Title
Dept/ Agency: Offices of Municipal Council/City Clerk
Action: ( ) Ratifying (X) Authorizing ( ) Amending
Type of Service: Urging/Supporting
Purpose: Call for Wells Fargo Bank to reform its business practices regarding foreclosures on homes in the City of Newark, New Jersey
Sponsor: Council President, Mildred C. Crump
Additional Information:
body
WHEREAS, the City of Newark, surrounding Cities and the County of Essex divested funds from Wells Fargo August 2018 for “malicious and insensitive and “aggressive” foreclosure practices; and
WHEREAS, the Subprime mortgages often called “Predatory Mortgages” introduced by Wells Fargo et-al have resulted in Massive Foreclosures in the City of Newark, County of Essex and State of New Jersey; and
WHEREAS, the bail out of the Too Big To Fail Banks were bailed out with Tax Payer Dollars lead to families losing their homes in mass and some losing health and lives as a result; and
WHEREAS, Empirical evidence suggest that home values decline by one percent on average for each nearby distressed home. This leaves less tax retables for municipalities and declining home values for existing home owners; and
WHEREAS, New Jersey is cited as being #1 in foreclosures in the United States for 3 years in a row, and a substantial number of the New Jersey foreclosures are with Wells Fargo; and
WHEREAS, Newark, surrounding cities and the County of Essex have been the hardest hit in the State of New Jersey with foreclosures touching all groups, especially children and families of Color, which is a “Civil Rights Violation”; and
WHEREAS, after the County of Essex and several Municipalities divested County and Municipal funds from Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo Senior Executive called a meeting on July 26, 2018 at St. James AME Church. That meeting resulted in a commitment, a contract, from Wells Fargo’s Sr. VP Hugh Rowden, to a “Forensic Audit,” of our Constituents rebuttals, charging Fraud by the NJ Coalition for Due Process of Law. That commitment, contract by Wells Fargo has been breached. This body affirms, that Wells Fargo must and Shall, make our Constituents in Newark, Essex County, and the State of New Jersey, “Whole,” In order to restore doing business in Newark; and
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Constitution (Article 1.2a) reads, “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people, and they have the right at all times to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it”; and
WHEREAS, the New Jersey Constitution reads (Article 1.) “All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain natural and unalienable rights among which are those of enjoying and defending life, and liberty, of acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.”
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, THAT:
1. The City of Newark hereby Bans Wells Fargo from doing business in Newark, New Jersey, which is in the County of Essex, for reasons set forth in this Resolution.
STATEMENT
This resolution calls for action to address the business practices of Wells Fargo Bank regarding foreclosures on homes in the City of Newark.