Organizers with Occupy Minnesota deny that any protesters were connected to the box, saying it was the action of a “provocateur.”

“It seems like the motivation is either to make us look bad, or he doesn’t seem to be entirely like he knows exactly what he’s doing,” Occupy Minnesota spokesperson April Lukes-Streich told the Minnesota Independent. ”We’ve informed the Sheriff’s Department that we know they’re not part of our group, so far they haven’t reacted much to that, and we will be keeping an eye out and we absolutely don’t condone that kind of behavior.”

Occupy Minnesota organizers stressed that the movement has been non-violent since its inception.

A spokesperson from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department sent out a press release with photos of the box Monday night: ”The Sheriff’s Office is investigating. This incident is a concern for the safety of all citizens at the Government Center, those who work at the Government Center, and law enforcement officers.”

The press release also listed more than a dozen incidents that the Sheriff’s Department said were “related to the demonstration,” ranging from medical assistance for a man who was extremely intoxicated to three people running around the plaza “wearing underwear.”

An Occupy Minnesota organizer said many of the incidents were unrelated to the protest.

“These are things that happen downtown late at night, regardless of whether there’s an occupation occurring,” Lukes-Streich said. “Since the majority of these incidents can not be attributed to members of Occupy Minnesota, I do think it’s unfair.”

Seven Occupy protesters were voluntarily arrested after blocking traffic outside the U.S. Bank building last week during a protest against foreclosures.

Members of Occupy Minnesota have been meeting daily with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department. Occupiers have asked Hennepin County to allow them to erect tents as winter approaches, but authorities are standing firm on the tent ban.

A number of events are taking place at the Hennepin County Government Plaza in coming days, including a Wednesday march on U.S. Bank to demand the bank negotiate with a homeowner who is facing foreclosure.

The arrests occurred after about 100 protesters took control of 2nd Avenue South and 6th Street South in downtown Minneapolis after rallying at the U.S. Bank building for more than an hour.

The protest was partly a bid to set up tents at the occupation at Hennepin County Government Center Plaza, a request that the Hennepin Count Sheriff’s Department, which controls the occupied plaza, has denied. A medic said he hasn’t yet seen injury from the cold, but that hypothermia was becoming more of a risk as temperatures plummet.

Protesters carried three wooden-framed structures dressed in transparent plastic from the plaza to the sidewalk of U.S. Bank building across the street, then to the intersection on the other side of the building.

In the building, it was business as usual as office workers lunched, but outside, U.S. Bank set up a security cordon to control who entered the building, initially denying media access. All private areas of the plaza were also fenced off.

Despite the security, protesters willing to be arrested said they were able to sneak inside and almost set up a tent on the 12th floor before being escorted out, but not arrested, by security.

Protester Katrina Plotze said she was willing to be arrested to stand against the influence of corporations and banks.

“I think it is interesting we have not been arrested and that we’ve been occupying this intersection,” Plotze told protesters as she stood near a tent set up in the intersection early in the occupation. “That shows that police and the city know about the 99 percent of this country is on our side.”

When protesters initially took the intersection, police destroyed one of the see-through tents, smashing it into pieces. Protesters occupied the intersection peacefully, with police blocking off traffic on all four sides.

After almost one and a half hours, police announced that protesters who didn’t leave would be arrested, the seven who chose to go to jail sat in tents in the middle of the street until they were led away by police.

Don Gerten, 65, wasn’t involved in the civil disobedience. Instead he joined the demonstration with a sign reading “We were promised a future. Where is it?”

Gerten described himself as a “basically conservative veteran.”

“If you asked if I’d be doing this six months ago, I’d say you were crazy, but this country is in such bad shape you’ve got to do something,” he said. “Things get so bad you got to do something.”

But Bachmann’s voting record in the U.S. House of Representatives has not reflected her rhetoric at last night’s debate. From the transcript:

ANDERSON COOPER: Congresswoman Bachmann, does the federal government have a role in keeping people in their homes, saving people from foreclosure, in the state of Nevada?

MICHELE BACHMANN: That was the question that was initially asked. And what I want to say is this — every day I’m out somewhere in the United States of America, and most of the time I’m talking to moms across this country. When you talk about housing, when you talk about foreclosures, you’re talking about women who are at the end of their rope because they’re losing their nest for their children and for their family. And there are women right now all across this country and moms across this country whose husbands, through no fault of their own, are losing their job, and they can’t keep that house. And there are women who are losing that house.

