Crowdsourcing Lawsuits: Wells Fargo Foreclosure Fraud-Pt One

Attribution

Federal District Courtoom

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's studio mid wells fargo foreclosure fraud lawsuit

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.

wells fargo will foreclose on your home someday

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.

Lady Justice with scales

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.

Play
Goodbye Wells Fargo (radio edit)
from Open - the Songs
 

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.

charity and justice

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.

Play
Goodbye Shadow
from Open - the Songs
 

My friends on Facebook that offered ideas, support and encouragement. Thank you!

Gandhi

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.

 
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