Cheronda Guyton: Wells Fargo Exec Squats in Madoff Victims' Home

by Tina Kells | September 11, 2009 at 01:56 pm

16413 views | 2 Recommendations | 122 comments

Cheronda Guyton is a perfect example of all that is wrong with the Wall Street world. After a couple of Bernie Madoff Ponzi Scheme victims turned over the keys to their foreclosed home, Cheronda Guyton, a Wells Fargo senior vice president, decided to squat in the multimillion dollar house, using it to host lavish parties. To add insult to injury, Guyton also kept the foreclosed home off the local real estate market to keep her parties going strong.

Cheronda Guyton is a Wells Fargo executive who makes most fat cats look like diet fanatics. The LA Times exposed Cheronda Guyton for the scoundrel that she is in an investigative piece published on September 11, 2009. Cheronda Guyton is responsible for managing foreclosed properties for Wells Fargo, but that doesn't give her the right to squat at the homes. Wells Fargo is investigating the matter further and declined comment.

In this case the (now) poor Bernie Madoff victims have learned a tough lesson about the morality of the Wall Street set, namely that they have none. First they lose their home after trusting a the Ponzi scheme fraudster, and then they watched Cheronda Guyton, the woman who foreclosed on their home, turn it into her personal party palace. Ya, there is nothing wrong with the capitalist dream in America... if your a banking exec.

See pictures of Cheronda Guyton's foreclosed upon party palace

But here’s an unusual squatter: A senior vice president at Wells Fargo & Co., who is in charge of many of the bank’s foreclosed properties.

According to an LA times article this morning, a Wells executive, who is responsible for the bank’s foreclosed commercial properties, was seen throwing parties at a $12 million beach house in Malibu, California, which the previous owners had to surrender to Wells to satisfy debts. According to the article, Wells Fargo had refused to show the house to prospective buyers, perplexing local real estate agents.

Adding fuel to what must be a public-relations nightmare for the bank is the fact that the couple who lost the home in foreclosure had to give up the property because they were victims of Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme.

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Ann Wilson (not verified)

at 16:50 on September 11th, 2009

Horrible story - it's disgusting that something like this could happen. But, a correction to your story - Cheronda Guyton is a woman, not a man.

Tina Kells

at 17:43 on September 11th, 2009

Thank you for the correction.

L661a (not verified)

at 17:49 on September 20th, 2009

Wait a minute....you're reporting on this and you didn't even know she was a woman? Did you research this at all?

Seattle Homes (not verified)

at 19:37 on September 11th, 2009

What a poor excuse for an "executive". She's got a swift kick the curb coming in the near future. Not sure your stretch to Wall St. and capitalism is a good one, though. Those capitalist Wall St. investors are hunting for her head right now. They want their assets managed well.

Miguel E. (not verified)

at 22:09 on September 11th, 2009

Acorn called. They want her to take over as V.P. of Washington Affairs.

Mr. English (not verified)

at 22:35 on September 11th, 2009

If you are going to be a journalist or at least an online writer, perhaps learn the differnce between "your" and "you're". "...if your a banking exec."

bellref (not verified)

at 22:38 on September 12th, 2009

I agree with you that the author needs to proofread her work before posting. May I suggest the ever reliable Strunk and White The Elements of Style?

bellref (not verified)

at 22:39 on September 12th, 2009

I agree with you that the author needs to proofread her work before posting. May I suggest the ever reliable Strunk and White The Elements of Style?

Karen D (not verified)

at 22:42 on September 11th, 2009

If Wells Fargo doesn't fire that poor excuse for a human being, I will take my loan elsewhere in the very near future. That is beyond despicable.