I’m a mom. I talk to these moms. I just want to say one thing to moms all across America tonight. This is a real issue. It’s got to be solved. President Obama has failed you on this issue of housing and foreclosures. I will not fail you on this issue. I will turn this country around. We will turn the economy around. We will create jobs. That’s how you hold on to your house.

Hold on, moms out there. It’s not too late.

As The Minnesota Independent previously reported, in March, Bachmann voted to defund the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) in a bill titled the “FHA Refinance Program Termination Act.” Within that same bill, Bachmann voted against an amendment that would have saved a portion of HAMP for senior citizens whose mortgages are in negative equity, or “underwater.”

The Minnesota Independent has also reported that Minnesota’s 6th District, which Bachmann represents, suffered the highest foreclosure rates in the state in 2008 (estimated at 5,227) and 2009. Nevertheless, the congresswoman has voted against all but one measure aimed at foreclosure relief during her time in office, including: the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which included provisions to help struggling homeowners, signed into law by former President George W. Bush; the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act; the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, intended to provide funds to communities to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes; and the Expand and Preserve Home Ownership Through Counseling Act, the goal of which was to improve homeowners’ financial literacy.

In February 2009, Bachmann talked about the national foreclosure crisis on her blog in a way that did not reflect the sympathy she was trying to convey to women during Tuesday’s presidential debate:

When President Obama released his plan this week to prevent home foreclosures, the point he wanted to get across to everyone watching was that money from folks who have been making their payments on time will not just be handed over to those folks who got in over their heads and bought a house they knew they couldn’t afford.

It’s estimated that around four million homeowners are in danger of foreclosure, and in order to help them out, part of the President’s plan creates a $75 billion program that would go towards reducing a homeowner’s monthly mortgage payment. That breaks down to about $18,750 per home.

Now, we can debate whether this is the right thing to do as it may seem that you’re rewarding the irresponsible while punishing those who have been playing by the rules.

Watch snippets from last night’s debate, including Bachmann’s statements on foreclosures and her promise to moms, produced by HuffPost Politics:

Chicago has been ground zero for the national mortgage crisis in many ways, and critics say that a welcome like the one received by the bankers isn’t surprising in an area where 1/3rd of the homes have underwater mortgages. The problem isn’t confined to Chicago, Minnesota has seen more than 22,000 foreclosures filed in the last year, with 2,400 in August alone, according to RealtyTrac.

Take Back Chicago, organized by a coalition of labor unions and community groups and joined by Occupy Chicago, is just the latest show of public anger at the financial system in the Windy City — and in particular at its handling of the housing crisis.

“The government bailed the banks out on our backs, but they haven’t bailed us out,” said Thurlester Ibrahim, a member the Anti-Eviction Campaign. “We’re losing our homes.”

In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, the Mortgage Bankers Association acknowledged that they share responsibility for the financial crisis that has devastated communities around the country, and that it has cause their industry a “trust deficit.”

Groups on the state and federal level have tried to remedy this mistrust – most recently, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan opened an investigation into ‘mortgage rescue companies’ in Chicagoland alleged to have used attorneys to collect fees to help customers and then not delivering, cheating homeowners out of nearly $375,000.

Madigan also opened an investigation into allegations of mass robo-signing in Illinois – a practice in which companies signed thousands of foreclosure documents without verifying their accuracy. Yet some demonstrators say these moves are only a Band-Aid.

“We must target additional revenue for investment in public services and critical infrastructure that will create jobs and stimulate private investment in job creation,” said Curtis Smith, President of Lakeview Action Coalition, calling for a more long-term solution. “Serious living wage job creation is the fastest way to fix the economy – America is not broke, but our economy is broken.”

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign and political action committee has benefited from a large amount of money from top executives of Morgan Stanley, a global financial services corporation which has been implicated in the financial and mortgage meltdown that brought about the Great Recession. A report by the Center for Public Integrity released this week scrutinized Pawlenty’s ties to top executives at the company, finding that he’s raised more than $800,000 in the last month with its help.

According to the report, Pawlenty’s Freedom First PAC got $79,500 from Morgan Stanley executives last year. Only Federated Insurance gave more to Pawlenty. Pawlenty has also tapped Morgan Stanley executive Bill Strong to co-chair his presidential campaign, and under Strong’s leadership, Pawlenty raised $800,000 in two events — one in Chicago and another in Texas.

