Oregon Public Broadcasting

A group of activists rallied in Portland's Lownsdale Square Tuesday protesting evictions of people facing foreclosure.

Angus Maguire is with the non-profit advocacy group We Are Oregon. He says he has a message for people facing foreclosure: don't move out.

"If you're getting threatening letters from banks, don't move out. If you've been given an auction date, don't move out. If you stay in your home, you create opportunities to save your home," Maguire says.

Maguire added that no one is saying homeowners shouldn't be responsible. But he suggested society should go beyond individual responsibility, and repair the system that allowed the U.S. lending crisis.

The three groups that participated in the protest called on law enforcement to decline serving eviction orders. A spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office says the department will continue to uphold the law, in accord with state statutes.