Ohio homeowner, supporters fight eviction

Supporters are urgently needed at Keith Sadler’s home in Stony Ridge, Ohio, just outside of Toledo. On May 2 Sadler and five supporters barricaded themselves inside the home to protest the bank’s foreclosure and eviction of Sadler from his home of 20 years.

WW photo: Bryan G. Pfeifer

“It’s been home for me, my daughter and nephews for periods of time, my nine cats, and this was my grandson’s first home after he was born,” Sadler told members of the Moratorium NOW! Coalition to Stop Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shutoffs, who traveled from Detroit May 2 to a news conference and rally at Sadler’s home.

Also attending the press conference were members of the United Auto Workers, the Toledo Foreclosure Defense League, Take Back the Land, Detroit Green Party and the Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice.

A longtime UAW member in various manufacturing plants, Sadler was unable to work after a repetitive strain injury became acute in July 2008. After being out of work for some time due to his injury and two surgeries, Sadler’s income decreased, and it became a severe challenge for him to meet mortgage payments.

The bank refused any loan modification and foreclosed on his home in 2009. Despite delaying court proceedings through various means and attempting to procure Legal Aid assistance, Sadler was unable to prevent his home from being sold to the bank at a sheriff’s sale in January.

Sadler was served with a notice of eviction dated midnight May 2.

The homeowner said: “I basically did everything within the system to save my house, and it all came to nothing. We are taking a stand. We are drawing a line in the sand and saying, ‘Enough is enough.’ We’re standing up and we hope others will too.

“We want an indefinite moratorium on all foreclosures. Having people’s homes stolen right out from under them by the banks is not acceptable. We must fight back.”

Call 419-309-7040 for a schedule of activities to defend Sadler’s home. The “Keith Sadler Foreclosure Resistance” can be accessed live on UStream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/keith-sadler-foreclosure-resistance-live.