Morgan Stanley has been the target of numerous probes involving the mortgage and investment crisis. Last month, the company, along with Bank of America, settled after it was alleged that it wrongfully foreclosed on nearly 200 military personnel. In 2009, it settled with consumers who alleged Morgan Stanley misrepresented investment information. New York state launched an investigation last month into Morgan Stanley’s role — in addition to several other large financial services companies — in the mortgage-backed securities crisis that eventually led to the nationwide economic recession.

Massachusetts won a settlement in March from Morgan Stanley for its role in the mortgage crisis. Another settlement was reached with Colorado in March as well.

Morgan Stanley was also a recipient of bailout funds. When Pawlenty announced his presidential bid, he promised to end bailouts.

“Pawlenty’s aggressive pro-business stance as governor coupled with government scrutiny of Morgan Stanley could create image problems with some voters still angry about the Wall Street bailout,” wrote the Center for Public Inquiry in their reports.

Catholic and Lutheran leadership in Minnesota sent an open letter to Gov. Mark Dayton and state elected officials on Monday urging them to preserve access to basic needs for the state’s poor. Both Dayton and Republican leadership have proposed cuts to projected funding for social services to fix a $5 billion budget hole, with Dayton proposing a mix of cuts and new revenue and Republicans proposing cuts alone.

“We trust that you will seek to govern the people of the state of Minnesota so that all citizens — particularly those who are poor and live on the margins of our communities — have access to housing, education, health care, and other human services,” the letter states.

The letter is signed by the majority of bishops from the the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Roman Catholic Church, including the Archbishop John Nienstedt.

Just under 50 percent of Minnesotans are either Lutheran or Catholic.

Here’s full text of the letter:

An Open Letter to Governor Mark Dayton and Members of the Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House of Representatives

From the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

By now, you are immersed in the challenges of providing legislative and executive leadership for all Minnesotans. As citizens, we take seriously the need for change in addressing the Herculean task that lies before us. The responsibilities you face as you lead us and consider the future of our state present opportunities to uphold the dignity and worth of all Minnesotans.

You are already deeply into erasing a large budget deficit, an enormous challenge that suggests both dollar savings and increased income to achieve a balanced budget that avoids devastating cuts in services to vulnerable people. In many of the political campaigns of last fall, we heard politicians speak of “fairness” and “equality” as they spoke of the task ahead. We ask you today to consider “justice” as you engage in your work. Justice means that the common good of all citizens serves as the hallmark of a strong society and a vital economy.

We expect that, as you seek to balance the budget, you will engage in civil and respectful dialog rather than partisanship and posturing. We trust that you will seek to govern the people of the state of Minnesota so that all citizens — particularly those who are poor and live on the margins of our communities — have access to housing, education, health care, and other human services. We suggest that the most eff ective means of eliminating poverty resides in policies that lift people out of a safety net to a level of sustainability.

Minnesota has a history of caring for all its citizens, and all of us are heirs of those who shaped that legacy. Catholics and Lutherans — representing some two million Minnesotans — have partnered in that legacy as the largest providers of health care, human services, and non-public education. Being a state that cares for its people has been the hallmark of Minnesota. And the most telling measure of how well we care for each other is to consider how we treat those who are most vulnerable among us. We believe there exists in the people of this state the will to respond to the human needs among the poor with compassion, generosity, and resolve. We challenge you to remember all Minnesotans as you make decisions that affect the people, the economy, and the character of this state. We pledge our support, our prayer, and our best effort to these same ends as we each seek to be faithful stewards of the common good in this state.

Roman Catholic Bishops of Minnesota
Archbishop John Nienstedt, Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Bishop Michael Hoeppner, Diocese of Crookston
Bishop John Kinney, Diocese of Saint Cloud
Bishop John LeVoir, Diocese of New Ulm
Bishop Lee Piché, Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Bishop John Quinn, Diocese of Winona
Bishop Paul Sirba, Diocese of Duluth

ELCA Bishops of Minnesota
Bishop Jon Anderson, Southwestern Minnesota Synod
Bishop Thomas Aitken, Northeastern Minnesota Synod
Bishop Craig Johnson, Minneapolis Area Synod
Bishop Peter Rogness, Saint Paul Area Synod
Bishop Harold Usgaard, Southeastern Minnesota Synod
Bishop Lawrence Wohlrabe, Northwestern Minnesota Synod

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting Rep. Michele Bachmann following a vote to defund the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Though the Democrats are targeting Bachmann, her Democratic colleagues, Reps. Tim Walz and Collin Peterson, joined the Republicans on the vote Thursday. Bachmann and Rep. Chip Cravaack both represent districts with a high rate of foreclosures.

