Anderson@Large

Wells Fargo, Fraudsters and Tainted Money

For preachers and some civil rights organizations, including the NAACP and the National Urban League, no money is tainted. For them, the only thing wrong with contributions from pariah corporations is that there t'aint enough.

But enough is enough.

Today, the Justice Department announced a $25 billion agreement with the five largest mortgage servicers: Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial (formerly GMAC). Attorney General Eric Holder said:

This agreement – the largest joint federal-state settlement ever obtained – is the result of unprecedented coordination among enforcement agencies throughout the government. It holds mortgage servicers accountable for abusive practices and requires them to commit more than $20 billion towards financial relief for consumers. As a result, struggling homeowners throughout the country will benefit from reduced principals and refinancing of their loans. The agreement also requires substantial changes in how servicers do business, which will help to ensure the abuses of the past are not repeated.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller added:

This monitored agreement holds the banks accountable, it provides badly needed relief to homeowners, and it transforms the mortgage servicing industry so now homeowners will be protected and treated fairly.

In his remarks on the landmark housing settlement, President Obama said:

By now, it’s well known that millions of Americans who did the right thing and the responsible thing – shopped for a house, secured a mortgage that they could afford, made their payments on time – were, nevertheless, hurt badly by the irresponsible actions of others: by lenders who sold loans to people who couldn’t afford them; by buyers who knew they couldn’t afford them; by speculators who were looking to make a quick buck; by banks that took risky mortgages, packaged them up, and traded them off for large profits.

The NAACP and the National Urban League trade their credibility, such as it is, for sponsorship by banks that engaged in discriminatory and fraudulent lending practices. Pariah corporations have long sponsored civil rights organizations to buy their silence.

It's up to the rest of us to make some noise. Hey, Ben Jealous, how's your “partnership” with Wells Fargo working out?

Ask a Woman Who Knows

Last week the leaders of two civil rights organizations, Marc Morial and Benjamin Jealous, met with President Obama to discuss job creation and economic growth.

The readout of the meeting notes that Obama “congratulated the leaders on their upcoming conventions.”

As expected, my post about black female civil rights leaders being left out of the meeting sparked accusations that I am a “hater.” My response: Guilty as charged.

I hate that Wells Fargo was the “Lead Sponsor” of the NAACP’s 101st annual convention. And they’re still hooked up in Los Angeles.

The predatory lender was a “Principal Sponsor” of the National Urban League’s centennial conference, and will be back on board when the League kicks off its annual conference this week.

Now check this out: On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Board ordered Wells Fargo to pay an $85 million fine for steering borrowers with good credit into subprime loans. I hate when that happens.

The order reads:

The $85 million civil money penalty is the largest the Board has assessed in a consumer-protection enforcement action and is the first formal enforcement action taken by a federal bank regulatory agency to address alleged steering of borrowers into high-cost, subprime loans.

[…]

The order addresses allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel steered borrowers who were potentially eligible for prime interest rate loans into loans at higher, subprime interest rates, resulting in greater costs to borrowers. The order also addresses separate allegations that Wells Fargo Financial sales personnel falsified information about borrowers’ incomes to make it appear that the borrowers qualified for loans when they would not have qualified based on their actual incomes.

I have been asked to identify the black women leaders who should have been invited. I will not name names because that would be a betrayal of their trust. Although they know their stuff, they would be ostracized and penalized for breaking the silence.

And I would really hate for that to happen.

UPDATE: The Huffington Post reports the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Wells Fargo for “allegedly preying upon African American borrowers during the housing bubble and steering them into high-cost subprime loans.”

What About Black Women Leaders

It is hot as hell in DC. It is even hotter under the collars of some African American women who are asking: Are we not civil rights leaders?

The women were set off by the news that President Obama was scheduled to meet with the leaders of two civil rights organizations – National Urban League President Marc Morial and NAACP President Benjamin Jealous. A readout of the meeting said "the President discussed the continued efforts his administration is making to spur job creation and economic growth."

The readout noted:

The President also reiterated that reducing unemployment, which disproportionately burdens the African-American community at 16.2%, remains a top priority for him and his Administration. The President also spoke with the two civil rights leaders about dramatic efforts his Administration has already made to address urban economic development through initiatives such as Strong Cities, Strong Communities, a program that acts to spur economic growth in urban centers while ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely and efficiently; the Treasury Department’s Community Development Financial Institutions fund; and the Minority Business Development Agency at the Department of Commerce.

This is the second time in two years that Obama has held a meeting with civil rights leaders and no black woman had a seat at the table.

In February 2010, the late Dr. Dorothy I. Height was the only black woman invited to the Urban Economy Summit. The then-97-year-old could not attend because of the extreme snow conditions.

There was extreme heat yesterday, but black women leaders felt a cold chill when they realized history was repeating itself. While they're not ready to go on the record, they told me they won't be silent much longer. They have earned a seat at the table. More important, they want to ensure issues of importance to black women and black families are addressed.

And lest the knee-jerk “hater” is bandied about, these are women who year-after-year -- election-after-election -- make things happen. All they're asking for is a little respect.

NAACP, Wells Fargo Still Hooked Up

A year ago, I broke the story that Wells Fargo was the lead sponsor of the NAACP’s 101st annual convention. I put the NAACP on blast for getting in bed with an “unequal opportunity lender.”

