"Some observers claim that ACORN contributed to the subprime mortgage crisis as they are staunch supporters of the Community Reinvestment Act, which critics say forces banks to lend to otherwise uncreditworthy consumers.
In March 2007, ACORN was accused of using dubious information in their publication, A Conflict of Interest: How Canada's Largest Banks Support Predatory Lending, in an attempt to criticize the two largest banks in Canada.
A March 27, 2003 decision of the National Labor Relations Board found that ACORN attempted to thwart union organizing efforts within its own organization by laying off two workers who were attempting to organize.[16] The two workers, both field organizers with ACORN, began discussions with the Service Employees International Union and later sought to organize under Industrial Workers of the World in response to their $16,000 annual salary for a 54-hour work week. The NLRB ordered the two employees be reinstated in their former jobs and ACORN cease from interrogating employees about organizing activity.
ACORN filed a lawsuit in California seeking to exempt itself from the state's minimum wage of $4.25 per hour in 1995. ACORN alleged in its complaint that "its workers, if paid the minimum wage, will be less empathetic with ACORN's low and moderate income constituency and will therefore be less effective advocates." The court denied ACORN's petition; the denial was sustained on appeal.
On September 7, 2004, a Columbus, Ohio grand jury indicted ACORN employee and felony parolee Kevin Eugene Dooley for election fraud. The indictment charges Dooley forged a signature to a voter registration form.
In 2004, the Wisconsin Election Commission reported that between 4600 and 5300 more ballots were cast than voters who can be accounted for in Wisconsin (a state in which Democrat John Kerry defeated President Bush).
The report states: '18 persons were sworn in as Deputy registrars in 2004 that were convicted felons and under Department of Correction Supervision. Of the 15 felons that listed a sponsoring organization, eight named ACORN as their sponsoring agency.'
During the 2004 election, an ACORN member named Mac Stuart was working as a coordinator for minority voter outreach for ACORN's voter registration effort in Miami-Dade County. Stuart reported seeing ACORN workers copying voter registration forms, which is illegal under Florida law, and segregating voter registration forms for Republicans that were not subsequently turned into the County. After Stuart reported these irregularities to the election officials, ACORN fired him. Stuart filed suit against ACORN in May, 2005 for wrongful termination. ACORN countersued for defamation. Stuart's lawsuit was dismissed on the grounds that he couldn't prove he was terminated for reporting the allegations of fraud to the authorities.
In August 2004 a lawsuit was filed in Albuquerque alleging that New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron improperly exempted individuals who registered to vote through canvassers from requirements that some new registrants submit ID at polling places.
In a court case, ACORN director Matt Henderson invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when asked if his group made illegal copies of voter registration cards before submitting them. The Albuquerque Tribune claims he told them this was done.
In January 2005 two ex-ACORN workers were convicted in Denver of perjury for submitting false voter registrations.
Some other investigations responding to fraud allegations ended in Colorado, Wisconsin, ACORN said in a press release that it is in large part responsible in these individuals being caught, and has cooperated and publicly supported efforts to look into the validity of the allegations.
ACORN was investigated in 2006 for submitting false voter registrations in St. Louis, Missouri. 1,492 fraudulent voter registrations were identified, some from the dead and others for underage voters who were not aware they had been registered by ACORN.
ACORN was investigated in 2007 by King County, Washington for filing false registrations. An elections department employee called 400 phone numbers that were provided on the cards from a sample of those turned in by ACORN. Of the 400 phone numbers, only two were good, and both people denied filling out voter registration cards. The registrations were turned in after the deadline to register and the registrations were not processed for the 2006 election.
On July 26, 2007, felony charges were filed against seven ACORN employees including supervisors for filing 1762 false registrations."