The DCCC is hitting Bachmann because she voted against an amendment that would save a portion of the program for senior citizens whose mortgages are in negative equity or “underwater.”

“Rather than do anything to create jobs, Representative Michele Bachmann voted to force Minnesota seniors to face the tragedy of losing the home that they have worked their lifetime for,” Jesse Ferguson of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement. “While cutting Foreclosure Assistance for the 90,206 Minnesota families, Representative Michele Bachmann wouldn’t even preserve it for the seniors who built our nation. Seniors deserve an opportunity to stay in the home they raised their family and not be driven out but Representative Michele Bachmann may have literally closed the door on the American dream.”

HousingLink's latest map of foreclosures in Minnesota. Click to enlarge.

The Washington Post notes that only $50 million has been spent from the $8 billion program. Applications are lower than anticipated: Dow Jones Newswire reports that 65 homeowners have utilized the program. HAMP was passed by the Democratic Congress in 2009 and signed into law by President Obama.

Republican Reps. Bachmann, Cravaack, John Kline and Erik Paulsen were joined by DFL Reps. Walz and Peterson in voting to eliminate the program. Reps. Keith Ellison and Betty McCollum voted against terminating the program.

While Reps. Bachmann and Cravaack voted to eliminate the program, both represent districts with high foreclosure rates. Bachmann’s district was the highest of Minnesota’s eight congressional districts in 2008 and 2009, and those number appear to be shifting to Cravaack’s district.

Eight of the top 10 counties by foreclosure rate according to HousingLink are in Bachmann’s and Cravaack’s districts. Two of the top 10 are in Kline’s district.

Sherburne County in Bachmann’s 6th Congressional District had the highest foreclosure rate with 2.93 foreclosures per residential parcel as well as Wright (2.18) and Anoka (2.08), which were 7th and 8th highest in foreclosures. Isanti (2.56), Mille Lacs (2.47), Kanabec (2.45), Chisago (2.32) and Pine (2.05) counties in Cravaack’s district were 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 9th highest. In Kline’s district Scott (2.23) and Rice (1.80) were 6th and 10th in foreclosure rate.

AARP, the largest advocacy group in the U.S. for retired persons, sued the Department of Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday for promoting policy changes that led to the foreclosure of seniors’ homes.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of three surviving spouses of reverse-mortgage borrowers, who allege that HUD “abandoned long-established federal rules and violated protections for surviving spouses, with the result that the three individuals are now facing imminent foreclosure and eviction from their homes,” according to an AARP press statement. The elderly plaintiffs, from Indiana, New York and Maryland, are being represented by the AARP Foundation Litigation and the D.C.-based law firm Mehri & Skalet, PLLC.

At the center of the case is the principle of a reverse mortgage – a loan that allows homeowners over 62 to convert their home equity into cash, rather than making monthly mortgage payments. In the reverse mortgage, the loan only becomes due and payable if the homeowner dies, moves or decides to sell the home. The plaintiffs’ lawyers are claiming HUD had a policy in place that protected spouses but in 2008 the department changed its interpretation of that policy and began enforcing a rule that spouses who wanted to retain their homes were required to repay the full balance, even if the balance was more than what the home was worth.

From AARP:

The case will have broad national implications, because the outcome will determine whether spouses will be able to stay in homes that are now “underwater” as a result of the housing downturn, a possibility that reverse mortgage borrowers have always paid insurance premiums to protect against.

HUD rules in place since 1989 clearly state that a borrower or heirs would never owe more than the home was worth at the time of repayment. But at the end 2008, HUD abruptly changed the policy and said that an heir – including a surviving spouse who was not named on the mortgage – must pay the full mortgage balance to keep the home, even it if exceeds the value of the property. This does not just violate HUD rules; it violates existing contracts between reverse mortgage borrowers and lenders, and negates a key purpose for which borrowers had been paying insurance premiums.

