Occupy Gathering at Murrieta Home Meant to Send Message

An overnight camp out to protest the possible foreclosure of a Murrieta home ended peacefully, organizers and police said.

some of whom set up tents on the lawn of 40734 Mountain Pride Drive, the home of Lesliane Bouchard.

Only about 10 supporters lingered by noon Friday, said Bouchard's daughter, Kristiane Chappell, who called on Occupyourhomes.org to help set up the one-night demonstration. Members of Occupy Temecula, Occupy Riverside and Occupy San Diego were among those who turned out to help send a statement to Bouchard's mortgage company.

More than 3,200 have signed an online petition in support of Bouchard, who is living on a limited income after she became disabled following a 2004 traffic accident. Bouchard says she can not afford to pay the mortgage on the home unless it is brought down to a rate that fits within her $3,000-a-month budget.

She suffers from a degenerative nerve disorder she says was brought on when she had to have major reconstructive on her spine, which was crushed in the accident.

The disorder, known as RSD, attacks the injured areas of her body, she said.

"I've lost my ability to do almost anything," Bouchard told reporters. "Sometimes my whole body is shaking...it reaches a point where I can't even speak clearly."

Permanently disabled, the former teacher said her COBRA payments for medical coverage are $1,100 a month, in addition to what she pays in co-payments.

Bouchard said she contacted her mortgage company, First Mortgage Corporation, in September 2010 to let them know she could not afford the payment any longer.

Since then, she described a merry-go-round of attempts to get her payment down.

"I had the standard 30-year fixed FHA loan, it was not one of those crazy loans," Bouchard said.

First Mortgage Corporation could not be reached for comment Friday regarding Bouchard's situation.

Chappell said they thought it was just a misunderstanding with the mortgage company when they were not able to get the loan modified.

"But now we've ended up in this stalemate," Chappell said.

After no success, Bouchard contacted Keep Your Home California, an organization that helps homeowners obtain assistance through President Obama's Hardest Hit Fund. The fund is meant to help homeowners in the 18 states hit hardest by the housing market downturn, including California.

Diane Richardson, program director for Keep Your Homes California, was familiar with Bouchard's predicament. Richardson said the organization could help Bouchard through their mortgage reinstatement program if her mortgage company offered a modification package.

Keep Your Homes California uses funds administered through the California Housing Finance Authority, which received $2 billion through the president's program, to help homeowners, Richardson said.

"One of the keys is the lender has to agree to participate in the programs," Richardson said. "We are not a regulatory body; we can't force them to participate."

She said Bouchard needs a modification to stay in her home.

"It doesn't do any good to reinstate her loan if she can't afford it going forward," Richardson said.

However, Chappell said her mother was able to get HUD to step in and put a 90-day stay on the foreclosure process. Bouchard recently received another stay, which allows her to stay in the home through March, Chappell said.

Bouchard said her monthly mortgage payments are currently $1,848. She's making partial payments of $1,200 a month, according to her daughter. Bouchard told reporters she'd be able to afford a payment of around $1,000 a month.

"[Otherwise] I will quickly reach a point where I can not afford to pay the mortgage," Bouchard said, of her set disability income.

Murrieta police were on hand when the demonstration began Thursday afternoon on the private property, and monitored it throughout the evening to ensure it stayed peaceful.

"We were there strictly to keep the peace and allow them to get their message across, to demonstrate and exercise their speech rights as long as it was within the parameters of the law," said Murrieta police Lt. Tony Conrad, who was on hand when supporters began to arrive.

"Obviously it is OK to exercise those rights as long as you are not infringing on other people's rights by going on their property or being excessively noisy," the lieutenant said.

Which they didn't, he said, adding that the Police Department had prepared for a larger turnout, and was able to decrease its presence once it was clear that the numbers held at about 50 or 60 people.

Chappell said she hoped the gathering helped put pressure on the mortgage company, and said that while the CEO of First Mortgage Corporation was invited to speak during a general assembly at the home, he did not take them up on the offer.