Crowdsourcing Lawsuits: Wells Fargo Foreclosure Fraud-Pt One
Attribution
I stood tall and alone, pro se, before a federal judge on October 8, 2010. To my right sat a nervous lawyer for Wells Fargo. Jason, the only audience. I pled my case of fraudulent foreclosure against Wells Fargo, the national bank where I've held my money, and that of my clients and companies, for two and a half decades.
I have no real experience in legal matters. I won.
The granting of a preliminary injunction in my favor against Wells Fargo Bank is the third 'win' in my column. Wells Fargo has a score of zero. I'm suing the Bank for 9 counts of fraud. I have an admittance from an employee of Wells Fargo -- supporting me, admitting to misrepresentation. Wells tried to publicly auction my home behind me, yet, while in front of me, they were pretending to finalize modification and reinstatement. There are too many series of lies to tell in this entry (part two or three). Some of you remember I was an auditor for PwC for over 10 years.
How did I get here (many good days go by...)? Well, even though I stood alone, I have not been fighting alone. You could say I'm 'crowdsourcing' this lawsuit with friends, families, colleagues, and people I've never met, all across the country. These people are my source of knowledge, strength and energy. I am grateful, beyond words.
Creative Commons licenses have taught me the importance of attribution. I feel attribution is currency, perhaps worth more than money. This Part One of Crowdsourcing Lawsuits is dedicated to all that deserve Attribution for their contribution to my cause.
Emily Richards v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A..
Made possible by (it's long, but important to remember everyone I can!):
Emily Richards, Plaintiff pro se. Aggregator of data and active force in legal system. Auditor. Fraud detector. Seeker of justice. Inspired by Gandhi.
Jason Brock, partner to plaintiff. Providing support in all centers. Pseudo para-legal. Gives meaning and celebration to existence. Creating contagious peace and harmony. True love.
Susan Joseph. Legal and 'jovial' source. Conducted and documented legal intake (for hours). Illuminated wrongs being done. Actively worked to find ways to make it right. Friendship. Guidance. Access to templates. Para-legal in real life. Creative comrade. A gift.
Kate Gange. Legal and 'martial' force. Soul energy. Offered assistance without expectation. Managing Mike's involvement. A true friend. An angel.
Mom and Dad. Endless listening ears. Unconditional Love. Support. Belief. Proactively and endlesslessly exercising anything in their means to resolve outside legal system. Prayers.
Mike Cheatham. A lawyer in NYC that helped outline the steps. A guide for legal vocabulary and process. Available. Patient. Kind. Generous.
Thomas Bayard. A lawyer in Diamond Bar that's provided templates, complaint examples, case law, suggestions, guidance, kindness, support, flexibility, generosity.
Branden Butler. A lawyer for the San Diego Legal Aid society. Provided templates, suggested course of action, verification of fraud and possibility of success, stability, genuinely sincere.
Gil Cabrera. Legal eagle! Advice. Introductions. Assistance. Process and case references. Positive. Kind. Generous. Honest. An inspiration.
David Mollon. Attorney in NYC that helped me write my memo for preliminary injunction. Calming influence. Friend. Conscious Soul.
Karolina Ericsson. Attorney in San Diego that took time to meet. Gave great suggestions. Providing emotional support. Positive. Genuine. Kind.
Chris Barnette. Attorney in San Diego that also took time to meet. Honest. Realist. Strong.
Robert Dunally, Elise Seidman Salisbury, Don Hicks, Laura Maxwell, Flo Schuck, Talechia Principato, Judy Rowles. Support, references, proactive outreach, action, encouragement through legal and real estate perspective. Friendship.
ccMixter and the artists that remixed, reviewed and recommended Goodbye Wells Fargo. Kevin Carmony and John Raifsnider for listening to me sing the day I wrote it. TuneTrack and ArtisTech Media. You guys represent the positive connectivity of the Noosphere. Music can change the world.
Carol Riley. Soul sisterhood. Ideas for organizing/filing legal documents. Proofreading. Verifiable confirmation of wrong-doing. Dragonflies.
Rebecca Cannon. We call her St. Rebecca. Scanning more than 100 pages of legal docs. Listening. Feeding us food for our bodies and laughter for our spirits.
Jeane Archer. Banana bread. Pasta. Chocolate cake. Zucchini bread. Spinach puff pastries. Scarves. Hats. Sweetness. Strength.
Kirsten and Quincy Swartz-Morton. Love. Food. Trips to Staples. Lucky socks. Hope.
Keri, Natalie, Brad and family for support- in every way imagineable. Providing for our family - materially and spiritually. Annie for a quiet, constant spiritual presence. Giving faith and belief that with Divine assistance, all things are possible.
Nancy Shelmon, Jenny Christiansen, Lane Cannon, Jared and Luji Brock, Alex Goodwin, Nicole Tafralian, Amie Stahura, Shalayne Topham, Sarah Romeo, Wendy Haws, Eric Steur, Lauren Feder, Sabine Froliche, John Manning - for giving me the strengh to share my story and for understanding my frazzled fragility. Kindness. Sharing. Encouragement. Higher Love.
Cathryn Beeks, Todo Mundo, the musicians, friends, and audience at the Acoustic Alliance on 10/10/10. Your listening ear, our energy exchange and your hooting applause gave me a lot of strength. More than you know. Again, music can change the world.
