“Update, the hearing is postponed from this Monday due to the hurricane Sandy – Court was closed for 2 days causing a backlog. No new date set as of yet.”

My name is Elizabeth Jacobson.   I blew the whistle – loudly and with conviction — on Wells Fargo for its predatory lending practices and reverse redlining.  My Affidavit (copy attached) was used in Baltimore City’s lawsuit against Wells Fargo and then used in conjunction with my interviews with the Department of Justice to settle a claim this past July between the DOJ and Wells Fargo.  My intervention resulted in a payout by Wells Fargo to the tune of $178 million dollars.  I have not been, am not now being, nor will I be compensated for my being instrumental in the success of these two cases.

Thanks to forensic loan servicing documentation analysis and compliance consultation of Professional Compliance Examiners (PaCE, LLC) in Maryland, I am poised to assert factually that Wells Fargo has staged a perfect retribution for my free speech pronouncements: Wells Fargo has inexplicably returned all my payments received from me under a HAMP loan modification in order to use the legal system to file a foreclosure action to take my home.  This is despite the fact that Wells Fargo does not own my loan, and that Wells Fargo’s own transparent actions document the retributive injustice it metes out here.  The facts

  • On 10/15/07 I closed on my home, which continues to be my primary residence.  My lender was Wells Fargo.
  • On 11/13/07, nearly one month later, Freddie Mac purchased the loan to my home.
  • I was employed by Wells Fargo from 8/1998 – 12/2007, where I was consistently a top producer, and a 5-time President Club winner.
  • My Affidavit was used as evidence in the case brought by Baltimore City against Wells Fargo.  On 7/2/09, Judge Lee denied Wells Fargo’s Motion to Dismiss that case citing the basis of his decision on my Affidavit.
  • In November 2009, I submitted a loan modification application for HAMP (Home Affordable Modification Program ) to Wells Fargo as the servicer of my loan.  I timely remitted all 3 trial-period payments, as well as 4 more payments as Wells Fargo conveniently failed to convert the trial period to a permanent loan modification in the required 3-month time period.
  • Michael Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo, testified to Congress on 6/24/2010, wherein he discussed the lawsuits in Baltimore City and Memphis (my Affidavit was also used in the Memphis case).  Mr. Heid acknowledged my Affidavit in his testimony.
  • On 6/29/10, just 5 days after Mr. Heid acknowledges my Affidavit, Wells Fargo denied my application for HAMP due to “missing paperwork” but did not ever specify what paperwork was missing.
  • Wells Fargo issues me a letter dated 6/30/10 indicating that it would continue to work with me in securing a loan modification. 
  • On 7/6/2010, Wells Fargo, out of the blue, issued to me a check for ‘misapplication reversal.”  The amount was equivalent to the sum of all 7 of the HAMP payments I had remitted to Wells Fargo.  This is a violation of HAMP, which holds that “In no event should the Servicer return the funds to the Borrower” – directly from the MHA (making Home Affordable)  FAQ. 

Based on the foregoing facts, Wells Fargo had no intention of working with me to secure a loan modification as they stated in their 6/29/10 letter.  It returned all the HAMP payments it received from me one week later, violating both HAMP and Freddie Mac requirements.  Wells Fargo refused to accept my mortgage payments and refused to work with me to modify my loan, and instead had me walk the plank into the sea of foreclosure.  In June 2012, Wells Fargo stacked the deck to play this hand:  It is the ‘secured’ party to my loan. No documentation supports this claim, nor changes the fact that since 11/13/2007 Freddie Mac has been the owner/investor on the loan and Wells Fargo merely the servicer. 

Attached is my letter to FHFA (Federal Housing Finance Agency) whose response to me was that they were forwarding my information to Freddie Mac.  To date, I have not been contacted by Freddie Mac.

I choose to face Wells Fargo at a hearing regarding my foreclosure on November 5, 2012, at 9:00 in Talbot County Circuit Court. 

When I spoke out about what Wells Fargo did against public policy and tax-paying consumers, everyone wanted to hear my story.  If we do not express anger and moral outrage at evil, something is very wrong with us.  It is foundational to any self-governing society, and I did not expect, nor did I receive, public acclaim nor compensation.

But now that I’m being targeted by Wells Fargo in its wanton disregard to the HAMP guidelines so that they can steal my home, there is no one to express outrage on my behalf at an act that any sane individual would regard as heinous—thievery used by a bank manipulating the legal system to steal a home.  Nowhere are the numerous reporters who consulted me for information about Wells Fargo’s reverse redlining; nowhere is the mayor of Baltimore City and the City Council members; nowhere is the DOJ; nowhere are representatives of the cities and communities enjoying the $178 million that result from my exercise of free speech.

I am pro-business and pro-family.  Wells Fargo’s actions affirm neither.  Where private property rights and social justice that undergird our society are ruptured by bad acts—single, transparent, obvious, bad acts such as those committed in this situation—the public debt incurred is tenfold.

If you are an elected or appointed agency official of the State of Maryland or the US Government, please contact Wells Fargo IMMEDIATELY to request that this foreclosure does not proceed.

If you are in the media, get the word out—call me at (443) 995-8461.

I intend to do everything one person can do to stop Wells Fargo from stealing my home November 5th, but I NEED YOU TO SPEAK UP NOW on behalf of one whistleblower who spoke up for thousands of homeowners.

Baltimore city Aff’d.pdf [download]

Email to FHFA.pdf [download]

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