Richard Castaldo, Columbine Shooting Survivor, Fighting Foreclosure With Occupy LA's Help

Richard Castaldo fought for his life 13 years ago, after he was shot eight times during the Columbine High School massacre. Now he’s fighting to save his home.

The survivor, who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair as a result of the shooting, moved to Los Angeles five years ago to pursue a career in music, only to fall behind on mortgage payments for his condo, NBC Los Angeles reports. He may have again found help in the form of Occupy Los Angeles.

“I feel like they’re really the only group that doesn’t have an ulterior motive,” said Castaldo, who admits he “should have known better” than to believe the value of his condominium would go up. Roughly 36,000 California housing units received a foreclosure filing in October, according to RealtyTrac.

Time may be running out for Castaldo, considering the condo is set to be sold at auction on December 6. But given other successes Occupy groups have had saving homeowners threatened by foreclosure, he may still stand a chance. Over the summer, Occupy Our Homes -- an offshoot of the Occupy movement -- saved the home of a Minneapolis woman and helped another resident of that city resist foreclosure in the same month.

There are others, like Castaldo, struggling with Occupy-backed battles to keep their homes. A victim of foreclosure is continuing the fight to save her home with the help of activists from Occupy Oakland, Mercury News reports.

Despite Castaldo's sad story, the foreclosure crisis has taken a turn for the better, at least for now. In September, U.S. foreclosure filings fell to to a five-year low.