Wells Fargo Protest Not Pointless

I don't think the idea is that you shouldn't boycott Wells Fargo if you want to, but that you shouldn't throw rocks through their windows.

wells fargo lent at least one airplane to the CIA for flying its victims to torture centers, called extraordinary renditions.

I'm sure that with Watsonville and Salinas being some of the top cities in
the country with most foreclosed homes because of predatory lending to
immigrants, Mr. Martinez could come up with a better explanation of why we
shouldn't boycott Wells Fargo.

Well for starters, Wells Fargo did not do predatory lending. The news some time ago was that Wells Fargo stayed away from teaser rate loans and so on. Owning 8% of a company that is responsible for torture is not ok however.

What Is The Northwest Detention Center?
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/01/24/18474641.php

In response to Mr. Medrano requesting my attempt to explain my Opinion, Jenn Laskin, a Brown Beret, may have the better answer. She wrote me the following emai: "Hi Emilio, Quick note...I just read your opinion piece and appreciate the research and also the fair manner in which you portrayed the work the group has accomplished and separated it from the protest...which is the "project" of one member. And honestly...I question his tactics and thoroughness of his strategy myself." Further, in regards to Mr. Medrano's statement that "Watsonville and Salinas being some of the top cities in the country with the most foreclosed homes because of predatory lending to immigrants" is not a fact. The facts are that the majority of Watsonville and Salinas people who lost their home to foreclosure were Latinos, not immigrants, who were subjected to predatory lending practices by Latinos. Additionally, the majority of people in Watsonville and Salinas who are Latino and lost homes to foreclosure purchased homes with no money down and falsified their income to qualify to purchase homes they could not afford. Lets be fair here, Mr. Medrano; accountability and responsibility should not be shared, but rather accepted. Emilio Martinez

Considering the depressed state of Watsonville's economy, especially downtown where Wells Fargo is located, it's sad Mr. Medrano would lead protesters calling for a boycott of the bank, while waving signs like "Down with shady businesses" - as reported in the May 2nd Watsonville Register-Pajaronian. The local Wells Fargo branch seems no more responsible for prisons than every taxpayer whose money supports them. And it's ironic that the same May 5th Register-Pajaronian edition containing Councilman Martinez' column which Mr. Medrano attempts to rebut, also reported local Wells Fargo branch manager Diane Vargas being named to the Watsonville High School Hall of Fame, with the article noting her bank's "support for organizations and charities such as Second Harvest Food Bank, Loaves & Fishes, Big Brothers, Big Sisters and more." Oh yes, quite a "shady business." -Freedom Writer

I resent Emilio Martinez using my personal response to his letter in a public forum for debate. I fully support the boycott, my comrade Ramrio Medrano and the future of this divestment campaign. If Mr. Martinez needs to use my words to support his opinion, I question his integrity. Why not use his own words to support his opinion??? That is just weak. The divide and conquer tactic will not work here.

I resent Mr. Martinez taking comments I made to him out of context and using them to support HIS editorial. I question the integrity and intelligence of a man who cannot speak for or defend his own opinions, in his own words. I fully support my comrade Ramiro Medrano, the divestment campaign against Wells Fargo and all of the immigrants being abused behind the walls of the detention centers that Wells Fargo is making a profit from. This campaign will continue, become clearer and more organized in coming months.

In the meantime, consider changing your bank to a local credit union!

I agree it is rude/unethical to publicize private correspondence (in most cases) without the consent of the author. However, your implication that using someone else's words to bolster your argument somehow diminishes the argument is wrong. His use of your correspondence pertains to the topic at hand and is illuminating to say the least. Please post your email to him in full so that we may determine the context.

Attached is the the entire email I received from Jenn Laskin: "Hi Emilio, Quick note...I just read your opinion piece and appreciate the research and also the fair manner in which you portrayed the work the group has accomplished and separated it from the protest...which is the "project" of one member. And honestly...I question his tactics and thoroughness of his strategy myself. But I do agree with bringing attention to any abuses at the hands of ugly companies...and Wells Fargo does own 8% of the GEO Corp....from the research I was given. That protest brought attention to that and educated the public as to how big banks do business. Also, I do not think that our actions scare business away from Watsonville. There are many other factors taken into consideration when a business comes to town. This organization is a part of the community, for good or not....it is all relative and what some people fear, others embrace. Best Regards, Jenn" I did not intent, in any shape, manner or form, to take Ms. Jenn Laskin's email out of context. I was responding to Mr. Merano's challenge to answer his allegation/questions; it was prudent and reasonable to answer with how another Brown Beret viewed the matter. Simple as that. Emilio Martinez

