Break Up with Your mega-Bank Green American Feature A Tale of Two Banks Kick your mega-bank—and all of its predatory, unsustainable practices—to the curb. Instead, help lift up the 99% by supporting a community development bank or credit union. that don’t mesh with your values, like weapons manufacturing or the construc- tion of nuclear power plants. It might be added to the millions the mega-banks make in political donations to causes or politicians that don’t reflect your concerns. And it might go toward the exorbitant salaries the mega-banks still dole out to upper management, despite receiving billions in bailout funds from taxpayers (see chart, p. 16). If you haven’t already done so, Green America encourages you to join our Break Up With Your Mega-Bank campaign and kick Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and other mega-banks to the curb. Then, open up an account in a community development bank or credit union that Occupy Atlanta targets its lending power toward lifting Tawanna Rorey (center) speaks to news reporters with Occupy Atlanta’s up low- and middle-income communities Tim Franzen (left) outside of the Rorey’s Snellville, GA, home, which they in the US and around the world. say was illegally and unfairly foreclosed upon. Need to know more before breaking up? Consider ... hen you put money into financing for destructive projects such A Tale of Two Banks: your checking or savings as coal mining and the development of THE Mega-BANK W account, you might imagine coal-fired power plants. BankTrack, a Last year, Tawanna and Chris Rorey it stacked up behind a giant, Hollywood- Netherlands-based organization, named were living the middle-class American style bank safe, patiently waiting for four US mega-banks, of out 93 lead- dream. Chris is a police lieutenant with you to spend it. But your money doesn’t ing world banks, as those spending the DeKalb County in Georgia. Tawanna is a just sit there after you deposit it—it most on financing construction of new homemaker raising three children. They moves. And if you have your accounts coal-fired power plants. JP MorganChase lived in a beautiful home in Snellville. with a mega-bank like Citigroup, Bank of topped the list at over $22 million, They always paid their bills on time. America, or Wells Fargo, you might not followed closely by Citigroup, Bank of As their eldest prepared to go off to like where your money goes. America, and Morgan Stanley. college, the Roreys wondered if they For example, many mega-banks use If you keep your money in a mega- could get a mortgage modification to customer deposits to help provide bank, it might help fund other projects make paying college tuition a little 14 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2012 GREEN AMERICAN GREENAMERICA.ORG easier. A representative from Everhome/ EverBank, a major US mortgage lender, told them they didn’t qualify because they couldn’t prove “financial hardship.” They sought the advice of a foreclo- sure consultant, who suggested that they skip a couple of payments to qualify. The Roreys followed that advice, which their lawyer, Asim A. Alam, says is “common” in the mortgage industry. They’d skipped only two payments when Everhome started foreclosing on their home—a time frame that drew Alam’s attention to the case because, he says, it’s unusually rapid in the industry. “The cruel irony is that they had the money to pay the mortgage,” adds Timothy Franzen, an organizer who is advocating for the Roreys through the Edward Parks Occupy Wall Street campaign in Atlanta. Martha Jones-Traylor nearly lost her house after being laid off from her tourism marketing “Gwinnett County has the fourth highest job in the wake of the BP oil spill. She turned to the foreclosure consultants at Hope foreclosure rate in the US—and that’s not Enterprise Corporation m , who went the extra mile to help her remain in her home. an accident. The whole political system is skewed in favor of mortgage holders.” The Roreys quickly tried to negotiate with Everhome and then—when Alam “represents everything that’s wrong with A Tale of Two Banks: uncovered that the lender had sold their our current economic system,” where 1% THE Community DeveloPMENT mortgage to Fannie Mae without notify- of the nation’s richest continue to amass Financial Institution ing the Roreys—with that agency. The more and more wealth at the expense of When you break up with your mega- Roreys offered to catch up with their the 99%. bank, what’s the alternative? Since the payments, but neither institution would The Roreys aren’t alone: Attorneys 1990s, Green America has been asking stop the foreclosure