Evictions

A national community organizing group Thursday announced a campaign of civil disobedience designed to help families resist eviction and remain in their homes after foreclosure. Activists with ACORN, the Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, said they would encourage people facing eviction to use text messaging and cellphones to quickly summon volunteers to their homes.

As they stocked up one last time on nuts, bolts and nails, some were worrying Monday that Larchmont Village was being hammered. The quaint shopping district's 82-year-old hardware store was closing Monday, the latest victim of what many fear is an assault on mom-and-pop businesses by developers who are buying up the storefront shops and boutiques.

A woman whose historic Ontario home faces foreclosure was evicted after city officials said they caught her selling its period flooring, baseboards and other fixtures on the Internet. A Superior Court judge granted the city a warrant last week to vacate and secure the classic Mediterranean Revival home, locking out owner Kim Shewalter. "They changed the locks," said Shewalter, 46, who let her home go into foreclosure after her mortgage payments adjusted to $6,500 a month.

Citing health and safety concerns, the city of Ontario next week will dramatically reduce the size of a homeless encampment known as Tent City by expelling those residents who cannot prove clear ties to the city. Starting Monday, anyone who can't provide documents showing they once lived in Ontario will be given a bus or taxi ride back to where they came from. The homeless will be fitted with color-coded bands around their arms or wrists that will designate their status.

Dozens of Ontario police and code enforcement officers descended upon the homeless encampment known as Tent City early Monday, separating those who could stay from those to be evicted. Large, often confused, crowds formed ragged lines behind police barricades where officers handed out color-coded wristbands. Blue meant they were from Ontario and could remain. Orange indicated they had to provide more proof to avoid ejection, and white meant they had a week to leave.

After months of chaotic growth, the homeless encampment known as Tent City dramatically shrank Monday as Ontario police evicted those who lacked ties to the city. Starting early in the morning, officers moved through dusty lots scattered with flapping tents and piles of old clothes and garbage. In many cases they were too late; the people had already left. "About 90% left on their own," said Det. Jeff Higbee, Ontario police spokesman. "There were no arrests, no altercations, no arguments."

The ancient chestnut horse, Ginger, stands on the veranda near the farmhouse door, waiting for a treat. But the old farmer and his wife do not come. The farm dogs leap like dancers, extravagantly pleased to have visitors. The cats bask in the sun. Four red hens peck busily in the flower beds. The garden is alive with bird chatter. But the house stands silent and empty.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has asked the city to block the eviction of a nonprofit organization from a city-owned building that City Councilman Bernard C. Parks said was illegally being used by the group to organize voters against his bid for a seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. For eight years, Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education's headquarters has been at 1715 W. Florence Ave.

The Cook County sheriff said Wednesday that he was ordering his deputies to stop evicting renters from foreclosed properties because many people his office has helped remove had done nothing wrong. "We will no longer be a party to something that's so unjust," a visibly angry Sheriff Thomas Dart said at a news conference. "We have to be sure that when we are doing this -- and we are destroying some people's lives -- we better be darned sure we're talking about the right people," he said.

The Los Angeles City Council voted Friday to draft a law that would bar banks and financial institutions from evicting renters whose landlords have lost their buildings to foreclosure. The council instructed City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo to craft an ordinance prohibiting such evictions in single-family homes and apartments built after 1978 -- buildings where the city's rent-control law does not apply.