Young lady, Wells Fargo does not make mistakes.
Those were the words I heard in late 2007 after presenting my research showing 70% of lenders were trying to collect more money than homeowners believed they owed.
Back up for a second: In 2007 I was a law professor researching whether banks were taking advantage of homeowners by claiming Americans owed more than they really did. In a sample of 1,700 cases, I found banks were asking people to pay $6 million more than they expected. Banks repeatedly didn't have the documentation to back up their claims, and nobody in the system was willing or able to stop them. For so many families that meant losing their home entirely.
It was a Wells Fargo lawyer who stood up after I presented my findings at a conference and lectured me on how the vast teams at Wells Fargo could afford to follow the law, and plenty of other Big Bank lawyers chimed in. The conventional wisdom was that banks were always right, and nobody needed to question it.
If banks don't make mistakes, the next logical conclusion was that this was in fact a deliberate strategy to break the rules and cheat borrowers.
Because of this research, a few months later I was asked to testify before the Senate Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts. Senator Chuck Schumer came prepared with a poster board, and pointed out how Wall Street boasted their strategy of foreclosure and late fees helped them become even more profitable. I left that hearing thinking punishment was coming for those lawbreaking banks, but for the most part they continued to collect every penny without following every rule.
As a professor, I could study and point out problems. But I wanted to do more to actually change our system. I'm running for the U.S. Senate to fight for the people who have been taken advantage of by big corporations and are struggling to get ahead.
That's the work I've always done, and with your support I can head back to the Senate—this time with the power to hold Wall Street to account. I'd be so appreciative of anything you can chip in before 1/31 to help us meet our January fundraising goal and power our campaign.
Katie Porter
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