Angry homeowners and community advocates stormed the Wells Fargo shareholders meeting last week to demand that the lender declare a moratorium on the foreclosure process[1]. When Chairman and CEO John G. Stumpf refused to do so, protesters refused to leave and were eventually arrested. “I get the fact that families are hurting,” said Stumpf, “but moratoriums only put off the inevitable.” He added that what America needs are more jobs, not more moratoria. Stumpf also took fire for his $17 million annual compensation package, which many of the protesters insisted was more like $30 million.
Protesters also stated that Wells Fargo had “an obligation to go further [in assisting homeowners] because it had received billions of taxpayer dollar bailouts.”
Stumpf replied, “We didn’t ask for this money from the federal government. We took it because we were told that it was good for America.”
While most reports indicate that is was protesters, not shareholders, who were arrested, at least one source indicates that shareholders were escorted from the meeting as well.
Do you think Wells Fargo should declare another foreclosure moratorium?
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[1] http://www.baycitizen.org/housing/story/angry-homeowners-arrested/
