Protesters Heat To San Francisco To Target Wells Fargo's Lending Policies

"Hey, hey, ho, ho - corporate greed has got to go"

"We Want Justice, We Want Justice"

"Wells Fargo, you can't hide, we can see your greedy side"

Those were among the many chants being sung by the large crowd that rallied in front of the Wells Fargo shareholders' meeting in San Francisco yesterday.

A coalition of 15 different community groups organized the rally to protest against Wells Fargo's recent lending policies. The coalition alleges that Wells Fargo was one of the biggest mortgage lenders of subprime and predatory loans in California.

"The American Dream has turned into the American Nightmare," said Reverend Dr. Mario Howell, a member of the PICO National Network. "We fear the grim reaper because he shows no mercy on this dire situation."

The coalition as a long list of demands for Wells Fargo that include a moratorium on all foreclosures until there's permanent loan modifications on 50% of eligible mortgages, offering all abandoned properties to local cities and non-profits to develop affordable housing, and the resignation of Jon Stumpf, CEO, among other demand.

Marilyn Reynolds participated in the rally. She bought her daughter and son-in-law a house in Buckeye, Arizona with a $179,000, 30-year mortgage loan from Wachovia at 8% interest. Reynolds says that three months later the house was appraised for $100,000 less and believes the original appraisal was fraudulent. "The broker wanted her commission and I'm stuck with this loan and I can't refinance." She is trying to modify her loan, but "all I get is the runaround,"

The Treasury Department says that Wells Fargo has modified - either permanently or on a trial basis - about forty percent of about 380,000 eligible loans in the Making Home Affordable program (HAMP) that began in May 2009. About 10 percent of those are permanent or about to be, and the number is growing. Many of Wells Fargo modifications are happening outside of the HAMP program.

Chris Hammonds, a spokesperson for Wells Fargo said, "From January 2009 through March of this year, Wells Fargo has done more than 520,000 trial and completed mortgage modifications."

Unsurprisingly, Wells didn't respond directly to the demands, but Chris Hammonds did offer this:

Wells Fargo cares and we recognize Americans are demanding more from their financial institutions during these difficult economic times. We're doing what we can to help our customers who may be feeling financial distress. We're also doing all we can to help with job creation, including last year alone Wells Fargo provided $711 billion in loans and lines of credit to help get the economy going again. Wells Fargo is top small business lender and among the most generous corporate givers with more than $202 million donated to nonprofits last year.

For the protesters, Wells and the other big banks are not doing enough. "The stagecoach is robbin' us," said Reverend Howell.

Comments

[DrRoberts99]

01:02 PM on 04/30/2010

These community groups, just as the Teabaggers, have every right to protest. Unfortunately, as with the Teabagger movement, the participants are very confused.

The example provided in the above article of a family in distress obtained their mortgage from Wachovia, not Wells Fargo. As a result of its merger with Golden West, a California based firm which in all liklihood wrote the mortgage on that particular property and were notorious for their lending practices, Wachovia nearly went out of business. With deposits being guaranteed by the FDIC, the taxpayer would have been on the hook for quite a lot of money.Wells Fargo acquired Wachovia in the 4th quarter of 2008 and immediately went to work on its toxic loan portfolio. As the article stipulates, Wells Fargo has been very pro-active working with homeowners with the ultimate goal of keeping them in their homes.

Facts seem to be in short supply as the press has done a terrible job informing the populace as to exactly what has transpired over the past two years. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that Wells Fargo was a very reluctant participant in the TARP but did so at the personal behest of former Secretary of the Treasury Paulson. Consequently, the culture and tradition of a conservative bank that has been loaning money responsibly to its customers for over 150 years got lumped in with those that actually needed loans from the Government along with those that have sunk into oblivion.

[sandiegoconservative]

01:00 PM on 04/30/2010

The number one excuse I hear from people who claim they were victims of predatory practices- I did not know what was in the contract/did not know that my rate would adjust. How many people purchase a home without reading the contract?

My first and second mortgage loans were through Wells Fargo and I had no problems whatsoever. I will try to pick up an investment property and will likely get my mortgage through them again.

[twhiting9275]

01:56 PM on 04/30/2010

"How many people purchase a home without reading the contract?"
Apparently the majority of individuals are ignorant enough to do this.
A friend of mine actually REJECTED her bank's proposal for a home loan, because of the fact that her rate would adjust too much for her taste, and got a loan elsewhere. It's surprising to see the amount of ignorance from individuals. KNOW what you're signing.

[dukeitout]

12:00 PM on 04/30/2010

Warren Buffet's a big holder of stock in this bank.---- Has been for a long time.---- Just pointing this out. ----Don't mean to criticize St. Warren as it's generally frowned upon.