The relationship came on the heels of the NAACP dropping its three-year-old racial discrimination lawsuit against the subprime mortgage lender.

The NAACP has refused to disclose the financial terms of its “partnership” with Wells Fargo. But as a 501(c)(3), what it does in the dark eventually will be made public. So I made a mental note to check the civil rights organization’s IRS Form 990 to see how much it had been paid to hook up with the predatory lender.

It’s clear what the NAACP has become; now they’re just negotiating the price. So frankly, I put the issue on the backburner. That is until Saturday.

During the Investigative Reporters and Editors’ ethnic media watchdog workshop at the New York Times, IRE Executive Director Mark Horvit led a session on “key documents you can't live without.” Those documents include IRS Form 990, which nonprofits must file and make available for public inspection.

Back in the day, one had to go to a nonprofit’s office and demand to see its most recent filing. In the age of the Internet, one merely has to visit Guidestar and search its database.

It was serendipitous that someone asked Horvit to look up the NAACP’s Form 990.

A review of the NAACP’s 2009 Form 990 shows the organization raised a little over $3.5 million for its centennial convention in New York City, which I attended.

NAACP 2009 Form 990

In 2008, the NAACP raised $3 million for its 99th annual convention in Cincinnati.

The 990s set a baseline. I will update the story as information becomes available.

Meanwhile, the NAACP’s partner is under investigation by federal regulators and all 50 state attorneys general for illegal foreclosures by its mortgage servicers.

On Saturday, the New York Times editorialized:

Americans know that banks have mistreated borrowers in many ways in foreclosure cases. Among other things, they habitually filed false court documents. There were investigations. We’ve been waiting for federal and state regulators to crack down.

Prepare for a disappointment. As early as this week, federal bank regulators and the nation’s big banks are expected to close a deal that is supposed to address and correct the scandalous abuses. If these agreements are anything like the draft agreement recently published by the American Banker — and we believe they will be — they will be a wrist slap, at best. At worst, they are an attempt to preclude other efforts to hold banks accountable. They are unlikely to ease the foreclosure crisis.

The NAACP’s hookup with Wells Fargo is more than a disappointment. It’s a measure of the extent to which the nation’s oldest civil rights organization has lost its way.

NAACP, Kid Rock and the Confederate Flag

The Detroit Branch NAACP is under fire over its plan to honor Kid Rock at its upcoming Fight For Freedom Fund Dinner. It is unbelievable the largest branch of the nation’s oldest civil rights organization would honor someone who likes to wrap himself in the Confederate flag because “it just represents pride in Southern rock’ n’ roll, plus it just looks cool.”

The Detroit branch boasts that its annual fundraiser “is the largest sit down dinner of its kind in the world. Serving approximately 10,000 guests with a first class meal, world-class entertainment, and some of the world’s renowned keynote address speakers.”

If longtime political consultant Adolph Mongo has his way, this year’s event won’t set a record.

On my recent visit to the Museum of Jewish Heritage, I was startled when I turned a corner and saw this Nazi flag.

It has been a while since I saw one in person. Can you imagine a Jewish group honoring someone who thought the Nazi flag “just looks cool”?

Welcome to the Tea Party Congress

I am not a fan of Howard Fineman, but he is spot-on in noting the Tea Party Congress is in session:

The new, more Republican Congress won’t arrive in town until next month, but the Tea Party Era unofficially began on the Hill Thursday night.

Republican leaders in Congress, blindsided by grassroots fury over the tax cut deal they made with President Obama, are now scrambling to show their allegiance to the anti-federal, anti-debt movement.

The GOP brass, led by Senate party leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), did so tonight by eagerly backing the successful efforts of Tea Party favorites to block debate on a $1.1 trillion “omnibus” spending bill that would fund the entire federal government until next October -- but which contained billions of dollars in “earmarks” Republicans, including McConnell, once stoutly defended.

The omnibus bill also contained the spending priorities of the Obama administration and the soon-to-be-ended Democratic-controlled Congress.

Fineman added:

But Reid announced Thursday night that he didn't have the votes he needed to block the maneuver or ensure debate after the reading of the bill. The reason, he said, is that nine Republicans who initially promised to support him had changed their minds.

Game, set, match Tea Party.

After being demonized as racist and “un-American,” tea partiers are now in charge.

One Nation March on Washington

Progressives will be on the march in Washington on Saturday. By one estimate, over 400,000 people are expected for the One Nation march for “jobs, justice and education for all.”

The crowd estimate comes from a union organizer who informed me that I could not get on her bus because I did not reside in her district (New Jersey). When I mentioned few bus rides are listed on website, she said that was because organizers were concerned tea partiers would reserve all the seats.

The march’s endorsing organizations are a who’s who of the “progressive left,” including the AFL-CIO, NAACP, Service Employees International Union, National Council of La Raza and National Action Network.

During an appearance on TV One’s “Washington Watch,” NAACP President Ben Jealous said:

We and the Tea Party are responding to the same moment. They see this moment of increasing diversity, decreasing prosperity, and they say, “Let’s attack diversity. Let’s push down on diversity.” We say, “Let’s push up on prosperity.” They want to turn this into a battleground. We want to find common ground.

For more info, visit One Nation Working Together.