Tammy G (not verified)

at 12:30 on September 13th, 2009

Karen, Let me tell you something, she is not a poor excuse for a human being, she just got caught. You and I both know that this is not the first time something like this has happened and believe me it won't be the last. And for those noisy neighbhors that were on Channel 7 being interviewed, they needed to mind there own business, because I strongly feel what you do in the dark will eventually come to the light. If they are going to be mad at anyone they should be mad at Madoff, because he is the reason why those people's house was foreclosed on in the first place. Those neighbors went to great lengths to find out as much as they could about her, like questioning the security guard at the front gate for confidential information about her, which is absurd;. Condidential information means confidential and he/she should be fired. It is nothing wrong with investigating a matter, especially if it there is a threat of potential harm to your person or anyone else, but having lavish parties in a foreclosed house wasn't harming any of those stuck up neighbors in Mailbu. They were just pissed off to see a "Black" women and her "Black" family in a $12million house having a good time. I guess had that been Mary J. Bliege, it would have been ok, but they would still have been pissed,but it would have been nothing they could do, because she can afford a property like that. I am so sure that before this is all over a lot more executives at Wells Fargo Bank will be exposed, so close your mouth. One thing that Cheronda forgot was that she is still "Black", while driving, dinning out, flying and visting that stuck up, prejudice area called Malibu.

GiveMe A Break (not verified)

at 14:07 on September 14th, 2009

Oh Tammy G give me a break. Now you're going to yell "RACIST" to those Malibu residents because they wanted to know WHO the heck was camping out on weekends at their former neighbors' house??? Puleezee. They had every right to find out what was going on in their neighborhood. It's called Neighborhood Watch. And it was plain WRONG of a Wells Fargo Bank employee to use that house for her personal use. No excuses. Whether Cheronda is black, white, pink, yellow, brown or purple she was WRONG. It was morally reprehensible to keep that property off the market and then use it for her family's enjoyment. If she were leasing it or renting from the bank, that might be one thing... but she was not. She was abusing her power. Plain and simple. Go jump off and cliff and stop yelling racism everywhere. In case you hadn't noticed, the POTUS is black. And I'll bet you every one of those Malibu residents you're denigrating voted for Obama. It's one of the most liberal and Democratic trendy rich places in L.A.

cjenngo (not verified)

at 20:52 on September 14th, 2009

I agree with you. WRONG IS WRONG no matter what color you are!

Storyteller (not verified)

at 20:22 on September 14th, 2009

Give me a break! As black person, it sickens me that some blacks are always so quick to whine the race card over every conflict that involves blacks and whites and that didn't start out with a racial thing at its core...particularly when the BLACK person is the one clearly in the wrong. Hey, I know full well that racism still very much exists today in the U.S. In particular, I'm one who get really frustrated with the ignorant people who have a "Obama is president now, so enough with the racism talk" attitude. BUT if you're going to bring up race, how about not doing so to defend a stupid, ethically-challenged, morally-bankrupt woman who was clearly and disgustingly WRONG in her conduct. Hey, as soon as I read the name I suspected that Cheronda Guyton was black. And you know what? It did nothing to lessen my disgust at her behavior. This woman was partying on the backs of a family that lost everything as a result of Bernie Madoff's crimes. I applaud the community for questioning why their neighbor's house, which wasn't on the market, was being used for parties and as a weekend getaway. From the reports I've read, they knew the status of the house and they suspected something wasn't right. Did the fact Guyton is black heighten their suspicions even just a little? Maybe. Does that change the fact that Guyton's actions were disgusting and she should have known better...and should have known that, in this time of economic crisis and banks being sensitive about their image, she could lose her job if caught? Not at all. I'm glad she went down. And hell, if you want to be so race conscious about this, you should be more upset about how this idiot woman, an educated SENIOR EXECUTIVE at one of the nation's leading banks, just gave unethical corporate behavior a black face. Stop defending the indefensible.

Unreal (not verified)

at 06:49 on September 15th, 2009

Why should we be upset that it gave corporate behavior a black face. Everything wrong in the US has been given a white face so we may as well start reflecting the truth and start sharing the responsibility.

Haseef (not verified)

at 01:45 on September 15th, 2009

Tammy G, you sound more racist than the racism you are trying to portray existed among the individuals that lived in the area. Bottom, line what she did was unethical and cannot be tolerated under any circumstance. The information gathered from her license plate on her car is a matter of public record and is available to anyone. I guess it is okay to break the law, unethical, and to be deceitful as long as your Black. Your comment that Cheronda forgot she was Black is the most asinine comment I have heard in a long while. She forgot she was breaking the law, as well as breaking the Code of Ethics policy of her company. One more thing before you label this as another racist comment by a white person, I am Black. I guess Madoff had a little African American in him when he was investigated and convicted.

