Northwest Indiana could become a battleground in an effort to stop the rise of home foreclosures, a grass-roots political action group says.
Eric Weathersby, a spokesman for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform, said the group plans next week to roll out a home ownership squad and a rapid response team in the region.
Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez said he hopes ACORN isn't planning civil disobedience actions similar to those being advocated by ACORN officials in New York City.
"We cannot take a vigilante approach," the sheriff said.
The comments came against the backdrop of President Barack Obama releasing details today of his $75 billion mortgage relief plan, designed to help stabilize the housing market and reduce foreclosures.
Obama announced in Phoenix, Ariz., he hopes to use money from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan he signed into law this week and a $700 billion financial industry bailout passed by Congress last fall to keep between 7 million and 9 million people from foreclosure.
The ACORN Web site states it is launching a "homesteading effort" with other activists around the country next week to build "home defender teams" in 22 cities around the country.
"These teams will be prepared to mobilize on short notice to peacefully help defend a family's right to stay in their homes until a fair solution to the (national foreclosure) crisis is put into place by the new (Obama) administration," the Web site states.
Weathersby said this week, "We have actually been doing a home ownership squad, and we have a rapid response team. We have done that around the country but haven't actually rolled that out here. We are planning that."
Weathersby asked the sheriff last summer to declare a moratorium on mortgage foreclosures. The sheriff refused. The sheriff collects fees on foreclosure sales that are helping pay for a new $2.2 million helicopter.
Dominguez said sales of foreclosed homes his office conducts on behalf of local courts and lending institutions regularly have been accelerating since last year because of the ailing economy.
"We feel for the homeowners who may be losing their home, but as an officer of the court, I have a legal statutory duty to enforce court orders," the sheriff said.
ACORN made its presence felt in Northwest Indiana last year in a controversial voter registration effort in Lake County that generated thousands of registrations in the names of dead, underage or fictitious people -- including one notorious registration form filled out in the name and address of Jimmy Johns, a Crown Point fast-food outlet.
