Foreclosure Victim to Mnuchin Following Hearing Remark: You’re Nothing More Than a Crook
WASHINGTON, D.C. – President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary failed to disclose nearly $100 million of assets and leadership positions incorporated in known tax havens like the Cayman Islands. According to a congressional report, “Mr. Mnuchin has claimed these omissions were due to a misunderstanding of the questionnaire.”
In his confirmation hearing, Mnuchin said: “I realize last night that you did get a memo on some changes to my Senate Questionnaire. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to comment on that. I think as you can all appreciate, filling out these government forms is quite complicated there were many things I expected in this job including having to sell everything, but the amount of paperwork and filling out the forms, even for me, having experience in business, was quite a job.”
Cristina Clifford who was wrongly foreclosed on by Mnuchin’s OneWest responded: “Paperwork can be hard. It’s really hard when someone like Steve Mnuchin is foreclosing on your home. OneWest repeatedly lost my paperwork and they foreclosed on me anyway. Steve Mnuchin and Donald Trump think there’s one set of rules for people like them and another for the rest of us.” She continued, “Mnuchin put tens of thousands of hard working people like me through hell and walked away with nearly $400 million in profit. That may be what leadership looks like to Donald Trump, but to me he’s nothing more than a common crook.”
Clifford followed OneWest’s instructions for obtaining a loan modification and sent in the required paperwork along with her payment. OneWest twice deposited her check but claimed it hadn’t received the paperwork that was included in the same package as the check. Clifford ultimately lost her home through foreclosure despite OneWest’s assurances that they would work with her to modify her loan and avoid foreclosure.
Mnuchin’s bank, OneWest foreclosed on tens of thousands of homeowners during the foreclosure crisis using aggressive, and oftentimes deceptive practices. According to a Bloomberg analysis, Mnuchin made $380 million from his time at the bank.
Clifford is available to discuss her story with interested parties. Please contact cDiPasquale@skdknick.com to schedule an interview.
More About Mnuchin
Mnuchin is a longtime Wall Street insider, formerly a second-generation executive at Goldman Sachs. At the height of the Great Recession, Mnuchin purchased IndyMac, later renamed OneWest Bank. Under his leadership OneWest foreclosed on tens of thousands of homeowners with the federal government absorbing the losses while the bank made billions in profits for Mnuchin and his colleagues.
The foreclosure practices of Mnuchin’s bank were disputed and came under intense fire, with one judge finding that OneWest committed “harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive” acts, characterizing the bank’s conduct as “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious.” In another case, OneWest attempted to foreclose on a 90-year-old woman over a payment that was short by 27 cents.
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Allied Progress is a nationwide, progressive advocacy organization that uses hard-hitting research and creative campaigns to hold Wall Street and powerful special interests accountable. Since launching in 2015, the organization has led high-profile campaigns on several issues including reforming the payday lending industry and exposing the those working to cripple the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
To speak with Allied Progress about this release, please contact Charlie DiPasquale, 202-464-6916.