A greedy father has thieves for children - Serbian Proverb
Can we trust the banks? I guess we are leaning the answer to that question - or we will soon enough. As part of the Fighting for Our Homes Campaign, we documented the story of Gaila, who is being foreclosed upon by wholly-owned JP Morgan Chase subsidiary, EMC Mortgage. Gaila said an eviction notice was posted on her property this past weekend - while the supposed 'freeze on foreclosures' was in effect. In Gaila's case however - betraying the 'freeze' is a minor offense compared to the havoc JP Morgan Chase's EMC is wreaking across the country.
As it turns out - EMC has quite the track record. Along with Bear Stearns, they paid $28 million to settle with the FTC on charges of unlawful mortgage servicing and debt collection practices in September of 2008. They are featured on a site called the Ripoff Report, where there are 261 complaints about EMC Mortgage, including customers being penalized for being "late" when they weren't, repeated phone calls, rude treatment, no help with mortgage modifications and numerous other problems.
We also saw news reports about how EMC treats its customers, testimonials from customers, and even firsthand accounts from former employees.
So now, in addition to using TARP money to buy jets, throw parties, redecorate offices and bailout the NBA before lending money to struggling small businesses and helping homeowners (the purpose of the TARP funds), it looks like the greedy fathers of the financial industry in America are looking the other way as their wholly-owned subsidiary children continue to rob us blind.