Major banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo have taken a lot of heat for their unethical actions that arguably led to the housing market crash and foreclosure crisis. Unfortunately for Bank of America, someone created an account with the bank’s name and posted mocking messages to homeowners facing foreclosure as well as Occupy Wall Street protestors. Clearly, some banks are still getting a bad rap for their actions (and in some cases inaction) in regards to the real estate market.
While Bank of America continues to build up a negative profile (albeit the Google+ situation was not their fault), Wells Fargo is doing community outreach in an effort to rebuild their name throughout the country.
In an effort to help suffering communities (and of course to get a better reputation), Wells Fargo has decided to donate approximately $1.2 million in REO homes (also known as real estate owned homes) as well as $600,000 to help struggling communities rebuild. The bank is partnering with Building Together in their initiatives to help those affected by the harsh economy and high number of distressed properties rebuild. The nonprofit organization has been instrumental in helping communities rebuild and working to revitalize neighborhoods; the donation from Wells Fargo will great assist with their initiatives.
The Wells Fargo Housing Foundation was created in 1993 and aims to helping lower income families make the dream of homeownership a reality, which is similar to one of the Building Together goals. Therefore, these two organizations developing a partnership actually makes sense and is not the first initiative put forward by Wells Fargo to help struggling homeowners.
Just last year the foundation donated nearly 300 properties and discounted over 1,500 homes to help revitalize communities around the country. Clearly, this organization is doing their part in helping promote housing market recovery and address the needs of struggling homeowners.
Wells Fargo should be an example that other banks mimic in an effort to do their part to help spur recovery and relieve unnecessary suffering. The banks were key players that put us into the current real estate market crisis and therefore they should play a major role in helping our country move forward. Wells Fargo is doing their part…what about the other lenders?
It is time that banks stop bulldozing homes and leaving abandoned properties to rot. Instead, lenders should donate these properties to worthy causes with community revitalization initiatives, like Building Together. Housing market recovery can occur, but banks have to do their part to help initiate the recovery.
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