[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 191 (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H8878]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM WELLS FARGO

  (Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California. Mr. Speaker, the extraneous material 
is a letter I'm sending to Wells Fargo Bank about Mrs. Darlene Bowland, 
a 68-year-old mother fighting cancer and Wells Fargo Bank.
  Darlene lived in a modest home in San Jose for 41 years until she was 
evicted a week before Thanksgiving. At the time, Darlene was too weak 
from chemotherapy to pack up her own boxes. We appealed to the bank. 
They knew about her cancer and her chemotherapy, but they didn't care. 
She owned her home free and clear at one time but was a victim of a pay 
loan, a way to confuse her and basically steal her home.
  Mr. Speaker, Wells Fargo earned record profits last quarter, and in 
2010 the CEO, John Stumpf, earned more than $17 million in 
compensation. This Christmas, Mrs. Bowland will be couch surfing with 
chemotherapy, while Mr. Stumpf will be enjoying his $17 million salary 
and her home in San Jose stays vacant.
  Merry Christmas from Wells Fargo.

                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                Washington, DC, December 13, 2011.
     Re Ms. Darlene Bowland

     Mr. John G. Stumpf,
     Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo, Montgomery St, San 
         Francisco, CA.
       Dear Mr. Stumpf: Darlene Bowland is a 68-year-old woman 
     fighting cancer and Wells Fargo Bank. She lived alone in a 
     modest home in San Jose, California until she was evicted by 
     Wells Fargo Bank a week before Thanksgiving, even though she 
     had no place else to go. Wells Fargo Bank knew all about 
     Darlene's tragic circumstances, but apparently did not care.
       Darlene lived in her home for 41 years and at one time 
     owned it free and clear. She and her former husband raised 
     their children there. Although Darlene lost her small 
     cleaning business to the recession a few years ago and now 
     struggles to make ends meet, she was proud of her house. She 
     spent what little energy she had after her cancer treatments 
     tending to her garden. That's where she found some measure of 
     peace.
       Not anymore.
       Darlene is just one of many victims of a World Savings loan 
     product called a ``pick-a-pay'' that she was tricked into and 
     could not afford. Make no mistake. Darlene is a victim. Pick-
     a-pay loans were designed to trap unwary homeowners into 
     owing more than they borrowed, assuring the banks that sold 
     them a captive audience that would need to continually 
     refinance or face foreclosure. These unscrupulous banks and 
     loan brokers used the voluminous, complex and impossible to 
     understand loan documents that make up a pick-a-pay loan to 
     steal Darlene's house in broad daylight.
       Wells Fargo was able to file an unlawful detainer and get a 
     summary judgment that allowed them to evict Darlene, even 
     though Darlene had sued Wells Fargo claiming she was 
     defrauded. She was too weak from chemotherapy to pack up her 
     own boxes.
       Wells Fargo earned record profits last quarter. Your 2010 
     compensation was more than $17 million. Do you know this 
     woman with cancer is now couch-surfing because you've evicted 
     her through foreclosure on her home just before the holidays? 
     Instead of waking up in her house Christmas morning, 
     Darlene's house will instead sit vacant.
           Sincerely,
                                                      Zoe Lofgren,
     Member of Congress.

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