Update on Wells Fargo case in Housing Court
Apparently a lot has been happening since the Federal District Court sent the Cleveland Housing Renewal Project lawsuit against Wells Fargo back to Cleveland Municipal Housing Court. (The District Court has also declined jurisdiction in CHRP’s companion case against Deutsche Bank.)
An update arrived in my email this afternoon from Frank Ford of Neighborhood Progress Inc., which is part of the the CHRP along with a half-dozen neighborhood development organizations. (P.S. Some corrections were added late in the afternoon.)
Over the past 6 weeks NPI and the City of Cleveland have participated in 3 days of negotiation with Wells Fargo concerning their inventory of vacant foreclosed property in Cleveland. Although we have a court order preventing them from “dumping” 11 properties, we have joined with the City in seeking a solution for all Wells Fargo property in the City of Cleveland. Wells Fargo indicated that they also wanted to come to a resolution that would encompass all of their property in Cleveland and our negotiations proceeded based on that representation. However, after 3 full days of discussion, we have been unable to reach any satisfactory resolution.
Meanwhile, we have learned that Wells has sold off 108 properties since we filed our lawsuit on December 15th - many in unlivable and deplorable condition - in what appears to be an attempt to off-load their liability. By last count, they still own 183 properties in the City.
In response to this disappointing development, last Friday May 8th NPI filed a motion with the Cleveland Housing Court asking for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) preventing Wells from disposing or selling any of their 183 properties in the City - without the Court’s permission. The requested TRO would also apply to any additional property they acquire going forward.
The Hearing on this Motion will be held in the Cleveland Housing Court at 3:00 PM on Tuesday, May 12th, on the 13th Floor of the Justice Center.
You are welcome to attend,However, it’s possible probable that part of this time may will be spent in the Judge’s chambers in a private “case management” conference.Deutsche Update: the Deutsche case has moved slower, in part because the Federal Court took longer to rule on sending this case back to Housing Court. Deutsche has filed a notice that they intend to appeal that ruling. In the meantime, Deutsche has expressed an interest in entering into negotiation. The original Temporary Restraining Order issued by the Housing Court – against 25 vacant Deutsche properties – is still in effect.
A general court order against further REO sales by Wells Fargo without specific court review would be big news. Stay tuned.