Are you facing serial cheating, abuse, lies, ongoing stress about money, issues of fidelity, questions about your future and are at a loss as to where to turn? Do you often feel angry, taken advantage of, less than, a voiceless victim? Did you put your trust and your nest egg, your faith and your money on someone or something that took you for all you’re worth, jilted your faith in the institution and robbed you blind? Deep down, do you think you may be going steady with a good looking grifter? I hate to tell you this, but you may be banking with a sociopath.
That’s right. That harmless tall handsome stone wall that promises you the world, smiles at you shamelessly through bulletproof glass and marble floors, black suits and lollipops, is a sociopathic lover out to take all that you hold dear. All that you’ve put your faith, and money, into. This is not fifty shades of gray. It is now clearly black and white. Do you still bank with Wells Fargo? Can we talk?
Maybe you have a thing for bad boys? Fast talking flashy – “Here’s a new credit card, baby,” Scaramucci-style pinky ring? Maybe you have low self esteem issues, looking for a paternal ideal of what it means to be rich, to be safe, to have your nest egg all wrapped up for a bright and comfortable future. Maybe, just maybe there’s still time to save yourself and what’s left of your self worth. I’m gonna give it to you straight: Wells Fargo is the banking equivalent of the Menendez Brothers. I know you know, but what have you done to help yourself out of this kind of relationship?
Some people have a thing for danger, a high tolerance for risk. Some even reap rewards for being a victim. Many hold the notion that size matters while others are innocent and naive to the ways of sophisticated criminals.
As astute as we may think we are, with where we invest our time and money, we have a lot on our plates in life just trying to keep up with all that’s running around our brains, the news, the economy, the climate, the robotic take over of our bright futures, that sparkling dress in the window....the vacation we never get to take.
Most of us grew up thinking we would have a home like our parents, a regular job that hopefully we liked or could tolerate, a car or two, 2.5 children and a dog in the yard. Let’s throw in a tire swing out back, a toothy braces-covered smile and white sheets on the line just for ambiance. Feeling safe yet?
Something happened in the late 1970s and 80s that shifted and the “American Dream” started to rot slowly from the basement paneled mold on up. The institutions we put our faith in as steady and unshakeable began to shift their attention away from safety and reliability and got a wandering eye toward Vegas-style philandering, shimmering lights, spinning wheels, fatter dividends and the big short as opposed to the long slow steady-as-she-goes building of a wholesome relationship.
Let’s look at the cold hard facts of what we have witnessed and been a party to over the last decade in our relationship with Wells Fargo. Yes, you have to claim personal, financial and ethical responsibility as well if you are to heal and move on. If you didn’t have trust issues before, you will now. Now you’re damaged goods, simply by association.
As painful as it is, the first step to healing is to take a cold hard look at the issues that led us down this path – issues we face now that the harm has been done – and figure out what we can do to move on with our lives. Cue the song, “You’re no Good.” Let’s begin our intervention, shall we? Let me explain; just hear me out and try to have an open mind as I pull down the screen and elongate my pointer stick for you. Hit the lights.
Recent summary of Wells Fargo
The bad boy ways of this financial institution that you were banking on, and with, include but are not limited to:
Over 800,000 people with force-placed car insurance at inflated rates.
Illegal repossession of active military service members' cars and homes.
$185 million so far in “settlement” money paid for the fake account scandals that will harm people's consumer credit for years to come.
$12 million and counting in violations of fair credit reporting.
Violations in the False Claims Act and Securities Act of 1933.
Trust fraud, negligence, illegal kickbacks to mortgage brokers for referrals on title insurance.
Blackballing appraisers that didn't inflate values.
Millions of phony accounts, forged signatures and credit cards illegally opened in customers' names.
Forged mortgage documents by hired temps, discrimination against minorities, predatory lending, unpaid overtime to employees.
Firing of employees who reported fraud regarding the fake accounts.
Excessive ATM and overdraft fees.
False denials for loan modifications, negligence and harm to mortgage customers inducing them to default on their mortgages.
Violations in TILA and RESPA (Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Procedures).
False affidavits, conspiracy, wrongful foreclosures, selling properties that Wells did not have the note or right to sell.
Violations of the Fair Debt Practices Act.
Lying and cheating to Wells investors.
Insider trading on stock, unfair business practices, kicking puppies, and more.
I could go on but I don’t want you to hate yourself. Consider this a wake-up call for your future well being. Do you want someone you care about being treated this way? Do you want your kids to have relationships like this? It’s for your own good and that vision board of a happy ending.
I know it’s heartbreaking. It’s hard to change, to let go and move on, even from something that hurts us. It’s a sad and rude awakening to realize what has occurred behind our backs, in our own backyard, and to see the scars we will wear from this relationship as we move forward.
It’s never easy to see the truth, to face the consequences of our mistakes in judgement, to know that we have been duped by someone we trusted and relied upon. But at the same time, as we grow and evolve, we raise our awareness and hopefully our self esteem. We start to have higher expectations of ourselves and those we invest in. We redefine what we will tolerate. Eventually – and the time is NOW – we will no longer have the capacity or the interest to engage in epic drama, serial shenanigans, dangerous lies, criminal cheating and the list of abusive patterns. It reaches a point where we wake up one day and realize we deserve a whole lot more bang for our buck than we have accepted in the past. Don’t we deserve better? Don’t you want more?
Not only can we take better care of ourselves by breaking up with criminal institutions like Wells Fargo, but we must slap a warning label on their backs for the others that follow. Maybe we need to report Wells, get a temporary restraining order, write that Dear John Stumpf letter once and for all, and say it loud and clear: “I’m sick and tired of this and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Do the right thing. Who loves ya, baby? Move your money and together we’ll go far.
3 WAYS TO SHOW YOUR SUPPORT
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