ACORN is conducting a national campaign against Wells Fargo's various predatory lending schemes

Wells Fargo has been sued for predatory lending. The following is from http://www.ripoffreport.com


ACORN filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo on Monday, June 28 in San Francisco County Superior Court. On the same day more than 2,000 ACORN members from all over the country participated in a march against Wells Fargo protesting their predatory lending practices as part of ACORN's National Convention held in Los Angeles, CA. Here, ACORN National President Maude Hurd lifts the suit for the crowd to see in front of Wells Fargo in downtown Los Angeles.

ACORN is conducting a national campaign against Wells Fargo's various predatory lending schemes.

To find out more visit http://www.acorn.org or call 877 620 4999

More on Wells Fargo's predatory lending..



Baltimore Sues Wells Fargo for Predatory Lending Practices

New America Media, Q&A, Audio, James Wright, Posted: Jan 24, 2008 Review it on NewsTrust

Citigroup announced a fourth quarter loss of almost $10 billion last week, as the foreclosure crisis continues to reach havoc in the economy. But its gravest, most immediate impact has been felt by the thousands of people who are losing their homes across the country. Those hit hardest are homeowners in minority heavy neighborhoods, and the losses affect all taxpayers, as we have to pick up the pieces of houses abandoned and neighborhoods emptied. But the city of Baltimore doesn't think they should have to pay for it. They have filed a suit against the biggest lender in the area: the Wells Fargo Bank. They allege a pattern of predatory lending practices in Baltimore's poorest neighborhoods. James Wright is political reporter for the Afro American and has been reporting on the foreclosure crisis in Baltimore. He spoke to Sandip Roy on the New America Media radio show UpFront.

James on what grounds is Baltimore suing Wells Fargo?

The city of Baltimore is filing a lawsuit in U.S. District Court, in terms of, Wells Fargo targeting black neighborhoods for high risk and unfair priced loans. In other words, Wells Fargo targeted black neighborhoods for these subprime loans that they knew were going to go bad, so they could pick up the interest and make money off of that - knowing very well that [the people in these neighborhoods] would not be able to pay for the homes, therefore they would lose them and they can probably resell them for another price.

Wouldn't it be fair to say that some of these people were hoping things would get better and they would be able to afford the loans and they shouldn't have been taking the loans in the first place, and it's not Well Fargo's fault that they took them?

It's interesting, the argument you made, because it's so difficult to get a home in the first place. Many people will take them – particularly many African Americans - because they are traditionally denied, at a higher rate than whites, Asians and even to a certain level Latinos, traditional home-loans, because of credit issues and to a lesser extent - racial issues. So, when they see a chance to get into a nice looking home with a reasonable loan package, … that's what they jump into. Unfortunately, like many instances, they don't read the fine line. When they don't do that, they get into a lot of foreclosure problems.

Now the city of Baltimore has put a cost to these foreclosures. How much do they say it is costing the city?

According to the Baltimore Sun, as well as The Examiner and The Afro, Baltimore is expected to lose $1.6 billion in economic output. We are looking at that over a number of years. It is about that number, it could get worse. We're looking at $1.6 billion in economic output and in terms of tax revenue, tens of millions of dollars.

And if you break that down how much is that costing the city, or how much does it cost to foreclose a home anyway?

In Baltimore City, I would say it would cost about a good $100,000 to foreclose, because you have to go through the process. Now, $100,000 is a median figure, not an average figure. If you are talking about an average figure, it would depend on the jurisdiction. This is really a problem, because not only do you have a loss in the revenue, in terms of a city like Baltimore, which really needs as much tax revenue as possible, because the General Assembly is getting ready to cut more aid to cities. It also decreases the home value. Last year $4,300 was a decrease in home value because of these foreclosures.

How is the city arriving at the number of how much it is costing it in terms of lost tax revenue and things like that?

More than 33,000 homes in Baltimore have been subjected to foreclosure, since 2000. Before this crisis here, which was about 2004/2005, I would say that out of 33,000 homes, about 80 percent of those - the lion's share - have come through in the last three or four years and Wells Fargo is one of the two largest mortgage providers in the city since 2004. They made 1,285 loans a year, which means $600 million, between that time and 2007. This is important because Wells Fargo really made a push in black media, showing up at black events to try to get black business, period.