[Lemmy]

11:26 AM on 04/30/2010

You signed the loan papers folks. Start taking responsibility for your actions.

[twhiting9275]

01:57 PM on 04/30/2010

"Start taking responsibility for your actions."
No way, that means I can't blame someone else when I act ignorantly. No, no, I must be able to blame SOMEONE else for the fact that I didn't read the loan documents, get an independent assessment, or have an attorney read through the loan. It CAN'T be my own fault!

[01202009]

10:57 AM on 04/30/2010

There was a protest in New York yesterday by the unions targeting J.P. Morgan Chase. This one in San Francisco.

I have not seen one word about this in the NY Times or on CNN or anyplace other than Huff and a couple of lefty sites. How come a few nitwits can hang teabags on their hats and it's front page news. How come if Palin burps it's headlines? How come if Tiger Woods does the dirty boogie it's a big splash?

What's wrong with this picture?

[Kevin Atlanta]

09:23 AM on 04/30/2010

Of course the Banksters and Corporate Communists have no desire to do what is right or moral in the case of home loan modifications. They've made their cash off the collapse they created and now they want their devalued at the homeowner's expense real estate back. This is the open thievery these Corporate Communists practice as the fraud of day-to-day life in lending. It's not in their best interest for the loans to be repaid. they want the government to pay for the "toxic assett" of their creation and then they'll take possession of the property again too. Pure greed.

[RickshawJohnson]

10:24 AM on 04/30/2010

The banks have been modifying mortgages at a pretty rapid pace actually.

[Lemmy]

02:48 PM on 04/30/2010

Did the borrowers sign the loan papers?

[MNinWI]

09:14 AM on 04/30/2010

Not just CA-all over the country. Criminal. They have ruined many families because of their deceitful practices.

[studmoose]

07:56 AM on 04/30/2010

When I opened up a credit line at WF, they wrote me up at one set of terms, then right before giving the money they said that the actuary folks determined I would get less money at a higher interest rate. It was a short credit line right before the Christmas holidays.

If this is the stuff they do to the small lenders, I wonder what they do to the larger ones?

Then, WF keeps calling me asking to redo my mortgage and consolidate my revolving debt under a new policy. I keep telling them I am not interested because of the way they set up my credit line - you think they would do something to fix that? NO.

So every time they call... I TELL THEM TO POUND SAND!

[DrRoberts99]

01:16 PM on 04/30/2010

The next time you shave, why not "cut off your nose to spite your face." My wife and I just refinanced our jumbo with Wells and wound up saving $500 a month.

[studmoose]

02:35 PM on 04/30/2010

Because WF wasn't really offering much form than 'convenience'.

Enjoy our $550/month. There are other banks out there. You should just prey that their terms don't change on you, as they had on my credit line even after I received it. Until then, just enjoy what you are getting. Sooner or later, the piper will get paid.

[vol1805]

07:46 AM on 04/30/2010

san fran protesting something........that's new and novel

[ronnie423]

07:20 AM on 04/30/2010

"Wells Fargo is top small business lender and among the most generous corporate givers with more than $202 million donated to nonprofits last year. "
How do you stop them when the US Government is on their side?

[DrRoberts99]

01:19 PM on 04/30/2010

Wells Fargo actually ranks as the second most generous corporate donor to charities with the goal this year of becoming number 1.

[veracity]

06:59 AM on 04/30/2010

< A coalition of 15 different community groups organized the rally to protest against Wells Fargo's recent lending policies. The coalition alleges that Wells Fargo was one of the biggest mortgage lenders of subprime and predatory loans in California. >

Good for those protesting Wells Fargo's PREDATORY, American-family-DESTROYING greedy financial practices, which is to say, good ol' LOAN SHARKING.

In my previous comment (here at HuffPost) to Senator McCaskill about "secrect holds" in the Senate, I wrote how today's Senate is More, UNREPRESENTATIVE than it was in 1787 (because the addition of so many low-population states gives 2 whole senators to some states with populations smaller than some states which may have 4 or 5 individual cities with larger populations than that small state)

Another un-representative or anti-democratic tendency is in our "news" and education process - which
('news," education, & media being dominated by the wealthy, who tend to be "conservative" if not reactionary)
FAILS to inform today's Americans, that WE ONLY got SOCIAL SECURITY, the FDIC & SEC and OVERSIGHT of Financial markets
(the FDIC is a GOVERNMENT INSURANCE program for banks which demands banks apply with certain rules to qualify for mandatory insurance of consumer (retail) bank accounts)
...because the "Free Market" FAILURES of the Great Depression, created a GREAT CLAMOR among Americans to PROVIDE that GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT of the here-to-fore "private" financial markets & banks.