Monique Farantzos and everyone at doubleTwist who patiently watched me walk through this nightmare. And at the same time, still give me reasons to believe that formidable odds are no reason to quit.
My friends on Facebook that offered ideas, support and encouragement. Thank you!
Mahatmi Gandhi for refusing to be forced from first-class to the back of the train, having paid for a first-class ticket. It was this scene in the Gandhi movie that changed EVERYTHING for me.
Martin Luther King, Mervyn Brady, JR Sterling, John Hess, Scott Allen, and Timothy Drinan for being my angels. Annie too of course.
Jesus. God. For giving me a dark night of the Soul that forced me into my shadow.
Goobye Shadow. 46 and 2 - just ahead of me.
Namaste.
Coming Next (but not necessarily soon!) Part Two of Crowdsourcing Lawsuits: Wells Fargo Foreclosure Fraud. Source documents and procedure.
Oct. 7, 2013 at 1:42 p.m. (#)
I've been approved for a DIL of foreclosure with Wells Fargo. I was told that the DIL is approved and foreclosure suspended. I have signed and returned the execute documents to the attorney's for wells fargo, however, the attorney continues to schedule foreclosure hearings. Its seems that Wells Fargo representatives are saying one thing and the attorney is doing another. Wells Fargo nor the attorney has stated the DIL is decline or rejected. Is there anything I can do? The home is located in Sumter, Sc.
June 23, 2012 at 11:59 a.m. (#)
yes, i'm still available on this.....
June 21, 2012 at 6:59 a.m. (#)
emily, are you still available for info?
Sept. 30, 2011 at 8:41 a.m. (#)
dear Roberta, i'm not a lawyer but it is likely Wells provided you misleading and even fraudulent information if they led you to believe you were midst modification and they foreclosed anyway. what state are you in?
Sept. 29, 2011 at 5:28 p.m. (#)
Wells Fargo foreclosed on my loan during modification. Is this legal?
Aug. 8, 2011 at 4:31 p.m. (#)
dear rhonda, i'm every sorry to hear. this is very similar to what happened to me. deceit. lies. damage. stress. pain.
i couldn't find an attorney i could afford or that had time for me either in the beginning. i did my first three filings pro se with "a little help from my friends" - i'm happy to send my docs to you if you'd like to do it yourself. after i won my first three hearings, i found legal representation nearly on contingency.
may God comfort you and your family in this difficult time.
peace.
Aug. 8, 2011 at 1:22 p.m. (#)
Wells Fargo Lied to the Attorney General of Oregon regarding our Foreclosure. In fact I didn't realize we were in foreclosure until it was to late. Oh we can remod. your loan, you qualify for remod. They foreclosed in 6 months. How is that legal or possible. They told the Attorney General that we never sent proper documentation when asked. WRONG. I sent the Attorney General documented fax proof with date stamp of what they wanted from me. In fact I sent them stuff 3 times in that time period. I too was told to miss my payments, and not worry about the foreclosure department being notified, it was routine. We are to poor to sue, and plain tired. Good Job Emily, you are proof of a strong person. I tried finding lawyers but they were all over loaded with similar cases, and wished me luck.
July 31, 2011 at 7:31 p.m. (#)
wells has violated the federal injunction i won against them 3 times so far. no regard for the law. scary. i would contact Tom Bayard, the attorney who helped me in the early stages of my pro se work and after months of helping me, now represents me in the case. http://alessibayard.net/
July 30, 2011 at 8:01 a.m. (#)
I am sueing wells fargo pro sae can anyone help me.
July 18, 2011 at 7:25 p.m. (#)
I was also told that I would have to miss payments and in fact they refused payments and returned them, they promised it was to help with the modification, after about 9 months of asking to refuel the documents at least 6 times, they agreed to a 4 month forbearance which they extended to 5 months on month 6 they refused payment and for closed 12 days later, again they said don't worry we're just starting the modifacation process again. They lied I'm to appear in court in 3 weeks to try to keep my house, I was not notified of forclosure
If anyone can help I would be extremely greatfull
June 23, 2011 at 2:04 p.m. (#)
I have a fraud case against Wells Fargo and need a EXCELLANT lawyer to represent me. I'm in NJ and have tons of doc ready to pursue. They were compiled by an investagetor.
June 1, 2011 at 10:26 a.m. (#)
Thank you for your answering my question. My parents are filing a lawsuite agaisnt Wells Faro. They puit our house up for sale without us even knowing it. In reguards to the admiittance that you have from the employee of Wells Fargo do you mind speaking with me over the phone with about it? i wanted to know if you think this person would testify for my parents in court? Our lawyer got an continuance for us this morning.
June 1, 2011 at 9:03 a.m. (#)
yes Susie, more than one Wells Fargo employee instructed i would need to miss at least three payments to be considered for a modification.
May 31, 2011 at 9:52 p.m. (#)
Hi, I wanted to know if Wells Fargo told anyone to stop making their mortage payments so they could get a Modification on their home!
April 1, 2011 at 12:43 p.m. (#)
what state are you in Tom?
Nov. 4, 2010 at 11:58 p.m. (#)
Crowdsourcing lawsuits is a very interesting idea. It seems at first thought to 'level the playing field' so that newbies would have options available to them that would otherwise be lost. How about a wikilaw page? Maybe something like Groklaw?
Power to the people!
Jason