… One protection is that no borrower or his heirs can be liable for more than the value of the property. The lawsuit notes that HUD’s Handbook, in effect since 1994, as well as other information published by HUD on its website and elsewhere, affirmed this policy. Then, in December, 2008, HUD abandoned that interpretation and stated for the first time that spouses or heirs who wanted to retain the home were required to repay the full balance, even if it exceeded the property’s current value. Strangely, HUD’s current rule is that a stranger can purchase the property for its current appraised value, but a surviving spouse cannot.

The three plaintiffs, all of modest means, were adversely affected by HUD’s illegal actions. Under HUD’s rules, they do not qualify as “homeowners” because they were not listed on the original reverse mortgage documents with their spouses. And they will suffer “substantial hardship” if forced to repay the original higher mortgage cost in order to retain their home, the lawsuit states.

About 23 percent of all mortgaged homes are underwater, according to housing data firm CoreLogic.

Sen. Al Franken participated in a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday regarding the foreclosure process and ways that the federal government could help Americans keep their homes while also preventing investors from losing their investments. Franken said that one of the biggest problems fueling the foreclosure crisis is “robo-signing,” a tactic used by lenders to speed up the foreclosure process.

“Many problems have come to light since the beginning of the foreclosure crisis,” Franken told the Senate Judiciary Committee. “Most recently, we have seen mortgage servicers fraudulently signing affidavits to execute foreclosures, when they have zero personal knowledge of the individual borrower’s situation. This problem, known as robo-signing, is particularly troubling to me.”

Robo-signing occurs when a mortgage is sold to as a trust to a company such as Ally Financial and JP Morgan Chase and payments are missed. Those companies have to swear under oath that they actually own the mortgage in order to initiate foreclosure proceedings. In a number of companies, servicers robo-signed those documents without carefully reading them.

Franken attempted to contact those companies and was sent a form letter that was robo-signed by Ally Financial.

“Last year, I sent a letter to Ally Financial and JP Morgan Chase calling for a suspension of all foreclosure proceedings until this issue is resolved,” he said. “I got a form letter from ally touting their efforts.”

Franken added, “It’s nice to see that they don’t treat their homeowners that they are servicing any worse than they treat a senator.”

“Borrowers are at such an extreme disadvantage in these foreclosure proceedings that I fear robo-signing is only one of many ways that servicers have been able to take advantage of vulnerable families and homeowners,” said Franken. “And because most homeowners don’t have access to legal advice or even basic counseling, most of these abuses never come to light.”

The Senate committee discussed different ways to help homeowners in the foreclosure and bankruptcy processes including ensuring access to legal advice and scrutinizing lenders more closely.

DFL chair Brian Melendez questioned the finances of Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer at a press conference on Thursday. According to public documents, Emmer has taken out seven separate mortgages on his Delano home for a total value of $1.6 million. Melendez said the DFL is raising the issue because Emmer frequently uses the phrase “live within your means” on the campaign trail.

“We are all aware of Tom Emmer’s favorite campaign slogan, ‘live within your means,’” said Melendez, “but Emmer’s slogans and the public record don’t match up.”

Melendez said that information from the Wright County Auditors Office and Hennepin County show that Emmer has taken out seven short-term mortgages since 2002 on his house in Delano and six additional mortgages on a home he previously owned in Independence.

News of Emmer’s series of mortgages was first reported a month ago by Sally Jo Sorensen at the Hutchinson-based website Bluestem Prairie, but — despite that site framing the issue in terms of Emmer’s “live within your means” slogan — Melendez denied that that’s where the party got the information. Bluestem also noted that in November 2005, foreclosure proceedings were started against Emmer. They were later dropped.

Melendez said that Emmer should release his tax returns as his opponent Mark Dayton has done.

“I’m not faulting Emmer for using his house as an ATM; many Minnesotans have done the same thing,” said Melendez. “I’m asking Mr. Emmer to be more forthright about his personal finances and his plans for the state’s finances.”

“Emmer needs to answer questions about his own finances before anybody lets him run the state’s,” he said.

Emmer’s campaign told the Star Tribune simply, “He’s paid his bills.”

GOP deputy chair Michael Brodkorb called the line of attack a mistake in a tweet. “Big mistake by the Minnesota DFL today — attacking someone for having a mortgage on their home — contrast with Dayton’s taxfree trusts in SD