True, it was kind of hard for Morgan Stanley to ignore us completely when the Occupy Oakland Foreclosure Defense Group occupied their Oakland offices and then started phone blasting their San Francisco Bay Area executive muckety-muck John Sheldon -- but ignore us for a while they did.
Then they started to say that they weren't the responsible party, even though the shell companies that have something to do with the deed to Jodie's house are wholly owned subsidiaries of Morgan Stanley (and don't have phone numbers associated with them and thus have no plausible way of being contacted.)
We marched with Jodie to John Sheldon's tower in San Francisco and, instead of meeting with Jodie, Morgan Stanley concluded that their best option was to shut down the entire skyscraper. This seems like a suboptimal solution to me but what do I know?
Perhaps at that point they realized that we were all of the same species (even if our modes of dress do not match and our wallet sizes are hardly comparable) and concluded that it would be best to sit down in a room and... negotiate.
So that's what's going to happen.
Yup. Jodie Randolph will be sitting down to negotiate with Morgan Stanley on January 3rd, 2013. They're even flying up a lawyer from Los Angeles for the occasion (no, I don't know why San Francisco lawyers don't cut it).
On the face of it, the negotiations should be straightforward. Jodie wants to stay in her house. Morgan Stanley has no particular interest in a cottage in Alameda, CA. It's not like John needs a place to live, or Morgan Stanley needs a safe house on the edge of Oakland. They should be able to come to terms.
Jodie Randolph and the Occupy Oakland Foreclosure Defense Group have been holding it down at Jodie's house since November 5th, 2012. And we'll be holding it down until this is settled.
As Jodie noted when this all started
"What do they want with my house?"
Tomorrow we get to find out. Stay tuned.
Here's the saga as it unfolded, and other links.
Jodie's Story as Told So Far in Daily Kos Diaries..
Day 1:
If I'm in Jail When They Call Ohio Tomorrow For Obama...
Day 2:
Update on #DefendJodie, The Woman Undergoing Cancer Treatments About to Be Evicted From Her House.
Day 3:
The Realtor Arrives. The Realtor Threatens Jodie. Jodie Stays.
Day 5:
We Shut Down Morgan Stanley's Phone Line.
Day 8:
In Which We Are Contacted by An Alien Life Form.
Day 9:
In Which The Issues of Foreclosure & Eviction Get International Attention.
Day 15: In Which We Prepare To Cross the Great Sea.
Day 16: In Which We Try To Deliver a Letter To Morgan Stanley But Shut Down a Skyscraper.
Day 18: In Which OccuPiers Eat Well And the Oakland Tribune Takes Notice.
Day 28: In Which the Dog Ate My Flyer.
Follow @defendjodie and the #defendjodie hashtag on twitter.
Get updates from the Occupy Oakland Foreclosure Defense Group Website and Facebook page.