That raises an interesting problem for ethnic media and ethnic people who support ethnic communities, because at one level you would commend someone like Wells Fargo for being a good corporate citizen in doing outreach to black neighborhoods and black media, and at the same time we're accusing them of targeting the neighborhoods for bad loans.

This is a quandary that black media has faced before. For example, for a long time many black news papers accepted liquor ads from liquor stores, and yet it is liquor that is really hurting our community, healthwise and as well as destabilizing many black neighborhoods, some would say. So many black newspapers, including the Afro do not accept liquor ads. Anytime you say, "I don't accept a particular stream of revenue," that cuts back on advertising potential, and advertising growth. So, it hurts in that way.

Will you run ads from Wells Fargo?

That is not my decision to make. A man by the name of Jake Oliver, who is the Chairman of the Board, he would make that decision. I wouldn't begin to dictate what he is going to say, but let me say, he is very sensitive to the subprime lending crisis. He would take that into consideration if Wells Fargo wants to advertise with the Afro.

Give us an idea of what these neighborhoods that have been so affected by the subprime crisis, what do they look like now? Who's left, where are the people going?

I don't know if you remember this, in 1980, Ronald Reagan, when he was running for president, toured Bedford-Stuyvesant in New York City. He walked around and said, "Good Lord, this neighborhood looks like bombed-out London!” Now, I'm not one to quote Ronald Reagan, but that is precisely my point. If you go into many of these neighborhoods in Baltimore and look at the houses that have been foreclosed and the neighborhoods that have been foreclosed, they are in really bad shape. They were probably getting there before this foreclosure crisis hit, because of the crack cocaine epidemic. But they are really bad now. People have to understand that when you have a house that is foreclosed, it affects the property values of the neighborhood. When you don't have that kind of revenue coming into the neighborhood that means that it will go down. You have a boarded-up house that is being unproductive, it cannot be taxed. So, therefore, you don't have the revenue coming in, in order to have social programs to solve those problems. To directly answer your question: Many of the neighborhoods in Baltimore that are affected by this foreclosure crisis look like bombed out London in the forties.

What is Wells Fargo saying about all of this?

Wells Fargo released a statement that basically says: "We do not tolerate illegal discrimination or any unfair treatment of any consumer. Our loan pricing is based on credit risk, we are committed to serving our customers fairly, our continued growth depends on it." This is what they have been saying, and the payday lenders say the same thing, that we are assessing people who are credit risks. We are taking a chance on people who have credit issues, but we are giving them a chance to own a home. It is the onus on them, in order to make the payments and meet the requirements. And yet, they are doing this to wholesale neighborhoods and they know why they are doing it: to make more money in a very insidious way.

Wells Fargo started accepting the Matrícula Consular (and therefore ITIN numbers) for checking and savings accounts in 2001. By 2005 the company had 525,000 accounts of this type, representing 6 percent of the company’s total accounts at the time (Grow 2005).

Wells Fargo Matricula Account Openings Surpass Quarter Million Mark
Seven-fold growth in accounts opened monthly
LOS ANGELES — October 24, 2003
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) said today that the number of accounts opened using the Mexican matricula card has surpassed a quarter million since November 7, 2001, when it began accepting the card.
In addition, the monthly number of new accounts opened by customers using the matricula card has increased nearly seven-fold since November 2001. An average of 22,000 new accounts were opened each of the last three months by customers using the matricula card, compared with an average of only about 3,400 in each of the three months after November 2001.
“We’re proud to have been the first major financial services company in the United States to help Mexican nationals move from the risky cash economy into secure and reliable financial services – by promoting acceptance of the matricula card as a primary form of identification,” said Dick Kovacevich, Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo. "By accepting the matricula card as a qualifying form of primary identification, Wells Fargo is providing a much-needed service to help Mexican nationals open a bank account and to succeed financially.”
Today, more than 150 financial institutions across the country accept the matricula card along with hundreds of police departments, cities, counties, health care insurers, airlines and retail stores. Last month, the U.S. Treasury Department decided to continue to allow banks to accept all foreign-issued identification cards, including the matricula card.
The Mexican government issues the matricula consular card to Mexican nationals at its Mexican Consulate offices throughout the United States. It has issued more than one million cards since March 2002 and requires applicants to provide proof they are residing within the jurisdiction of the Consulate office as well as proof of identity. Last year, the Mexican government began issuing new digitalized matricula cards with enhanced security features to prevent the card from being altered or copied.
“Our experience with accounts opened with the matricula card essentially has been no different than that for accounts opened with U.S. driver’s licenses or state identification cards,” said Shelley Freeman, Los Angeles regional president at Wells Fargo. “More than 38 million Hispanics live in the U.S. – half of them in California and Texas – and we want them to know that Wells Fargo welcomes their business and wants to be the financial services company of choice for the Hispanic community.”
Wells Fargo also accepts the consular identification cards from Guatemala and Argentina as valid identification for account openings.
Six years ago, Wells Fargo was the first major financial services provider with a program specifically for Latino business owners, establishing a public lending goal of $1 billion (later increased to $3 billion over 10 years.) To date, Wells Fargo has lent more than $2.2 billion to Latino-owned businesses nationwide.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $391 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 5,800 stores, the Internet (wellsfargo.com) and other distribution channels across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only “Aaa”-rated bank in the United States.

