, a 38-year-old mother of three, believes banks should take foreclosure proceedings on a case-by-case basis. 

“I think they need to sit down and look at all of the facts,” she said. “There are tons of reasons why this happens. Breadwinners of the family get sick, or people lose their jobs. If they look at the history and see they haven't made a payment recently, maybe they would decide to work with them.” 

Although not all the details of the Roreys' case have been made public, the Occupy Atlanta movement wants their case to be a symbol of the foreclosure problem across Gwinnett County, and Atlanta.

On the Roreys' street alone, six homes of 24 are in foreclosure proceedings, said Occupy Atlanta organizer Tim Franzen.

“Who deserves a bail-out more? The banks or the people?” Franzen asked. “We bailed them out and thousands of people still lost their jobs. They turned around and paid their CEOs unprecedented amounts. They have had historic profits at the expense of millions Americans."

Georgia remains in the top ten of states' foreclosure rates, according to a November 10 report by market researcher RealtyTrac. Nationwide, there was an increase of 7 percent in October over the previous month in foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

How This Happened

While the Roreys await the fate of their family, and their home, the story of how they got to this point is still garnering attention.

A year ago, the Roreys were trying to find ways to modify their loan. They were told that in order to qualify for a loan modification, they would have to prove financial hardship. The only way to prove financial hardship, according to loan officers, was to miss making their mortgage payment.

"The default was intentional," said the Roreys' attorney, Asim Alam, "where Fannie Mae's servicer, Everhome Mortgage, told the Rorey family that to get a loan modification, they have to show a financial hardship. The Rorey family was current on their mortgage at that point."

They then met a man by the name of John Harris, who claimed to specialize in loan modifications with his businesses New Life Granted and Georgia Housing Trust. It turned out that he was a scam artist, one who recently landed himself in the Cobb County Jail. 

“He said, if all else fails, I will come in and buy the house,” Tawanna Rorey said, “then give it to you for a percentage, like a 3% instead of 6.” 

Instead, the family said he planned on taking the home for himself and illegally renting it out. They paid him $3,000 to negotiate with the bank, something he never followed through on. He reimbursed them $1,500. 

Although the Roreys said they had proof of the scam, the bank was not listening. The Roreys previously made their payments for eight consecutive years without ever missing one.

Loan modification terms are a concern to many of the supporters of the Roreys, who believe it should be possible to modify a loan without having to miss a payment, which can then lead to foreclosure. If the loan ends up not being modified, it can be too late for the family. 

“My friends and family have been very supportive,” Tawanna Rorey continued, “because they didn't know. No one knew we were financially strapped. We've been fighting the good fight.” 

At this time, the Roreys are currently not in a financial difficulty, and, to the attorney's knowledge, no fund has been set up to help them.

Now, the Roreys nervously wait, for something. Their biggest fear is being tossed out of their home.

“My son goes to middle school here, and rides the bus with the kids," Rorey said. "That was our biggest fear, that he would come home and all our stuff would be out on the lawn.”