Homeowner advocates are calling on John Stumpf, the CEO of Wells Fargo Bank and bank shareholders to review the mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices of the bank. The bank’s annual shareholder meeting is in Salt Lake City Tuesday. The group Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project joined other advocate groups at the meeting to present a joint resolution. Josh Zinner is NEDAP's co-director. He says Wells Fargo is not meeting the requirements of the $175 million dollar settlement with the Department of Justice over questionable lending practices with homeowners.
“They’re required to do these loan modifications in a non-discriminatory manner but we believe that these modifications are not reaching communities of color and low income communities,” Zinner says.
He says the resolution also calls into question the payday lending practices of Wells Fargo’s product known as Direct Deposit Advance which is available in Utah but is not legal in New York.
“So it doesn’t actually help people, it harms people." "Instead," Zinner says, "Wells Fargo should provide an affordable, underwritten, small-dollar credit product to adequately serve communities. They’re not doing this.”
Wells Fargo's Assistant Vice-President of Corporate Communications, Julie Campbell issued a written statement to KUER in response to the planned protest. She says, "we will always respect the rights of Americans to peacefully assemble, and we welcome open and collaborative dialog with our stakeholders."
Campbell did not respond directly to the main concerns by protestors about the Direct Deposit Advance product of Wells Fargo.