JAnderson (not verified)

at 05:57 on September 15th, 2009

Yeah, Bernie, the Jewish brother... that explains why everyone is coming down on him so hard.

aja minage (not verified)

at 09:44 on September 15th, 2009

I AGREE WITH TAMMY G IN SOME WAYS!!! FOR YOU PPL ACTING LIKE RACISM ISN'T STILL HERE "JUST BECAUSE" WE HAVE A "BLACK" PRESIDENT IS AS IGNORANT AND BLIND AS IT GETS...I FEEL THAT WHITES HAVE NO BUSINESS COMMENTING ON THE WAY BLACKS SHOULD AND SHOULDN'T FEEL! I BELIEVE THAT IF WE HAD CAME TO THIS COUNTRY FREE OF WILL BACK IN THOSE DAYS THEN YES "WE PEOPLE" WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO COMPLAIN BUT HONEY WE ARE HUNDREDS OF YEARS BEHIND "WHITES" AND WE ARE STILL PLAYING CATCH UP...I COULD TELL BY THE NAME SHE WAS BLACK LOLZ WHY AND THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING SO STUPID AT A TIME LIKE THIS!

Damien D. (not verified)

at 08:24 on September 15th, 2009

Just like Acorn breaking into foreclosed homes, Kayne West and Serena Williams running their mouths these chimps think they are above the law, I'll bet ole Cheronda already has another minority preference job in another financial institution. Time to rethink the direction this country is headed folks and make some changes.

jacket (not verified)

at 09:52 on September 15th, 2009

One thing I have seldom seen is a hairy person of color... But I have seen plenty of super-hairy "other" people. While I know this topic is not about race, the individual who called Kanye and Selena "chimps" should rethink that comment in light of his own familial characteristics, including his ignorance.

John Deerson (not verified)

at 10:48 on September 15th, 2009

lol....its so easy, even you cavemen could do it! lol

Ylanda (not verified)

at 09:19 on September 16th, 2009

Damien, It does not surprise me that you would hide behind a computer and make your IGNORANT comments. Guess what, black people do not care that you call them chimps. The do not care that you use the "N" word. After all, it is just verification that YOU are an ignorant, no class, uneducated bigot that is jealous of the accomplishments of black people because you thought your slave owner relatives could hold us down forever. Guess you can now see what happens when the playing field is level. You get Kanye West and Serena Williams. Talented, intelligent and human. And yes, they make mistakes just like everyone else. We also get PRESIDENT Barack Obama. Like it or not Damien D, black people are not IGNORANT like you. What direction is this country headed and what changes are you referring to? I guess it's too bad for you that you can't get out the whip and hold us back. Grow up and then get an education. You sound more disgusting than Cheronda Guyton. And yes, black people think her actions were horrible. And we also think Bernie Madoff's actions were horrible .. he was white or didn't you know.

Damien D. (not verified)

at 08:34 on September 15th, 2009

M Sholaja (not verified)

at 13:58 on September 15th, 2009

This is crazy. To me it seems as though that our people do not exercise enough restraint when given a certain amount of higer level responsibilities and status afforded them. True, I dont like the fact that member "Damien D." has played the race card. But honestly, everytime a person of color is headlined in the media for doing something stupid, when they already know they will stick out like a piece of coal in pile of snow, just sickens me because it tends to validate all of the stereo typical views of what cavemen think we are.......then again, opinions are like asholes, everyone has one!

bob smith (not verified)

at 05:06 on September 12th, 2009

Why is a Canuck writing about an American story?

