Wells Fargo Mortgage, primary beneficiary of the nearly $200 million Access Project, and potential beneficiary the recent NRP mortgage insurance proposal is alleged to engage in predatory lending in the very community they claim to serve!!
Article from Insight News, published 03.12.03 online at http://www.insightnews.com/articles.asp?mode=display&articleID=499 ACORN charges Wells Fargo with predatory lending As a Twin Cities coalition plans to launch a consumer education campaign against predatory lending called �Don�t Borrow Trouble�, a grassroots community organization says that one of the lenders involved in the coalition engages in predatory lending. According to Alton Bennett, an ACORN representative, �The best way for Wells Fargo to prevent predatory lending would be to not practice it.� Minnesota ACORN charges that as a Twin Cities coalition plans to launch a consumer education campaign against predatory lending called �Don�t Borrow Trouble�, one of the lenders involved in the coalition engages in predatory lending Wells Fargo last week was presented with a �shark of the year award� by Minnesota ACORN for its predatory lending. According to ACORN, Wells Fargo uses fraud and deception to trap homeowners into mortgages with high interest rates, excessive fees, and harmful terms. ACORN cited the cases of a number of families who had been lied to about the conditions of their loan and were refinanced out of a good loan they had at a much lower interest rate with a different lender to the new loan with Wells at a much higher rate, such as: Nina and Leandro Mata are South Minneapolis homeowners who had a loan with an 8% fixed rate and a monthly payment of $738, including taxes and insurance. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage refinanced them and gave them a new loan with an adjustable interest rate that started at 12.15% and could rise as high as 18.25%. Their monthly payment is now $1,144, this not including taxes and insurance, which are an additional $160. Their $109,000 loan included almost $10,000 in closing costs. Another, example is with Richard and Lynn Morneau who had a mortgage at 7.875% interest and a total monthly payment of $724 including taxes and insurance. Wells Fargo financial refinanced them and gave them a new mortgage at 11.98% interest and a monthly payment of $1,950, not including taxes and insurance which are an additional $150 permonth . Their $162,651 loan included over $8,500 in closing costs. Birdell Beaks is a North Minneapolis homeowner who had a 7.25% interest rate and a $320 per month mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, and always paid her mortgage on time. Wells Fargo Financial refinanced her and gave her a new loan with an 11% interest rate and an $880 monthly payment, not including taxes and insurance which are an additional $120 a month. The loan for $51,394 included $5,700 in closing costs. After an article about ACORN�s accusations ran in the Pioneer Press, the group says they received a number of calls from other Wells Fargo customers who saw the article and felt they had been ripped off. ACORN and ACORN Housing have brought the above cases and others to Wells Fargo�s attention, but they say Wells Fargo has refused to make any changes to the loans or talk to a housing counselor about the borrowers. In Minnesota and throughout the country, ACORN and its sister organization, ACORN Housing Corporation, are engaged in a multi-faceted campaign against predatory lending. The campaign involves outreach and education to help homeowners avoid becoming victims of predatory lending, counseling and assistance for people who have already fallen prey to abusive practices, direct action protests against predatory lenders, work for greater regulatory supervision by state and federal agencies, and efforts for stronger legislation on the local and national level. ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, with over 120,000 member families organized into 600 neighborhood chapters in 45 cities across the country. Since 1970 ACORN has taken action and won victories on issues of concern to our members. For more information on ACORN www.acorn.org. To receive updates on ACORN's work every two weeks go to www.acorn.org/getinvolved Since 1991, AHC has helped over 1,000 low and moderate income families purchase homes in the Twin Cities, and in 1999, AHC expanded its efforts to also assist existing homeowners. For more information visit www.acornhousing.org David Piehl Central __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Platinum - Watch CBS' NCAA March Madness, live on your desktop! http://platinum.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
