Community Prays to Halt Eviction of Marcus Bookstore

pray-for-marcus-booksHome of Oldest Black Bookstore in U.S. Sold at Foreclosure Auction

On Sunday, June 16, 2013, forty supporters of the oldest black bookstore in the U.S. went to church to pray that speculators who purchased the building at a foreclosure auction will sell it to a non-profit investment group at a small profit so that the bookstore can remain open in San Francisco’s Fillmore neighborhood. The new owners have ordered an eviction of the bookstore and residents of the building for as soon as June 18, 2013.

About twenty supporters entered the church mass at 11:00am at St. Nicholas Church, 5200 Diamond Heights Blvd (between Duncan Street and Safira Lane) to pray for the bookstore. One of the new property owners is a deacon at the church. The bookstore’s supporters silently held images of St. Nicholas that stated “Pray the Sweis’ Do the Right Thing: Save Marcus Books” during the service, while the rest of those attending stood outside the church handing flyers the congregation.

Links    Background    Videos    Photos

Links:

– SF Examiner article: http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/marcus-books-on-the-brink-of-closure/Content?oid=2449806

– KGO video and article: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/san_francisco&id=9134353

– History of Marcus Bookstore: http://www.marcusbookstores.com/history.html

Background:

Founded in 1960, in a building that once housed the jazz club Jimbo’s Bop City and was saved from the redevelopment bulldozers in the Fillmore neighborhood, Marcus Bookstore has long served the African-American community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Bookstore owners and building residents Gregory and Karen Johnson took out a loan in 2006 to pay expenses. During the economic downturn, payments on their predatory loan ballooned to more than $10,000 a month. Then came bankruptcy and eventually a bank foreclosure auction that sold the property to speculators.

According to the San Francisco Examiner, Westside Community Services has offered to pay the new owners, Nishan and Suhaila Sweis of South San Francisco, $1.64 million for the building, which would be a profit of $50,000 or 3 percent, but the Sweises are apparently holding out for $3.2 million.

A number of organizations and individuals have declared their support of Marcus Bookstore, including Westside Community Services, Supervisor London Breed, NAACP, John Coltrane Church, Code Pink, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), and others.

ACCE is the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment and is a network of dozens of community based organizations across California working in 14 different Counties to raise the voice of low income, immigrant and working families across the state for better jobs, schools, healthcare and housing. In San Francisco, ACCE Chapters work in the city’s lowest income communities to bring accountable and transparent investment back to their communities to achieve these goals. For more information visit www.calorganize.org.

Videos

Photos

June 12 San Francisco Retirement System Refusing Debate on Investments in Discriminatory Banks

Update: Nine housing justice activists staged a “magical, transformational intervention” of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board meeting on June 12, 2013, in which masked players impersonated the Retirement Board Commissioners and explained why they had a change of heart, then passed two motions to engage banks like Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase on their illegal, predatory, and discriminatory lending practices according to the long-standing SFERS social investment policy.

The nonviolent protest took place at the time that has been reserved for public comment for the past 20 years until the public comment period was moved to the end at the last SFERS Retirement Board meeting in May, requiring those wanting to make public comment to wait through three to four hours of deliberations before getting a chance to speak. SFERS Executive Director Jay Huish had also canceled, for no other reason than his “discretion”, a May 29th Special Meeting to discuss the motions on discriminatory bank lending requested by SFERS Commissioner Malia Cohen, who also serves on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.


The San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board is refusing to debate two motions regarding investments in banks engaged in discriminatory lending. For the sixth month, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and their supporters from the vast majority of SFERS current and retired employee organizations will demand that the Retirement Board consider these motions to urge the banks to halt their predatory lending practices and to stop evicting our neighbors from their homes and make it right for those who have already been evicted.

What: SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on Predatory Bank Investments
When: 1:30pm on Wednesday, June 12 (go immediately to sign in and stand in line at the door to get a seat — no protest in front of the building this time)
Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor, near Market Street, San Francisco
Petition: https://tinyurl.com/crt5kga

SFERS Commissioner Herb Meiberger introduced the motions at the April 10, 2013, SFERS Retirement Board meeting with overwhelming support from current and retired city employees served by the retirement system (read Commissioner Meiberger’s remarks about the meeting here).

