Community Members Protest Predatory Practices of Vision Property Management

Monday, March 5, 2018

On Saturday, March 3, A.C.T.I.O.N. and a group of concerned citizens traveled to Columbia, South Carolina to deliver a list of complaints and demands to Vision Property Management, a purveyor of predatory land contracts.

Several participants on the trip have been victims of the predatory lending practices of Vision and have been evicted from Vision houses after making repairs to the homes and paying rent for several months. A group of negotiators met with Vision officials upon arriving in South Carolina and presented them with the community agreement (downloadable below) while the remainder of the group chanted and sang outside in support. Vision officials refused to sign the agreement as is and prompted a walk out from A.C.T.I.O.N. representatives. A full audio recording of the meeting can be heard here. After a refusal from Vision officials, ACTION and community members protested outside Vision’s offices and passed out flyers in the neighborhoods of Vision CEO Alex Szkaradek and Chief Business Development OfficerJonathon Buerkert. The trip ended with a march from a nearby park to Jonathon Buerkert’s neighborhood to protest and chant. The trip served as an example of activism that will continue to fight predatory land contract lending in Northeast Ohio and the City of Youngstown.