About Oregon Consumer
Large corporations and businesses can afford expensive lobbyists to push their agenda onto Congress and protect their interests, but who is looking out for the underdog? We are. Learn more about Oregon Consumer
Featured: What the foreclosure relief settlement means for Oregonians
Last week, the nation's five largest loan servicers: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Ally Financial / GMAC agreed to a settlement which would give relief due to fraudulent and flawed foreclosure practices.
Oregon's Attorney General John Kroger announced that the settlement is in the best interest of Oregon consumers.
"Simply put, I do not believe we could get a better agreement on this limited set of issues if we litigated for several more years and delaying a resolution of this investigation would unnecessarily delay bringing relief to Oregon homeowners who need help now," said Kroger.
The settlement will bring an estimated $30 million to the State of Oregon, and an estimated $200 million in relief to distressed Oregon homeowners.
Consumers can visit www.nationalforeclosuresettlement.com for more information, or check the dedicated sites of the financial institutions.
Bank of America
1-877-488-7814
JPMorgan Chase
1-866-372-6901
Citibank
1-866-272-4749
Ally Financial/GMAC
1-800-766-4622
Wells Fargo
1-800-288-3212
Read more about the Multistate Settlement at the Attorney General's website.
Featured: Oregon-based Umpqua Bank joins Wells Fargo, Chase in unfriendly consumer practices.
David Sugerman, consumer advocate and Portland lawyer, advised Oregonians last week on his website, "If you’re an Umpqua Bank customer, you might want to seriously consider moving your funds to a credit union."
The reason has to do with Umpqua Bank's decisions about mandatory arbitration. We've talked about this before on this site: mandatory arbitration is a tactic corporations use to bar customers from filing class action lawsuits. Instead, they require that customers with grievances settle with the company out of court, in arbitration.
Take Action
Are you an Umpqua customer? If so, take a moment to post on Umpqua Bank's Facebook Page and voice your concern about this new, unfriendly step.
Forcing mandatory arbitration has many upsides for the corporation, and none for the consumer; by banning class actions, consumers have no ability to hit corporations hard in their pocketbooks.
Sugerman says,
To put it concretely, if a bank illegally charges five dollars each year to a million customers, it earns $5 million per year in illegal profits. In the past, consumer lawyers have stopped that nickel and diming by pursuing class actions. If a class of a million consumers collects $5 per consumer plus attorney fees and costs, does anyone think the bank will continue the illegal practice?
Further Reading
- Supreme Court deals blow to consumer rights. Oregon Consumer, 05/06/11.
- Umpqua Bank joins Wells Fargo and Chase in requiring consumers to arbitrate disputes, barring class actions. The Oregonian, 01/23/12.
- A modest proposal: Close your Umpqua Bank account. www.DavidSugerman.com, 01/24/12.