Background:

IMG_2972_1Current and retired city employees, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters, and supporters from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on January 9, February 13, March 13, April 10, and May 8, 2013.

At each meeting, the group asked the Retirement Board to uphold its fiduciary responsibility to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and some asked the banks to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.

A number of organizations have declared their support of the motions including organizations representing most of the members of the SFERS retirement system:

The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:

“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)

A record number of San Francisco City and County employees, as well as others residents of San Francisco and beyond, are facing mortgage loan defaults, foreclosures, and evictions (an estimated 12,000 foreclosures in San Francisco between 2008 and 2011). Many have already lost their homes.

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America are the market leaders in foreclosures and related evictions here in San Francisco and statewide. These banks engaged in illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices by putting African-American and Latino borrowers into higher-cost, subprime loans than white borrowers. In fact, in July 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay what ended up as $234.3 million to settle a United States Department of Justice lawsuit for its discriminatory mortgage lending practices affecting more than 30,000 borrowers, including those banking at the Bayview Wells Fargo branch.

Billions of dollars in mortgage lender settlements with government agencies and other parties have to date not managed to solve the mortgage lending crisis, making mortgage lenders and servicers a potential medium-term and long-term investment risk. Illegal, predatory, and discriminatory foreclosures harm all homeowners, erode the property tax base, and cost local governments, hurting the standard of living of retirees and all working people.

01Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $234.3 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.

Wells Fargo is putting 32 families at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure and related evictions. Wells Fargo is foreclosing on and evicting veterans and disabled and senior homeowners and families with children, as well as targeting homeowners with life-threatening illnesses. Wells Fargo has engaged in predatory, fraudulent, and racist lending practices and has contributed to a rash of foreclosure deaths.

Links:

Statement Read by ACCE/Occupy Organizers at May 8, 2013, SFERS Retirement Board Meeting    Petition Supporting SFERS Motions    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Agenda for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Staff Memo for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    SFERS Social Investment Policy    Members of SFERS Retirement Board    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on March 13, 2013    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on January 9, 2013    San Francisco Business Times    KCBS (including audio segment)    Wells Pays $234.3 Million to Resolve Allegations of Racial Discrimination in Providing Mortgage Loans    Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview Branch Action    Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Branch    Occupy Wells Fargo HQ    Occupy Senior and Veteran Evictions and Foreclosures (Occupy Anniversary)

For updates: http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=9983

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters From ACCE / Occupy Meet Wells Fargo re Predatory Loans

Update: Later on May 15, 2013, Wells Fargo evicted disabled African-American senior Bernetta Adolph after years of struggle.


Update: On May 15, 2013, Merrie Jo and Edzel Musni received a called from Wells Fargo’s HELOC department referencing Miguel Bustos, so there is at least one positive outcome of the meeting.


IMG_3608_1On May 14, 2013, five Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign met with Wells Fargo executive Miguel Bustos regarding Wells Fargo’s predatory and discriminatory lending practices and how to resolve 18 default, foreclosure, and related eviction cases in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wells Fargo executives who attended the April 10, 2013, meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board and offered repeatedly to meet during the SFERS meeting, then snubbed all the email invitations sent to them after the SFERS meeting was over. So, ACCE and Occupy activists entered a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Center at 2258 Market Street and demanded a meeting with one of the executives.

If Miguel Bustos was sincere in his commitment to make a real effort to settle the 18 cases brought to him, including the case of Bernetta Adolph who faces eviction on May 15, 2013, then the meeting was a successful one.

Links: Videos    Photos

Videos

Photos

May 8 San Francisco Retirement System Debating Investments in Discriminatory Banks

The San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board is debating two motions regarding investments in banks engaged in discriminatory lending.

