Bank of America is ACORN ‘Partner’ and Major Funder

NLPC ^ | September 21, 2009 | Peter Flaherty

[jazusamo]

Bank of America has received $45 billion in taxpayer TARP funds, and has slashed its dividend to a penny. Yet it is one of ACORN and its affiliates' biggest funders.

Our review of annual tax returns for the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. for the last three years (2006, 2007, 2008) found more than $3.6 million in grants to ACORN and its affiliates. Those grants include a grant of $2 million to ACORN Housing, Inc. last year, and direct grants to ACORN Housing, Inc. offices in Baltimore, Maryland and San Bernardino, California, the locations of undercover video stings.

On its website, ACORN Housing, Inc. describes its relationship with Bank of America as a “partnership.” The Bank of America website lists no less than 26 ACORN offices where:

Bank of America works with Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Housing to provide special mortgage products to potential homeowners in NAME OF CITY.

Unlike many public companies, Bank of America Corporation does not disclose individual grants it makes to nonprofit groups. We do not know what direct funding Bank of America Corporation provides to ACORN and/or its affiliates. It is obvious, however, that ACORN and/or its affiliates market and/or administer loan programs for the bank.

Although legally a separate entity, Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. is controlled by Bank of America Corporation. Its 30-member board of directors is comprised of Bank of America Corporation executives or employees of the foundation itself. Its sole source of revenue in 2008 was a donation of $167 million from Bank of America Corporation.

Today, I wrote Bank of America CEO & President Ken Lewis:

National Legal and Policy Center, a Bank of America Corporation shareholder, asks that Bank of America Corporation and the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. end funding of, and sever all relationships with, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), ACORN Housing, Inc., and ACORN’s many affiliates, which may number as many as 360 organizations.

On the “Corporate Governance” page of the Bank of America website, Lewis states:

At Bank of America, we are committed to upholding the highest standards of corporate governance and ethical conduct in all we do.

Last week, the United States Senate voted 83-7, and the House of Representatives voted 345-75 to stop taxpayer funds from going to ACORN. Congressional action will be circumvented, however, if Bank of America Corporation and Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. continue to fund ACORN and its affiliates.

My letter to Lewis concludes:

Taxpayers, shareholders, customers, employees and business partners demand that you end your partnership with ACORN and its affiliates without delay.

[MinuteGal]

Can you post the address you used to write President Lewis?

Bank of America is my bank......for the time being.

Leni

[jazusamo]

Sorry, that was Peter Flaherty who wrote the article that wrote B of A. I wish he would have listed it.

[NonValueAdded]

They are paying protection money, buying peace. Yes, they should stop but understand why they had to do it.

[jazusamo]

Thank you very much.

[dalebert]

me too...if acorn is declared no charitable can the bank still get away with huge donations?

[WOBBLY BOB]

“Bank of Amigos”...

[GOPJ]

Bank of America works with Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) Housing to provide special mortgage products to potential homeowners in NAME OF CITY.

Bank of America? How "special" ? Child sex slaves "special" - twisted tax information "special" how "special"?

[Ann Archy]

CRIMNALS FLOCK TOGETHER.

[fightinJAG]

Seems like the referenced websites better be cached/saved soon, before they disappear.

[nutmeg]

https://www4.bankofamerica.com/search/Search.do?questionbox=acorn&locale=en_US

[coconut47]

I’m so glad I cancelled all my accounts with them a few months back.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Also just an FYI, the nations largest mortgage lender; who is Bank of America’s competitior; does NOT fund ACORN.

If you are talking about Wells Fargo, you are not exactly correct. Wells has not directly given ACORN the kind of money Bank of America has or promoted it. But in 2007 Wells adopted a set of "responsible lending principles" (link here) for its mortgage operations as a direct result of threats and constant protests by ACORN, and it did join ACORN's "advisory council" which is a shakedown operation to get $100,000+ in grants from lenders in return for it not protesting at the lenders' offices.

[9YearLurker]

Exactly. ACORN shook down all the banks for years—and with the muscle of our government behind them. Poor Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are pikers compared to the ACORN gang.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[P-Marlowe]

isnt this conflict of interest

It was a shakedown.

[SevenofNine]

Gee no suprise there eh

[HereInTheHeartland]

If you type in ACORN in their search box; you come up with this:

https://www.wellsfargo.com/press/ActivistResponse,

That's not very ACORN friendly

[jazusamo]

I don’t know how to do that kind of thing but i did copy and paste top two link contents to a file.

[BJClinton]

Most corrupt administration in history.

[mo]

Yaaa....and we ALL are wondering why these banksters haven’t yet received the Jeff Skilling/Ken Ley treatment the Bush administration handed out so quickly.