Protesters to Bank of America: Pay Your Taxes

On April 15, in the run up to this year's Tax Day, hundreds of protesters descended on a Bank of America branch in Union Square, New York City. They demanded that big banks start paying their fair share of taxes and stop foreclosures, and they also called for the government to break up banks that are "too big to fail." Around fifty people entered the lobby of a nearby Bank of America branch with signs reading, "Stop Foreclosures! People Before Profits!" and "We pay our taxes. Why doesn't Bank of America?"

"Wall Street -The Untouchables" Exposing Wall Street’s Banks with Cenk Uyger - msnbc tv:

Watch video...

Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi exposes how the government is doing more to protect the banks than prosecute them...

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Read: Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?
Financial crooks brought down the world's economy - but the feds are doing more to protect them than to prosecute them...

Demand Your Mortgage Note..!!

Wheres the Note.org


The big banks' BS is starting to catch up to them.

Last week, JPMorgan Chase announced they were halting foreclosures in 23 states. Turns out, the bankers in charge of approving the foreclosure paperwork weren't even reading what they were signing. Now, one by one, foreclosures at America's biggest banks are grinding to a halt. It's gotten so bad, several states are taking the banks to court - calling for an immediate freeze on all foreclosures.

The banks created this mess, it's on them to clean it up. You have a right to know if your mortgage is affected.


Wall Street has bought and sold our mortgages so many times, they've lost track of who owns what. And now they're getting caught red handed. In one state, two banks tried to foreclose on the same home. In another state, BofA tried to take a house away from a man who'd never even had a mortgage. The more we learn, the worse it gets.

Banks are calling these "technical glitches." These are more than technical glitches. These are monumental screw-ups that are forcing families out of their homes. The banks raise our rates and change our terms - and if we make one mistake, we pay with our homes.

Don't have a mortgage? Pass this on to someone who does. Every single homeowner needs to know if their bank still holds their mortgage note.

Go to: Where's the Note.org


SEIU.org

New Weiner Survey Shows Recipients of Bounced Checks Being Charged Up to $40 in Fees...

Banks are Charging Victims as well as Writers of Bad Checks

According to a recent survey by Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn), many banks are charging high fees of up to $40 to victims who are written bad checks.

If you write a check and it bounces, you should expect to be charged a high fee: you’ve wasted the time and money of both the bank and the person you’re supposed to pay. But receive a bad check, and that should be punishment enough, since you’ve done nothing wrong! But banks make a bundle charging the recipients of bad checks high fees, especially in New York.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEINER BANK FEE SURVEY:

• Banks in New York City charge an average of $16.94 to the recipients of bad checks, an increase of nearly 27% over what the same banks charged in 2003 when the average fee was $13.34.
• Brooklyn Federal Savings bank charges recipients of bad checks a whopping $40 per check.
• Six other banks that charge over $35: Bank of America, Hudson Valley Bank, Sterling National Bank, Apple Bank, New York National Bank, and Flushing Savings Bank.
• Victory State Bank in Staten Island and Metropolitan National Bank were the only banks to not charge a fee for trying to deposit a bad check.
• Major New York City banks like Chase, Citibank, and HSBC charge $10 for every bad check received by a customer.

Imposing fees on people who write bad checks provides overdraft disincentive, and more than covers the cost to banks of processing what turn out to be worthless pieces of paper. So that’s what banks do. End of story right? Wrong.

That’s because banks have turned bounced checks into a cash cow by also charging fees to people who, through no fault of their own, receive bad checks. Called deposit items returned (DIR) fees, they put New Yorkers in potential double jeopardy every time they cash a check. If New Yorkers cash a bad check, they (1) lose out on money from the bounced check, and (2) the bank slams them with a high fee, even if it’s not their fault.

Rep. Weiner’s Innocent Check Depositor Protection Act will prohibit banks from unfairly profiting at the public’s expense by prohibiting them from charging DIR fees.

“Every time a New Yorker cashes or deposits a check that bounces, he or she is hit by a real double whammy,” said Rep. Weiner. “You don’t get the money you were counting on and the bank piles on with a high fee, even though it’s not your fault. It’s time for banks to stop charging DIR fees and cashing in on their customer’s misfortune.”

"So-called 'deposit item returned fees" are among the most frustrating of the hundreds of stealth charges that banks use to punish consumers and fatten their profits," said Russ Haven, Legislative Counsel for the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). "When a consumer or a businessperson innocently deposits a check they have every reason to believe is good, they shouldn't get whacked with a big fee if it bounces. The reality is that the processing costs to the bank are minuscule."

To conduct the check fees survey, members of Rep. Weiner’s staff contacted 57 FDIC insured bank in New York City. Each bank was asked whether they provide personal checking accounts, and if so, what their deposit item returned and overdraft fees were. Recognizing the consolidation in the banking industry for purposes of comparison, banks that were in the 2003 study that have merged are listed under their new bank name.

Chairman Towns Demands Information and Records from Merrill Lynch and Bank of America on Timing of Decision to Award Executive Bonuses

U.S. Representative Edolphus “Ed” Towns (D-NY), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, today sent letters to Bank of America CEO Kenneth Lewis and Mr. Raymond Calamaro of Hogan & Hartson, outside counsel to Merrill Lynch, demanding information and records on their 2008 bonus decisions. The Committee is investigating whether there was in fact a cover up Merrill Lynch bonus decisions and whether the Committee was intentionally misled.

In the letters, Chairman Towns is requesting documents and other information to determine whether Merrill Lynch or its outside lawyers covered up the fact that Merrill’s compensation committee made their bonus decisions early in November 2008. Central to the letters is whether Merrill Lynch misled the Committee on November 24, 2008, when a Merrill Lynch lawyer told the Committee that bonus decisions for 2008 had not yet been made. The Committee later obtained evidence indicating that bonus decisions were in fact made two weeks earlier. The Committee will also be conducting formal interviews of witnesses involved in the alleged bonus cover-up, including Mr. Calamaro of Hogan & Hartson, and executives from Merrill Lynch and Bank of America.

Last week, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo alleged that Merrill Lynch provided misleading information to Congress regarding bonuses for its top executives. The filings raise the possibility that Merrill Lynch executives may have obstructed the Committee’s investigation into executive compensation practices and the awarding of bonuses at the company. Chairman Towns directed Committee investigators to begin a detailed investigation of this allegation and get to the bottom of the matter.

“We will not hesitate to exercise every means at our disposal to protect the integrity of the Congressional investigation process and to bring real transparency to the use of TARP funds. Under my direction, the Committee will get to the bottom of this matter and determine whether or not there was an obstruction of this Committee’s investigation,” Chairman Towns said.

The Committee is currently pursuing an ongoing investigation into allegations that billions of dollars of TARP funds invested in nine major banks may have been used to pay executive bonuses and other compensation. Committee attorneys are also reviewing the responses of other major financial institutions to the Committee’s October 2008 letters regarding executive compensation and the use of TARP funds.