[PhilipTaylor]

05:36 AM on 04/30/2010

5 LARGEST BANKS have $281 TRILLION IN TOXIC DERIVATIVES HIDDEN OFF THE BOOKS!

1 JPM $79Trillion in Toxic Derivatives – Down $2 Trillion
2 BofA $75Trillion – Down $3 Trillion
3 G0LDMAN $50Trillion – Up $2 Trillion
4 M0RGAN $42Trillion – Up $3 Trillion
5 C1T1GROUP $34.5Trillion – Up $2.5 Trillion
6 WELLS FARG0 $5 Trillion

I am not defending Wells but they are in a Different League from the other big banks on Wall Street when it comes to Derivatives!

[veracity]

07:10 AM on 04/30/2010

another great comment, PT, faved (and already fanned)

but don't forget - the INTERLOCKING BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

Wells is tully and truly "in the mix" of the 5 bigger Fraudsters, above...

while the "big boys" may be better at shaking down the "big money" (government bonds here & across the world, see John Perkins, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man," or HuffPosts' own Les Leopold, "The Looting of America," for how the Wall Street boys LOOTED teacher retirement pension funds),
Wells Fargo LOAN SHARKS in friendly, local bank offices is where The Rubber Hits the Road...

.....where those FAKE, FRAUDULENT "income streams' from mortgages
(that underwriters KNEW were going to FAIL, when financially unsophisticated and stressed home buyers hit those "mortgage RESETS" on their ZERO-INTEREST ARM loans in 3-4 years)

...flowing in to Wal Street at the boom, FUELED the "Big Boys" ORGY of even bigger CREDIT FRAUD of exactly the type that has made it necessary to pull in GoddamnSachs for hearings this week.

You knock out the street soldiers, the Capa ain't got an army to break knees & collect extortion anymore....

And, at #6 on the list, Wells Fargo is hardly a mere "street soldier" !

[saskatoonie]

03:43 AM on 04/30/2010

People should switch their money to local Credit Unions. One share, one vote and the money stays in the community. The banks need a big reality check and a wholesale exodus of customers might scare them a little!

[Lemmiwinks99]

12:30 PM on 04/30/2010

Hey, no market solutions by the left! You guys are only allowed to suggest legislative and gov't reform. C'mon people, more crazy socialism, less capitalism right?
Anyway, I think thats a great idea. If you hate the big banks you are free to move your money. And if a big bank defrauds you, you are free to file charges.

[DrRoberts99]

01:21 PM on 04/30/2010

The results are in. After the first full quarter of the HuffPo campaign to pull money from so called TBTF banks and deposit said money into banks that just might fail, the majors all reported blow out earnings.

[VoteThemAllOut]

01:22 AM on 04/30/2010

Let's see, there are a lot of people that bought at the top of the market and know they are up-side down on loan to house value. Whose fault is that? No one put a gun to their head. Now they all are crying about how unfare it is and want someone to 'bail them out'. If the original deal was good when you signed it, why cannot you fulfill the agreement now?

Grow up and recognize you are the one responsible for your actions. Guess it is just easier to cry 'poor me' and expect someone else to pay. You were happy when you got the loan and the house at the price was paid - so what has changed?

For those that have lost their job, I to have lost a job and had to work things out - so I do feal sorry but life isn't always fare. We made by hard work and taking any thing that would make us a buck.

[twhiting9275]

01:52 AM on 04/30/2010

Preach on!
Fanned

[NHGranite]

09:59 AM on 04/30/2010

Let's face it, pretty much everyone is greedy and never thinks that of themselves. So when a bank tells you you can pay off all your credit cards, get the big screen tv and toys, just by refinancing your house that has soared in value, most do it. But when the big guys own the money, the appraisers, the insurance companies, our Congress and manipulate it all, why are you screaming about the homeowner who believed them?

[Y3rMawm]

11:14 AM on 04/30/2010

ditto

[saskatoonie]

03:38 AM on 04/30/2010

People were anxious to experience the "American Dream" of home ownership and there were plenty of greedy mortgage brokers and banks standing in line to offer mortgages without full disclosure of the terms and consequences in a risky financial market.

[twhiting9275]

01:53 PM on 04/30/2010

The terms had to be disclosed in full, for the contract to be legal.
Now, if the person didn't read through the contract (and have their attorney do the same), that's not the bank's fault, that's on them

[CabinGuy]

10:19 PM on 04/29/2010

Looks like a bunch of losers from Acorn. Nothing but astroturf protests made up of paid union organizers. Obama should focus on unemployment.