Activists try to block eviction

The Malden resident whose home is being foreclosed on by Fannie Mae was joined by about 50 activists, including members of City Life/Vida Urbana and Occupy Boston, in an attempt to block the eviction from her home at 39 Wyllis Ave.

A judge, though, refused her lawyer’s attempt to block the eviction.

Kyeswa’s lawyer, Zoe K. Cronin of Greater Boston Legal Services, rushed her client to Malden District Court just before the court closed at 4:30 p.m. to ask Judge Michael Uhlarik for an injunction. Uhlarik granted an injunction and allowed Kyeswa 30 minutes to retrieve her personal items. He said a constable had to move the rest of Kyeswa’s possessions to storage by 10 p.m., according to Cronin.

“She did, unfortunately and sadly, get evicted,’’ said Cronin, whose motion to have the eviction notice resubmitted was denied by Uhlarik. “We’re still trying to buy the house back. It’s such a waste to have somebody go through all this drama when they should have to negotiate. She’s a very brave woman, but she’s shaky.’’

Kyeswa’s home was foreclosed on in 2008 after she lost her job as a nursing assistant. Her mortgage was inherited by Fannie Mae from Bank of America last year after the home could not be sold at auction.

“Bank of America has completed more than 900,000 modifications since the housing crisis began,’’ Bank of America spokeswoman Jumana Bauwens said in a statement. “During the default stage, we make multiple attempts to reach out to our customers to offer assistance with their mortgage payments. In 2009, we invited [Kyeswa] to submit documentation to be reviewed for the Making Home Affordable modification, but she did not respond to our offer. We continued to reach out to her and offer assistance in the nearly 30 months that she was delinquent. Less than a month before foreclosure sale, we did attempt to review her for a modification. But unfortunately, she was not eligible.’’

In June she was given two months to move out. Representing herself in court, Kyeswa argued that she now has two jobs and can afford to buy back the home or pay rent to the bank. The court gave her a one-month extension this summer, but when she applied for another extension in September, the judge’s decision to deny the request was never mailed to her, said Cronin, who represented Kyeswa in court for the first time yesterday morning.

Kyeswa’s foreclosure case was one of 45 highlighted during the Sept. 30 Right to the City Coalition’s protest, during which 24 people were arrested outside Bank of America’s Boston corporate office. Earlier yesterday, many of the same activists protesting in Malden said they delayed a home auction in Dorchester.

In Malden yesterday, the protesters marched in a circle in the street while holding signs that read, “We shall not be moved’’ and “Housing for people not for profit.’’

The group chanted “Up with the people, down with the banks’’ and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Fannie Mae has got to go.’’