What: SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on Predatory Bank Investments
When: 1:00pm on Wednesday, April 10 (go immediately to sign in and stand in line at the door to get a seat — no protest in front of the building this time)
Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor, near Market Street, San Francisco
RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/508497745864874
Petition: https://tinyurl.com/crt5kga

SFERS Commissioner Herb Meiberger introduced the motions at the April 10, 2013, SFERS Retirement Board meeting with overwhelming support from current and retired city employees served by the retirement system (read Commissioner Meiberger’s remarks about the meeting here).

Background:

IMG_2972_1Current and retired city employees, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters, and supporters from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on January 9, February 13, March 13, and April 10, 2013.

At each meeting, the group asked the Retirement Board to uphold its fiduciary responsibility to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and some asked the banks to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.

A number of organizations have declared their support of the motions including organizations representing most of the members of the SFERS retirement system:

The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:

“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)

A record number of San Francisco City and County employees, as well as others residents of San Francisco and beyond, are facing mortgage loan defaults, foreclosures, and evictions (an estimated 12,000 foreclosures in San Francisco between 2008 and 2011). Many have already lost their homes.

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America are the market leaders in foreclosures and related evictions here in San Francisco and statewide. These banks engaged in illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices by putting African-American and Latino borrowers into higher-cost, subprime loans than white borrowers. In fact, in July 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay what ended up as $234.3 million to settle a United States Department of Justice lawsuit for its discriminatory mortgage lending practices affecting more than 30,000 borrowers, including those banking at the Bayview Wells Fargo branch.

Billions of dollars in mortgage lender settlements with government agencies and other parties have to date not managed to solve the mortgage lending crisis, making mortgage lenders and servicers a potential medium-term and long-term investment risk. Illegal, predatory, and discriminatory foreclosures harm all homeowners, erode the property tax base, and cost local governments, hurting the standard of living of retirees and all working people.

01Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $234.3 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.

Wells Fargo is putting 32 families at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure and related evictions. Wells Fargo is foreclosing on and evicting veterans and disabled and senior homeowners and families with children, as well as targeting homeowners with life-threatening illnesses. Wells Fargo has engaged in predatory, fraudulent, and racist lending practices and has contributed to a rash of foreclosure deaths.

Links:

Petition Supporting SFERS Motions    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Agenda for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Staff Memo for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    SFERS Social Investment Policy    Members of SFERS Retirement Board    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on March 13, 2013    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on January 9, 2013    San Francisco Business Times    KCBS (including audio segment)    Wells Pays $234.3 Million to Resolve Allegations of Racial Discrimination in Providing Mortgage Loans    Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview Branch Action    Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Branch    Occupy Wells Fargo HQ    Occupy Senior and Veteran Evictions and Foreclosures (Occupy Anniversary)

For updates: http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=9510

Occupy the Banks for Housing Justice on April 27, 2013

IMG_3484_1Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters took the struggle for housing justice to the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco on April 27, 2013, with an Occupy the Banks for Housing Justice bank crawl.

The crowd visited the Bank of America branch near 29th and Mission Streets, the JP Morgan Chase branch at 26th and Mission Streets, the Bank of America branch at 23rd and Mission Streets, the US Bank branch at 22nd and Mission Streets, and the Wells Fargo branch at 22nd and Missions Streets.

At each branch, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters delivered a letter to be faxed to bank executives. The group leafleted the Mission in Spanish and English.

Many thanks to the Brass Liberation Orchestra which provided festive music for the event and to Reverend Billy and the Stop Bank of America Gospel Choir (aka Stop Shopping Choir) visiting from New York City who joined up with us at the second Bank of America branch.

A23 Wells Fargo Shareholder Meeting Protests Draw Hundreds of Protestors, Demand Housing Justice

IMG_3112_1A protest at the Wells Fargo headquarters at 420 Montgomery Street in San Francisco took place on April 13, 2013, in coordination with a protest earlier the same day at the Wells Fargo Shareholder meeting held in Salt Lake City, Utah. These protests are a special edition of the Occupy Wells Fargo Vigil to Stop Evictions.