An Article From the Wall Street Journal:

"By MIRIAM JORDAN

Minorities in the U.S. increased their levels of homeownership at a faster clip than whites during the recent housing boom, according to a new report, and narrowed the ownership gap with the majority despite taking a bigger hit during the subsequent bust.

An analysis by the Pew Hispanic Center found that African-Americans, Hispanics and Asians in the U.S. are much more likely to own a home now than at any time in the past.

As of 2008, 48.9% of all Hispanic heads of households owned a home, up from 41.9% in 1995. During the same period, black homeownership climbed to 47.5% from 42.1%. Among Asians -- who raised their homeownership level faster than any other group -- 59.1% owned a home last year compared with 49.1% in 1995. Homeownership among whites stood at 74.9% in 2008, up from 70.5% in 1995.
More

* Pew Hispanic Center Report on Minority Homeownership (PDF)
* Econ: Home Prices and Jobless Rates, by Metro Area
* House Talk: Should Hedge Funder Park Savings in San Francisco Real Estate?

"At the end of the day, minorities are still much better off now than in 1995, if measured by homeownership," said Rakesh Kochhar, lead author of the study, which used housing, economic and demographic data from the U.S. Census Bureau, among other sources.

Since the housing bust, however, homeownership levels for minorities have fallen more steeply than for whites. Between 2005 and 2008, the level fell 2.6 percentage points for native-born Hispanics and 1.8 percentage points for native-born blacks. The rate slipped one percentage point for native-born whites during the same period.

During the same time period, blacks and Latinos were far more likely than whites to take out so-called subprime loans -- those designed for people with weak credit records or high debt in relation to income. In 2007, 27.6% of home loans to Hispanics and 33.5% of mortgages to blacks were in the subprime category, compared with 10.5% of those loans made to whites.

One of the report's most startling findings, Mr. Kochhar said, was that immigrants were affected less by the recent downturn in homeownership than were native-born minorities.

Though immigrants remain less likely than native-born Americans to be homeowners, their homeownership level during the recent housing bust fell only modestly. Immigrants' homeownership reached 52.9% in 2008, a slight decline from its peak 53.3% in 2006. That rate was 46.5% in 1995.

Among native-born U.S. heads of household, homeownership jumped to 71.5% in 2004 from 66.1% in 1995, peaking two years earlier than for immigrants. Then it slipped to 70% in 2008.

Citizenship plays a big role in homeownership, the study found. Immigrants who have acquired U.S. citizenship are nearly twice as likely as noncitizens to be homeowners. In 2008, 69% of naturalized citizens owned a home compared with 38.3% of foreign residents who aren't citizens.

The Pew analysis reveals that counties with higher concentrations of immigrant residents, particularly Hispanics, tend to have higher rates of foreclosure than counties that are home to proportionately fewer immigrants. However, that might have more to do with broader economic factors than immigration levels.

Several cities with large or fast-growing immigrant populations, including Phoenix, Atlanta and Las Vegas, have high foreclosure rates. But these metropolitan areas also experienced construction booms that drew thousands of immigrant workers over the past 15 years.

"The increased presence of immigrants in an area may simply signal the effects of a boom-and-bust cycle that has raised foreclosure rates for all residents," the report concludes.