process. General from all 50 states sued America’s people to start a love affair with a com- The Roreys went to court to try to major banks, including EverHome, in munity development financial institution save their home. Even though Fannie 2010 over their failure to follow the law (CDFI). Mae couldn’t produce a single shred of when foreclosing on properties. Settle- Community development banks and paperwork proving it owned the Roreys ment talks with Bank of America, JP credit unions are federally insured and mortgage, due to an internal error, Judge Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, provide fair, just loans and financial Karen Beyers still ruled in its favor, not- and others are ongoing. services to low- and middle-income ar- ing that if Fannie Mae didn’t foreclose Although Occupy Atlanta camped eas across the US and around the world. on the couple, another lender would. in front of their house for nearly two Consider Martha Jones-Traylor, whose In response, the Roreys connected months, drawing public attention and story runs in sharp contrast to that of with Franzen and Occupy Atlanta, who support, the Roreys were forced to move Tawanna and Chris Rorey. responded by “occupying” the Roreys out in November. They continue the legal When she wasn’t at work, Jones- yard to draw attention to the injustice. battle for their home. Traylor could often be found on the Franzen says the Occupy movement, “The family would like to regain their beach, which is a short walk from her which started out protesting Wall house, but more importantly, they want Gulfport, MS, home. Shortly after the BP Street’s “greed and corruption” in the to hold Fannie Mae and EverHome Deepwater Horizon oil spill happened in financial districts of various US cit- accountable and bring to public light April 2010, she started seeing tar balls, ies, is now moving to highlight specific their inappropriate conduct,” says Alam. tons of debris, and dying birds and examples of that greed, such as unfair “They undertook this fight as a matter dolphins on her beach walks. Saddened foreclosures. He says his group chose to of principle and for the benefit of every by the environmental devastation, Jones- champion the Roreys because the family mortgage borrower in Georgia.” Traylor didn’t know the spill was about m Designates an approved member of Green America’s Green Business Network™ 15 A GREEN American What MEGA-BANKS WRITES to THE SPEND MONEY ON BANK OF America CEO HINT: NOT US to wreak havoc on her personal life, as CEO Compensation* of Mega-banks well. In July, she was laid off from her vs. Community Development job as a marketing manager at one of Banks and Credit Unions Gulfport’s casinos, which are the city’s main tourist draw. “When the oil spill happened, we JP Morgan Chase: $20,776,324 weren’t making our numbers,” she says. “People weren’t coming, because Wells Fargo: $17,568,387 they knew what was going on with the beaches.” Morgan Stanley: $14,854,049 While she was able to coast along on her Occupy Atlanta savings for a time, it soon became clear to Goldman Sachs: $14,114,080 Dear Mr. Moynihan, Jones-Traylor that without steady employ- ment, she would lose her home. Though New Resource Bank: $240,000 I just can’t take it anymore, so I’m she’s gone on “a gazillion interviews,” she transferring most of my money out keeps hearing that she’s “overqualified” or her salary history is too high. Self-Help Credit Union: $75,000 of my BoA account and into a local Like the Roreys, she tried to get a community credit union. Here are some mortgage loan modification to stem the of things I’m upset about: * 2010 salary figures, including stock crisis, but her lender said she didn’t options and bonuses • The years of nickel and diming me qualify since she had lost her job. Jones- with fees of every description every time Traylor confided in a friend, who told I turn around. her about a foreclosure counseling ser- • The exorbitant amount of those fees. vice offered by Hope Enterprise Corpo- situation worse by charging fees—and • The outrageous profits you make and ration/Hope Community Credit Union m . then they don’t help people.” pay no taxes on. As a CDFI, Hope’s mission isn’t about Once she learned that Hope’s program • Your extreme hesitance to use any how much profit it can make; it’s tied to was free and HUD-funded, she signed of the billions we taxpayers and the how much it can lift up its community, up. Her Hope counselor listened to her Fed made available to you to make which in this case is the entire Mid- story and told her about the Mississippi responsible loans to deserving small South region.