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Wells Fargo & Company and Wells Fargo Bank NA have reportedly agreed to pay $50 million to settle a class action lawsuit claiming they imposed excessive and abusive fees on borrowers who were late on their mortgage payments.
The Wells Fargo class action lawsuit was filed in 2012 by a group of plaintiffs who allege Wells Fargo charged them over-inflated fees when they fell behind in their mortgage payments.
These fees were sometimes inflated by as much as 300 percent, the plaintiffs said.
Further, Wells Fargo used “cryptic wording” to conceal the fees, the 2012 mortgage fee class action lawsuit alleged. The fees were allegedly listed on the borrower’s statement as “corporate advances,” “miscellaneous charges” or “other charges.”
One of the fees reportedly charged by Wells Fargo was used to hire a real estate broker to assess the value of a borrower’s home based on the value of comparable properties.
This assessment is called the “broker’s price opinion” (BPO) and is used to help price the property for foreclosure.
According to the Wells Fargo class action lawsuit, lenders are allowed to charge BPO fees, but they may not perform unnecessary services or inflate the charges in order to make a profit. The plaintiffs say that Wells Fargo violated the law by charging excessive and abusive fees.
The amount of BPO charges reportedly ranged from $95 to $125 each.
According to court documents, Class certification was granted on Dec. 17, 2015, and notice of the Wells Fargo class action lawsuit was mailed to Class Members in June.
The parties reportedly reached the mortgage fee abuse class action settlement on Oct. 26, 2016.
Class Members of the Wells Fargo settlement include all U.S. residents who had a residential mortgage serviced by Wells Fargo or its subsidiaries and who paid for at least one BPO for an amount greater than the amount Wells Fargo paid a third-party vendor, from May 6, 2005 through July 1, 2010.
Class Members will reportedly automatically receive payment from the Wells Fargo settlement and will not need to submit a Claim Form in order to receive payment.
According to court documents, information about the Wells Fargo settlement will be posted at www.BiasvWellsFargo.com.
NOTE: As of the date of this publication, the website has not yet been updated with information about the class action settlement and only reflects information about the Class certification.
Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the green “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.
Bias is represented by Daniel Alberstone, Roland Tellis and Mark Pifko of Baron & Budd PC.
The Wells Fargo Mortgage Fee Class Action Lawsuit is Latara Bias, et al. v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., Case No. 4:12-cv-00664, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: The Wells Fargo Mortgage Fee Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to learn more.
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43 thoughts onWells Fargo Settles Mortgage Fee Abuse Class Action Lawsuit
Yes, I have a loan with Wells Fargo, and then I got into some hard times as my job chose to downsize, leaving me with huge financial commitments, but I researched some options, finding in my State of Georgia, Home Safe, where I got some help with paying my mortgage, but Wells Fargo took money that was not suppose to go to them and I still have not got the resolve to this date. I did keep all of the documentation because i knew that one day, all would be found out about the banking practices.
Oh my goodness! the things I find out from this website. Yes I want to be a part of this suit! Thank you!
This particular lawsuit has reached a settlement. The article includes a link to the settlement website, where you can review FAQs and some court documents. You should contact the settlement administrator with any questions about whether or not you are a class member. Good Luck!
My mortgage is with Wells Fargo and the mortgage should be near paid off however the mortgage balance
continues to stay close to the same as when I bought the house in 1998.
Please email and I will give the information needed to calculate up till today.
I have had a home loan with Wells fargo..in 2009,, or 10..they made it very difficult on me. Went up on my mortgage saying it was a ballon..payment not being informed about that doing my closing I got behind tried to play catch up but those extra fees..was killing me..I had no choice but to..foreclosure. .my house even tried to offer them a large amount of money ..they took it and still didn’t get to keep my house..please say I am a quaified..applicant. .
I have a Mortgage Loan with Wells Fargo Bank, but I have never be late on any payments. Do I still qualify to be in on this lawsuit?
The article includes a link to the settlement website, where you can review FAQs and some court documents. You should contact the settlement administrator with any questions about whether or not you are a class member. Good Luck!
click the link http://www.BiasvWellsFargo.com opt out option was August 8th 2016, so you’re in by default anyway.
I had a mortgage and equity line with Wells Fargo with Citi Mortgage servicing the account They put me in forclosure and I had to pay quite a bit to payoff the mortgage but still have a equity line with them
Oh yes…and, because I was out of state I was told that I needed a particular type of insurance because the house was “empty.” I was charged an additional $798 for a 3-month policy. I had never heard of such a thing. People relocate for work all the time. Can you say “screwed?”
My mortgage was serviced by Wells Fargo/subsidiaries in 2004-2006. I was selling and the buyer backed out 3-days prior to escrow closing. I had already relocated for work and struggled to make living expenses in addition to the mortgage. Due to the ongoing correspondence w/the bank I was assured I could take what ended up being 3 late payments and put them to the end of the loan as I had found another buyer. When the new buyer learned I was in arrears they backed out for fear of foreclosure. I was told by a rep that all I needed to do was fax additional info to complete the process, which I did. I heard nothing so contacted them within the next day or so. They stated they had not received the info and the Bank/Court foreclosed on my home on June 1, 2006. I had saved all of my correspondence by mail and email. It was heartbreaking and caused a tremendous burden and loss of equity I would have received from the anticipated sale. I was unaware at the time I could have saved my home possibly by filing bankruptcy, but my credit was excellent at the time.
I had a mortgage with Wells Fargo on my rental property. My renter stopped paying the rent, destroyed my house, including my plumbing and electric and stole my furnishings including toilets and appliances. Luckily we were covered by State Farm. Wells Fargo is holing our insurance payment and refuses to release it so we can’t repair the house for sale! Now they are forclosing on the house. I wish I had the money to sue them. They are the scum of the earth.