More than a dozen protestors from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) and other organizations infiltrated the shareholders meeting and told Wells Fargo executives what they thought of their practices regarding predatory, illegal, and discriminatory lending and related foreclosures and evictions. Maria Alvarez, whose family is facing eviction by Wells Fargo, got to tell Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf to his face that he is a liar, then Wells threw the protestors out of the shareholders meeting.

IMG_3134_1Meanwhile, in San Francisco, about one hundred protestors from the ACCE (San Francisco and Oakland), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions campaign held a memorial service in front of the Wells Fargo Headquarters and History Museum at 420 Montgomery Street. A trumpeter named Elaine played taps and Archbishop Franzo King delighted participants with his saxophone stylings. Various spokespeople read out the names of those who have lost their home or their lives to foreclosures and evictions, spoke in solidarity with those protesting in Salt Lake City, and listed off the many families still struggling to save their homes from Wells Fargo. After each name or section, the crowd chanted repeatedly, “Housing Justice, Home Security!”. Finally, Kathy Lipscomb and Merrie Jo Musni delivered some calalilies to Wells Fargo to complete the memorial service.

Links: Media Coverage    Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in Salt Lake City    Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in San Francisco   Photos of Wells Fargo Protest    Videos of Union Bank Protest    Photos of Union Bank Protest

Media Coverage

ABC 4: http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Protestors-travel-to-SLC-to-rally-at-Wells-Fargos/bxvrOQVRw0ySHLv5QpLKXA.cspx

Associated Press: http://www.ctpost.com/news/crime/article/Demonstrators-disrupt-Wells-Fargo-meeting-in-Utah-4456961.php

Charlotte Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/bank_notes/2013/04/protesters-interrupt-wells-fargo.html

Deseret News: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/print/865578855/Protestors-target-Wells-Fargo-annual-meeting.html

Getty Images: http://www.google.com/hostednews/getty/article/ALeqM5gRHE2aisbbNKB1X2Aq31hpdgV86A?docId=167277289

Philadelphia Business Journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/blog/jeff-blumenthal/2013/04/big-banks-met-with-protest-at-annual.html

Salt Lake Tribune: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/56197313-79/wells-fargo-meeting-bank.html.csp

San Francisco Bay Guardian: http://www.sfbg.com/print/politics/2013/04/23/wells-fargo-foreclosure-fighters-they%E2%80%99re-baaaack

San Francisco Business Times: http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2013/04/protesters-hit-wells-fargo-annual.html?page=all

Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in Salt Lake City

Videos of Wells Fargo Protest in San Francisco

Photos of Wells Fargo Protest

Then, the group broke up with some people going on to protest an eviction by Union Bank at a branch nearby.

Videos of Union Bank Protest

Photos of Union Bank Protest

SFERS Inaction on Predatory Bank Motions for City Retirement Funds

IMG_2972_1The San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board decided on April 10, 2013, not to decide anything at all on the two predatory banking motions Commissioner Herb Meiberger proposed to the Retirement Board. The vote took place in a roundabout way after much comment from the public and the commissioners in Commissioner and SF Supervisor Malia Cohen’s absence (due to illness) and once SFERS Retirement Board President Wendy Paskin-Jordan and Commissioner Brenda Wright, a senior Wells Fargo employee, had recused themselves from the deliberations. Commission Victor Makras disclosed ownership of about $11,000 of Bank of America stock, which perhaps also should have been grounds for recusal.

After much discussion from the standing-room only crowd, including lots of Wells Fargo employees paid to attend and representatives from nonprofit organizations receiving Wells Fargo funds, as well as presentation of a petition in support of the motions signed by more than 130 people, Commissioner Meiberger was unable to get a second for the motion. Then, Commissioner Makras proposed a negative motion to stop further deliberations on Herb’s motion, for which he got a second, but could not get a majority vote since Commissioner and police officer Brian Stansbury joined Commissioner Meiberger in opposing the negative motion. However, when Commissioner Meiberger again proposed the original motion, Commissioner Stansbury still did not second the motion, so the Commission did nothing at all.

If the motion should come up with Commissioner Cohen present, it seems that she could provide the necessary second for the original motions and would perhaps be able to cast the deciding vote yea or nay on at least the first, if not also the second motion.

