| ACORNÂ Continues Assault on Wells
Attacks leave Wells Fargo at a loss June 28, 2004 By MortgageDaily.com staff
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| More than 2000 rally participants will converge in Los Angeles today to protest alleged predatory practices by one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders. The rally coincides with the planned filing of a nationwide lawsuit by consumer advocate group ACORN — which accuses the company of not informing borrowers they might qualify for a better rate.
In an announcement this weekend, ACORN said 2,000 people, including its members and predatory victims of Wells Fargo, will march from LAs city hall to protest alleged predatory lending practices in that city. The group, which says it is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income families, said it also is filing a nationwide lawsuit against Wells Fargo & Co. and Wells Fargo Financial, Inc. In the lawsuit, ACORN claims Wells Fargo practices deceptive lending practices including, “misleading borrowers about the real terms and conditions of their loans, ‘bait and switch’ sales tactics, and routinely failing to inform borrowers with good credit that they can qualify for credit at significantly better rates and fees than those charged them by Wells.” “The allegations in this particular lawsuit — that there’s a pattern of deceptive behavior — are false,” a Wells Fargo spokeswoman reportedly told the Los Angeles Times. The lawsuit will be filed as a representative action in California state court, ACORN said in its announcement. Wells Fargo Financial was named as a defendant in an Illinois class action lawsuit recently filed by ACORN, also known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. That suit, filed on behalf of Illinois borrowers, focussed on loans with interest rates above 8% that have fees greater than 3% — a violation of Illinois state law, according to ACORN. “We are at a loss to understand exactly what it is that ACORN wants,” Wells Fargo spokeswoman Melissa K. Morey told MortgageDaily.com in a statement about an ACORN demonstration outside Wells Fargo’s annual meeting earlier this year. “Wells Fargo does not engage in fraudulent or abusive lending and we strongly oppose the use of deceptive, predatory or abusive lending practices by anyone in the marketplace. “We simply don’t understand their actions.” ACORN said the rally participants will also be attending the group’s biannual national convention. |
