Daniel Daley is among the tenants, homeowners and advocates at a protest at the Rhode Island State House Rotunda calling for greater protection for families being evicted as a result of foreclosure.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

PROVIDENCE — Louisa Pimentel planted herself in the midst of a protest in the State House rotunda yesterday, and gazed up at the ceiling, all white marble and murals.

At 48, she had never set foot inside the halls of state government, or considered participating in a demonstration.

That changed, though, when she learned that the rental house in the city’s West End where she lives with three of her children is in the process of foreclosure.

Yesterday, less than 48 hours before her house was scheduled to be sold at a foreclosure auction, Pimentel joined about a dozen other members of a new tenants’ group — the RI Bank Tenant Homeowner Association — along with advocates for the homeless and housing advocates to demand that state lawmakers declare a moratorium on foreclosures in Rhode Island.

Chanting “Stop Evictions! Now! Stop Foreclosures! Now!” the protesters said that tenants who lose their homes to foreclosure are, in some cases, unable to come up with enough money for a security deposit on a new rental, and wind up homeless.

Calls for a foreclosure moratorium follow similar efforts across the country last year. Several states, including Massachusetts and Connecticut, attempted to stem rising foreclosures by introducing legislation to stall or stop the foreclosure process. But so far, none of those proposals has become law, according to Heather Morton, a legislative analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

President-elect Barack Obama has said that he supports a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. But he is likely to face stiff opposition by lenders, who argue that even a temporary freeze on foreclosures could delay the sale of bank-owned property which, in turn, would make banks less likely to make new loans.

Bill Farrell, a lobbyist for the Rhode Island Mortgage Bankers Association who watched the protesters yesterday, said he fears that a foreclosure moratorium is the sort of restriction that would discourage investors from buying loans in Rhode Island. Investors might demand more money for down payments or require borrowers to meet higher income standards. That, in turn, would make it more difficult for “fringe” borrowers to obtain loans, he said, and hurt efforts to expand affordable housing.

Even some of the advocates who support more protections for tenants concede that a moratorium may be difficult to enact in Rhode Island because, unlike states such as Massachusetts, there is no law requiring banks to obtain court orders before they begin foreclosure proceedings.

“The practical reality is it’s not clear who has the authority to [stop foreclosures] in Rhode Island,” said Brenda Clement, director the Statewide Housing Action Coalition. “The moratorium may not be the right tool … but it’s an attempt to draw attention and focus to the issue.”

Noreen Shawcross, executive director of the Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission, said that a foreclosure moratorium would be a “Band-Aid” approach, and that a more effective measure is to assist homeowners in getting lenders to agree to work out their mortgages.

In the absence of any federal mandate on foreclosures, however, the protesters — including the Housing Action Coalition and the Rhode Island Coalition, the R.I. Coalition for the Homeless and DARE — say they need help from state lawmakers.

Just over 100 families who were homeless between April and December had been displaced due to foreclosures, said Coalition for the Homeless’ executive director, Jim Ryczek.

Pimentel, the single mother who was attending her first protest, says she is worried that her family could wind up among them. An immigrant from the Dominican Republic, she has no job and is supported by her 18-year-old daughter, Idaliza, a student at the University of Rhode Island who works part-time at a Wendy’s. Pimentel and three of her four children moved to a first-floor apartment at 10-12 Massie Ave., Providence, two years ago, when their previous landlord fell into foreclosure.

If she manages to get the money to move again, she worries that house, too, might fall into foreclosure. “I don’t want to have to worry,” she said.

Nearby was Yolanda Cruz, another single mother, who had joined the protest. Three months ago, she said, the house where she rented an apartment fell into foreclosure and the gas and water were shut off. The apartment became infested with cockroaches and mice. Cruz said she pawned her jewelry to come up with the $800 she needed three months ago to rent another apartment.

“At least,” Cruz said to Pimentel’s daughter, Idaliza, “you’re lucky they don’t turn off the water.”

larditi@projo.com