Go to: Media Coverage    Videos    Audio    Photos    Background    Links   

Media Coverage

San Francisco Business Times (note: incorrectly states that activists protested at Brenda Wright’s home)    San Francisco Examiner

Videos

Thanks to Steve Zeltzer for the first summary video above.

Thanks to John of Bright Path Video for the summary videos above (parts I and II).

Audio

Photos

Background:

IMG_2337_1Current and retired city employees, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters, and supporters from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on January 9, February 13, and March 13, 2013.

At each meeting, the group asked the Retirement Board to uphold its fiduciary responsibility to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.

Since the last SFERS Retirement Board meeting, a number of organizations have declared their support of the motions under consideration at the April 10 meeting, including the Retired Employees of the City and County of San Francisco (RECCSF), Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Tenants Union.

The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:

“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)

A record number of San Francisco City and County employees, as well as others residents of San Francisco and beyond, are facing mortgage loan defaults, foreclosures, and evictions (an estimated 12,000 foreclosures in San Francisco between 2008 and 2011). Many have already lost their homes.

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America are the market leaders in foreclosures and related evictions here in San Francisco and statewide. These banks engaged in illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices by putting African-American and Latino borrowers into higher-cost, subprime loans than white borrowers. In fact, in July 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $175 million to settle a United States Department of Justice lawsuit for its discriminatory mortgage lending practices affecting more than 30,000 borrowers, including those banking at the Bayview Wells Fargo branch.

Billions of dollars in mortgage lender settlements with government agencies and other parties have to date not managed to solve the mortgage lending crisis, making mortgage lenders and servicers a potential medium-term and long-term investment risk. Illegal, predatory, and discriminatory foreclosures harm all homeowners, erode the property tax base, and cost local governments, hurting the standard of living of retirees and all working people.

01Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $175 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.

Wells Fargo is putting 32 families at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure and related evictions during this holiday season. Wells Fargo is foreclosing on and evicting veterans and disabled and senior homeowners and families with children, as well as targeting homeowners with life-threatening illnesses. Wells Fargo has engaged in predatory, fraudulent, and racist lending practices and has contributed to a rash of foreclosure deaths.

Links:

Petition Supporting SFERS Motions    April 10 Media Advisory    Agenda for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Staff Memo for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    SFERS Social Investment Policy    Members of SFERS Retirement Board    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on March 13, 2013    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on January 9, 2013    San Francisco Business Times    KCBS (including audio segment)    Wells Pays $175 Million to Resolve Allegations of Racial Discrimination in Providing Mortgage Loans    Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview Branch Action    Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Branch    Occupy Wells Fargo HQ    Occupy Senior and Veteran Evictions and Foreclosures (Occupy Anniversary)

San Francisco Retirement System to Debate Investments in Predatory Banks

The San Francisco Employee Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board plans to consider two motions regarding investments in banks engaged in illegal, predatory, or discriminatory lending at its next meeting.

What: SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on Predatory Bank Investments
When: 1:30pm on Wednesday, April 10 (arrive early to get a seat before meeting starts at 2:00pm)
Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor, near Market Street, San Francisco

SFERS Commissioner Herb Meiberger introduced the motions with overwhelming support from current and retired city employees served by the retirement system.

Background:

IMG_2337_1Current and retired city employees, Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters, and supporters from Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1021, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe, and the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions Campaign provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on January 9, February 13, and March 13, 2013.

At each meeting, the group asked the Retirement Board to uphold its fiduciary responsibility to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.

Since the last SFERS Retirement Board meeting, a number of organizations have declared their support of the motions under consideration at the April 10 meeting, including the Retired Employees of the City and County of San Francisco (RECCSF), Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Tenants Union.

The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:

“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)

A record number of San Francisco City and County employees, as well as others residents of San Francisco and beyond, are facing mortgage loan defaults, foreclosures, and evictions (an estimated 12,000 foreclosures in San Francisco between 2008 and 2011). Many have already lost their homes.

Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America are the market leaders in foreclosures and related evictions here in San Francisco and statewide. These banks engaged in illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices by putting African-American and Latino borrowers into higher-cost, subprime loans than white borrowers. In fact, in July 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $175 million to settle a United States Department of Justice lawsuit for its discriminatory mortgage lending practices affecting more than 30,000 borrowers, including those banking at the Bayview Wells Fargo branch.

Billions of dollars in mortgage lender settlements with government agencies and other parties have to date not managed to solve the mortgage lending crisis, making mortgage lenders and servicers a potential medium-term and long-term investment risk. Illegal, predatory, and discriminatory foreclosures harm all homeowners, erode the property tax base, and cost local governments, hurting the standard of living of retirees and all working people.

01Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $175 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.

Wells Fargo is putting 32 families at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure and related evictions during this holiday season. Wells Fargo is foreclosing on and evicting veterans and disabled and senior homeowners and families with children, as well as targeting homeowners with life-threatening illnesses. Wells Fargo has engaged in predatory, fraudulent, and racist lending practices and has contributed to a rash of foreclosure deaths.

Links:

Agenda for SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on April 10, 2013    Members of SFERS Retirement Board    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on March 13, 2013    SFERS Retirement Board Meeting on January 9, 2013    San Francisco Business Times    KCBS (including audio segment)    Wells Pays $175 Million to Resolve Allegations of Racial Discrimination in Providing Mortgage Loans    Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview Branch Action    Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Branch    Occupy Wells Fargo HQ    Occupy Senior and Veteran Evictions and Foreclosures (Occupy Anniversary)

For this release and updates: http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8821

PNC Bank Protest — Help Yin Wong Stay in Her Home!

IMG_2779_1On March 15, 2013, few dozen protestors from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Occupy Bernal, Occupy Noe and other organizations protested PNC Bank’s seventh attempt to evict disabled senior Yin Wong from her San Francisco Bayview home even though she made all her payments on time. The Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and their supporters shut down the entrances to the PNC Bank branch on the 28th floor of 575 Market Street, as well as access to the rest of the building except through a loading dock on the rear side of the building. The group demanded that PNC Bank cancel the eviction and sell Yin Wong her home.

Media coverage: Huffington Post

Videos and photos:

Links: Action Alert    Protest at PNC on August 27, 2012    Protest at PNC on July 26, 2012    OLD PNC Action flyer in English    OLD PNC Action Flyer in Chinese

Action: SFERS, Please Stop Investing in Wells Fargo!

ACCE, SEIU, Occupy Bernal, and Occupy Noe Foreclosure and Eviction Fighters and supporters again provided important testimony about the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of banks like Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America at the meeting of the San Francisco Employee Retirement System Retirement Board on March 13, 2013, just as previously on January 9, 2013 and on February 13, 2013.

The group again asked the Retirement Board to investigate the illegal, predatory, and discriminatory practices of the banks, to request that the banks stop these practices, to sponsor shareholder resolutions if they don’t stop, and to divest from the banks’ stocks if the shareholder resolutions do not succeed. Some of the Commissioners responded favorably to the public comment testimony.

Media coverage: San Francisco Business Times    KCBS (including audio segment)

Videos:

Grace Martinez of ACCE provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Gladys Dewitt provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

SFERS Retirement Board President Wendy Paskin-Jordan, a former Wells Fargo employee, responds to public testimony.

San Francisco Muni employee and Local 200 former President Alice Fialkin provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Ian Haddow provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Former San Francisco city employee Susan McDonough provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Larry Faulks, evicted from his home by Wells Fargo, provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter and Teamster Ricardo Rodriguez provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Harry Baker, Retirement Security Chair for SEIU Local 1021, which is the largest union representing SFERS members, provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Foreclosure and Eviction Fighter Jackie Wright provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

Grace Martinez of ACCE provides testimony to SFERS Retirement Board.

SFERS Retirement Board staff and commissioners discuss whether they can calendar consideration of a resolution on foreclosures and related evictions at the next SFERS meeting in April 2013.

SFERS Retirement Board staff and commissioners continue discussing whether they can calendar consideration of a resolution on foreclosures and related evictions at the next SFERS meeting in April 2013.

