Homeowner Barricades Self in Foreclosed House
A 53-year-old Ohio man facing foreclosure has sealed himself inside his home, refusing to leave until banks end foreclosures and evictions. According to The Toledo Blade:
"Through an agreement with the Wood County Sheriff's Office, he was to have been out of the house on U.S. 20 in Stony Ridge by midnight yesterday, but instead, members of the Toledo Foreclosure Defense League, an organization he co-founded, helped seal him inside. A cell phone - and the hole in the front window - are his only means of communication."
The homeowner, Keith Sadler, and several supporters from the TFDL have set up a video feed and a Twitter feed to get their message out. The Sentinel-Tribune reports that Sadler has publicly fought foreclosure in the past:
This is not the first time for Sadler to take bold action against foreclosures, being arrested previously for disrupting a sheriff's sale of foreclosed property in Lucas County. His actions there were not successful in getting Lucas County to declare a moratorium on foreclosures, but he is hoping to have more success in Wood County.
"We're not leaving the home till we get a moratorium on foreclosures, or until we're dragged out," Sadler said.
The case is the latest in a string of frustrated homeowners going to extreme measures when they lose their home to the bank. In February, another Ohio man bulldozed his house before turning the property over, and several homeowners from around the country are accused of setting fire to their homes in the face of foreclosure.
Is Sadler's move crazy? Or has he simply come up with an effective way to bring greater attention and sympathy to struggling homeowners?
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