Write to Miriam Jordan at miriam.jordan [at] wsj.com "

Wells Fargo, Chase and other lenders did in fact target the Latino market here in California, but they couldn't have done it without the assistance of Latino mortgage brokers who took advantage of the language barrier. And, many of these Latinos were not licensed by the Department of Real Estate. These Latino "brokers" were the front line to providing loans. Fully cognizant that their clients could not afford to purchase the homes, they assisted them to falsify their incomes when the obvious outcome was foreclosure. Further, the majority of Latinos who purchased homes knew full well they could not afford them. It was a pyramid scheme, like all the other securities schemes, and when it crumbled, it left many holding the bag. But, many made a whole bunch of money. I know, I conducted many foreclosure/fraud investigations. I was asked to speak and spoke at the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals functions and California Association of Mortgage Brokers Assoc. where I spoke alongside the Santa Clara County D.A. Equal share of the blame goes to lenders, brokers, and people who purchased homes with falsified incomes.
Emilio Martinez

If we put two and two together using the information ONLY from this dicussion:

2001: Wells Fargo begins accepting matricula consular for immigrants to open accounts, initiating a trend among hundreds of different financial institutions and prompting the U.S. Treasury Department to continue allowing matriculas to be accepted.

2003: More than a quarter-million bank accounts are opened with the matricula consular, and it keeps going.

2005: Wells Fargo is sued for predatory lending and shit hits the fan

2008: Cities with highest foreclosure rates are the same cities with the highest immigrant population

2009: Salinas is #2 in the country with most foreclosure rates

I am not saying that Latino brokers and lenders are also deeply at fault. Just because they're 'Latino' it doesn't mean they won't screw their own people over (sometimes they're even more dangerous), but it is crystal clear that Wells Fargo (as well as Chase, BofA) are highly responsible for this mess.

Many companies are engaged in (tax-refundable) charity work, but that does NOT mean they are benevolent corporations. It only means they're trying to cover their ass and trying to become socially acceptable. I mean, McDonald's is partly responsible for the deforestation of Brazil, but just because they have a Ronald McDonald Charity we're gonna cut them some slack? That's a stupid cop-out.

BOYCOTT WELLS FARGO!

The underlying issue is that protesting against any business today in Watsonville is counterproductive. We need jobs for our youth to empower them to fight wars, not battles. Protesting at the Watsonville Wells Fargo branch is a battle; one can lose a battle but win the war. Mr. Medranio, with all due respect, in my opinion you lack the skills to win a war. "The keep your friends close and your enemies closer" is not a good rule, but rather treat your friends and enemies equally is better. Keep in mind that you were provided a building for the Bike Shack for free. The Brown Berets did not purchase the building...why? Wouldn't it be better that you had the capability and power of purchasing than being handed a gift....there are no free lunches.
Emilio Martinez

Emilio! (Night at the Roxbury style) Watch out with what you say, buddy, you don't want to get caught breaking the City of Watsonville's Code of Conduct. NO WONDER YOU VOTED AGAINST IT!

First Amendment Rights..that is what I voted for. Held to a higher standard involves conduct, not freedom of speech.
Emilio Martinez.

"Scared"? Hey "Buddy" I state my name to my opinions, I don't hide my identity. I am more than willing to talk face to face; at the Bike Shack? Communication is the best avenue to resolve issues and I am more than willing to meet you and discuss all of your and mine concerns. Tell me the time and date.
Emilio Martinez

Mr. Martinez, you sound plain dumb for creating a crazy logic about the Bike Shack warehouse to prove your point. That has nothing to do with the conversation, nor is it a free lunch. The youth, Santa Cruz Bike Church and allies who worked for that project earned the warehouse and have been building a relationship with the intelligent, thoughtful and conscious owner and the family for years. It is simply, not pertinent to this conversation and a stupid attempt to legitimize your argument by bringing up the work of the Brown Berets, which seems to be a popular scapegoat and topic amongst conservatives. That group, more than anyone I have ever heard of do not get free lunches, the community has had a free lunch of all the marches, events, services, tutoring, support, forums, and a litany of other free community services and classroom support they offer and provide.

But back to the point (to avoid sounding dumb myself) Mr. Medrano has articulated a clear account of Wells Fargo action and the truth remains that they do own 8% of a horrid company which profits heavily on the incarceration and criminalization of American citizens, undocumented workers and indeed now...people all over the world. GEO is profiting from a system that incarcerates a higher rate of it's people than ANY country on the planet. Families suffer, men and women with drug and alcohol issues go to prison, young people are getting 25 to life for a crime which others serve 6-8 years. This is the business of GEO and if Wells Fargo is investing in it, and making money off it, then THEY ARE A PART OF THE PROBLEM, and that is the issue.

Your insult to him that he lacks the skills to do anything makes you look even dumber. A weak shot at a strong man.

At the very least, I do not hide my identity. I am more that willing to meet to discuss you issues. I am awaiting the time and date and where you want to meet. Emilio