To: John Stumpf, CEO Wells Fargo and Juergen Fitschen and Anshu Jain, co-CEOs Deutsche Bank

Stand with Richmond as it stands up to Wall Street

I stand with the people of Richmond in their historic use of eminent domain to protect their community. I urge Wall Street bankers to drop their baseless lawsuit and campaign of intimidation. The banks should allow the city to pay fair market value for 626 underwater loans to help keep struggling families in their homes.

Why is this important?

The small city of Richmond, California has Wall Street terrified. The City is planning to help some of the 46% of city homeowners currently underwater by offering to buy distressed loans from the Wall Street bankers who own them, then reset the mortgages to current market value. If the banks refuse, the City will consider using eminent domain to acquire the loans, still paying fair market value to the banks. This historic action is called Local Principal Reduction, and if it works in Richmond, it could help stop the housing crisis around the country.

On August 7, Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, with the support of a Wall Street lobbying group, sued the City of Richmond to stop them from implementing Local Principal Reduction and eminent domain. Please stand with Richmond and demand that the CEOs of Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank drop their lawsuit and sell the homes to the City.