The rest of the discussion was not captured on video.


01#1 in SF Foreclosures and Related Evictions: Racist and Predatory

Who: (Retired and Current) City Employees, especially those facing foreclosure/eviction and supporters
What: Public Comment at San Francisco Employees Retirement System (SFERS) Retirement Board Meeting (2 minute limit)
When: 2:00pm, Wednesday, March 13
Where: 30 Van Ness Avenue, 3rd floor (near Market Street)

We are asking SFERS to do the following:

  • Investigate investments in Wells Fargo, which is #1 in foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco and elsewhere, as well as other lenders foreclosing on and evicting San Francisco homeowners..
  • Prepare and submit a Wells Fargo shareholder resolution to stop predatory and/or racist foreclosures and related evictions for consideration at the next annual Wells Fargo shareholder meeting (probably in April 2013).
  • If Wells Fargo doesn’t adopt the shareholder resolution at its next shareholder meeting and take immediate steps to implement policies and practices in line with the resolution, then divest from any investment in Wells Fargo within three months after that shareholder meeting.

We are asking San Francisco Mayor Lee to do the following:

  • Appoint only qualified candidates to the SFERS Retirement Board who are not executives or employees at Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, or Bank of America (the top three in predatory foreclosures and related evictions in San Francisco).
  • Issue a statement in support of divestment from Wells Fargo of all San Francisco City and County funds, including employee retirement and disability funds.

Background:

The San Francisco Employee Retirement Systems (SFERS) handles investments for pension funds for current and retired San Francisco city employees. SFERS has policies that include “Social Investment Procedures” adopted at the SFERS Retirement Board meeting of September 27, 1988, which requires the SFERS Retirement Board when making investments in stocks, mutual funds, and so on, to consider:

“Community Relations: the relationship of the corporation to the communities in which it operates shall be maintained as a good corporate citizen through observing proper environmental standards, supporting the local economic, social and cultural climate, conducting acquisitions and reorganizations to minimize adverse effects and not discriminate in making loans or writing insurance.” (emphasis added by Occupy the Auctions)

Wells Fargo is #1 in San Francisco foreclosures. San Francisco’s Mayor and Board of Supervisors have unanimously requested a halt to foreclosures and related evictions, especially since San Francisco Assessor-Recorder’s report showing that 84% of foreclosures have at least one legal violation and due to Wells’ $175 million settlement with the United States Department of Justice paid in response to allegations of racial discrimination in providing mortgage loans in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point and other neighborhoods.

Wells Fargo’s “waterfall” model, along with similar policies from other lenders, ensures that the bank can squeeze the most money possible from homeowners struggling to make payments while finally discarding them like trash if the bank can’t make a profit on every single loan. Running a mortgage loan business means assuming risks, especially after receiving billions in bailout funds from the taxpayers, many of whom are Wells’ mortgage loan borrowers.

Wells Fargo is putting 32 families at risk of losing their homes due to foreclosure and related evictions during this holiday season. Wells Fargo is foreclosing on and evicting veterans and disabled and senior homeowners and families with children, as well as targeting homeowners with life-threatening illnesses. Wells Fargo has engaged in predatory, fraudulent, and racist lending practices and has contributed to a rash of foreclosure deaths.


This alert brought to you by ACCE, Occupy Bernal, and other supportive organizations coordinated within the Occupy the Auctions and Evictions campaign.

Links: SFERS Meeting on January 9, 2013    Wells 29 Action Alert    Wells 32 Action Flyer (four to page)    Wells Pays $175 Million to Resolve Allegations of Racial Discrimination in Providing Mortgage Loans    Occupy Our Homes Wells Fargo Bayview Branch Action    Occupy Wells Fargo Noe Branch    Occupy Wells Fargo HQ    Occupy Senior and Veteran Evictions and Foreclosures (Occupy Anniversary)    Upcoming Bank Auctions of Foreclosure/Eviction Fighter Homes    Foreclosure/Eviction Fighter Profiles

For updates and this action alert: http://occupytheauctions.org/wordpress/?p=8449