Screwed by Wells in Vegas (not verified)

at 06:50 on September 12th, 2009

Tina, I'll forgive the typo's and gender mistakes, for they are not at the heart of the story. This is typical in America today, capitalism has given way to opportunism and that makes your comment regarding the same, correct. Plain and simple Wells Fargo is DIRTY!!! They have no intensions on assisting or helping anybody during this crisis and I'm sure they are not alone. When my wife lost her job in escrow during the housing market crash, we went to Wells for some guidence ans assistance. In short what they did was instruct us to create a situation in which they could assist us; then provided ZERO assistance. My options after following their instructions to the letter (and finally spending several thousand dollars for representation) are; 1. Short sell my home for less than 50% of the current loan value (based on current property values). 2. hand over my keys in a "Deed in Liue" agreement. 3. And I love this one; restructure my loan at 2.5%, increase the term of the loan by 15 years and increase the loan value by $35,000.00, making my new payment just slightly less than the payment that I no longer could afford. This is what a trillion dollars of bailout gets the consumer. The banks got their money to fund programs and the consumer still pays the full amount of it all in the end, again. Talk about a ponzi scheme; they should have let the fall and die as a result of their own greed. Instead, a lot of very rich people are getting a lot richer at the demise of our housing market and the economic tsunami that rose up as a result. One more thing; you as a Canadian have every right to speak the truth in this country, especially when it's own citizens are blinded by entitlement. I also hope that I had more than one misspelled word in the body of this comment (Mr. English) you pompous ass.

donaldaharrison (not verified)

at 14:13 on September 12th, 2009

The "victim" purchased this home. Because of Madoff, the "victim" is unable to make the payments on the house. The "victim" turns over the house to the bank. To clearify, the BANK purchased the home. The BANK paid the seller for the home. The "victim" agreed to repurchase the home from the bank through a monthly payment process. The "victim" failed to complete the purchase of the home from the bank. The "victim" agreed to walk away from the deal. (story states "victims turned over the keys to their foreclosed home") I do not understand how we continue to state the house belongs to the "victim". The "victim" NEVER paid for the house. The BANK did. You I fail to pay my mortgage, I lose my home because the bank purchased it for me under the agreement that I pay it back. This "victim" could not pay the bank the agreed payments and "turned over the keys to the foreclosed home". It's the bank's house. It did not need to sell this as it was the bank's property. If anyone should be raising cane, it should be the share holders (the bank owners) The bank should not be providing homes for employees.

michael callery (not verified)

at 14:59 on September 12th, 2009

so... first off cheronda needs to git da boot... fired... axed.... frankly THROWN OUT ON HER ASS. secondly.... as the man above stated when he asked wells fargo how to save his home.... what wells did is what all the banks are doing.... and i quote from NUMEROUS people I know who have EXCELLANT credit and are trying to "do whats right". "We cannot help you because you are making your payments, if you stop making payments and go into foreclosure, then we can help you." what kind of crap is that..????/ and yeah... every last one of those banks should have failed. but then .... i did not vote for that republican IDIOT of a president that we had. heres more fuel to the fire.... the feds are offering an 8000 tax credit for first time home buyers etc etc etc.... if you close by nov of this year. WELLS fargo.... "DOESNT KNOW HOW TO USE THIS OR PROCESS IT" so they are doing NOTHING. I applied to them for a mortgage, they loved me.... but they do not have a "system" to use or process the 8K from the govt. so they took my app and put it on the pile with the others.... till they figure something out. I have not heard from them in months. just one more.... it all boils down to "policy". they make their policy, they can CHANGE their policy. but oh no.... that would not let them have huge salaries and executives who throw parties in malibu mansions....

NanceGreggs (not verified)

at 17:49 on September 12th, 2009

Cheronda would make a perfect president of ACORN. Soon she will probably be giving out suggestions on how AAs can cheat the system. We can all expect Brack Obama to come to the defense of Ms Cheronda and call the denizens of Malibu Colony 'racists' for drawing undue attention to Cheronda in her quest for 'moving on up'.Chalk all of this chatter to just more of 'da man tryin' to put da black (wo)man down'.

bellref (not verified)

at 22:32 on September 12th, 2009

How do we know she is black?

Rosie Ahmed (not verified)

at 19:35 on September 14th, 2009

NanceGreggs, what does Obama have to do with the actions of Cheronda Guyton?Why are you making her so important? She was wrong in what she did and she is now paying the price for her actions. No, she will not make a perfect president of ACORN. Why does race have to be injected into everything? I am Black and I stand for the right. It matters not whether the person is black, white green,purple or blue. How can the people of Malibu be called racist because they are concerned about what is going on in their neighborhood? According to the article it was not one party.