Time for more people to do like he did (which is explained in the article) and take action against this kind of corruption.
Wells Fargo is meeting [Friday] at noon with the Philadelphia homeowner who “foreclosed” on them, The Consumerist has exclusively learned. Patrick says he “received a call from upon high” late yesterday and that he now has an appointment, “with a very senior Wells Fargo person.” It will be interesting to see how this plays out. But how did Patrick go from embattled and ignored homeowner to seated across the negotiating table with leverage? I spoke with him to find out more about both how and why he did what he did. His story is an inspiration to anyone who’s dreamed of going toe-to-toe with the big banks and winning. Turns out that armed with persistence, and a little legal know-how, Davids can take down Goliaths.
Here’s the followup from Friday afternoon.
The people running big banks bleep therefore your service will bleep. John had it right. If at all possible deal with a smaller bank.
Kudos to the homeowner who didn’t allow the bank to walk all over him.
Unfortunately, this isn’t over. Now that the mainstream media has gotten hold of this, it’s in Wells Fargo’s best interest to not kow-tow. Too much money involved in screwing/coercing the small guy.
You know what…
If he did insure for a million bucks and claimed for replacement on a future event – there’s no way they’d pay out the full amount – because they’d assert the property was overinsured.
I love big business.
But, but About time the gummint itself estimates that he’s worth about 9 mil (with some adjustment for age.)
By the time he’s amortized to nothing he’s got to be at least 90. (In clear violation of the generally accepted accounting rules for depreciation which state that the maximum for depreciation is a 30 years term.)
Consumer Protection laws in the USA suck hind tit totally. This “leverage” was created by a default judgement by BofA refusing to answer questions. Paperwork probably got lost in the shuffle at BofA.
Still, if I were this guy I would be happy to meet with BofA==at my local House of Pancakes rather than their corporate offices. Like a little blueberry sauce on your settlement offer?
Ha, ha.
There is no “win” over an entity with lawyers on staff. One guy lucks out once. Man bites dog. Don’t be fooled. consumer protection laws need complete overhaul that never is going to happen.
Silly Hoomans.
Does this really have a place on this blog when yesterday the U.S. Atty ended all criminal probes of Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo?
Read Matt’s story for the truth about YOUR government’s collusion in this entire clusterf&^k.
This story is beautiful. Let’s have more of them here. It gives hope – hope we can believe in… ehm…. change we can believe in?
Makes you wonder if some moron lost his/her job over this. Deservedly so.
Were this to go to trial, I’d love to be the judge presiding.
Sorta awesome.
On a tenuously related item, I heard Barry Ritholtz talk with Pete Dominick on his show “Stand Up with Pete Dominick” on XM/Sirious satellite radio on Friday. One of the things he mentioned was MERS, short for Mortgage Electronic Registration System. They are the entity (or one of) that says they hold your mortgage note (when they actually do not) so the mortgage can be diced, sliced, and securitized. And evidently they knew as far back as 2006 that their procedures in foreclosures were screwy.
here is a link to his blog. The story is about halfway down.
Also, for a good laugh, read where he “invites” your comments.
stop dealing with banks period! join a credit union!!!
I think Wells Fargo needs to fire their CEO. Put in somebody who pays Obama and gets a sweet deal like Goldman Sachs.
snicker, snicker, snicker….
This was a very lazily reported story — I had to click on links 3 levels deep to get any background. Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer for some real reporting. I was afraid that was an extinct species in American newspapers.
That said, I really admire Patrick Rodgers for actually reading the actual law under which he sued. How many lawyers have gone to that much trouble? Not everyone involved in music promotion is a drug-addled flake, and not every piece of consumer protection has (yet) been vacuumed up or completely de-fanged.
Crap! That “laugh” means Patrick is selling out his principles for a couple of bucks, just like every other American for the past hundred years.
“I could have been a LEGEND of the American people and indeed, the entire world but instead, I decided to take a little bit of money and fade away into obscurity.”
What a missed opportunity to become immortal!
It’s a sad story after all, really.
To sum it up:
A Corporation walks away unscathed to steal again, laughing their asses off at the stupid peasants.
Good for him. He stuck with it, knew he was in the right, did his homework, and followed through.