August 5. 2020

Wells Fargo

Select banks in America are taking advantage of people during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Wells Fargo Bank is one of them. Previously, I predicted the 2008 financial crisis 2-years in advance via my websites (How George Bush Destroyed The U.S. Economy).

Previously, I'd also written about the scandal plagued Wells Fargo Bank in 2018 (Wells Fargo Bank Confesses Homes Have Wrongly Been Placed Into Foreclosure Due To A Computer Glitch). Now, Wells Fargo Bank is in trouble again for unethical conduct.

Wells Fargo was recently the subject of negative publicity when it was revealed the bank gave customers forbearance on their mortgages, who did not ask for it, then deliberately did not credit the payments they made for months during the time period. It turned into a scandal recently. The matter is now being discussed in Congress this week.

Today, I personally witnessed via a conference call, as a mentally disabled man, who had received a 3-month forbearance from Wells Fargo due to the pandemic, then paid it all back last month (the 3-months worth of forbearance payments) when he received his unemployment checks, tried to get his mortgage payments back on autopay, but the bank representative acted improperly. It felt like a scam. His mortgage payment was due today.

The Wells Fargo representative told the mentally disabled man in the presence of his social worker that she could only put him back on autopay on the 7th of the month. Autopay in America is when a bank automatically withdraws mortgage or credit card payments from an account holder’s bank account on a certain day each month, to repay their debt in monthly installments, negating the need for the customer to manually call in or log-in and enter their financial information every month to make each month’s payment.

Upon hearing from the Wells Fargo representative that she could only put him back on autopay on the 7th of the month, his social worker stated, “Wouldn’t that make this month’s mortgage payment late” (as it’s due the 5th of every month). The Wells Fargo representative refused to answer the question, opting to skirt the issue, because it would indeed have made the mortgage payment late and the equity laden condo eligible for late fees and foreclosure, despite the fact the payee called in with the funds and was trying to make the payment on time.

When pressed on the matter, the Wells Fargo representative finally admitted “yes, there would be a late fee” even though the payee was not late. Sensing the social worker was not amused, the Wells Fargo representative decided to change course in stating “the mortgage payment can be made today and then the autopay put back on next month, September 7th.”

In another matter regarding the state of banking in America, due to the current financial crisis brought on by the coronavirus, some banks’ employees are looking for real estate deals at homeowners’ expense. 41,000,000 Americans are unemployed due to coronavirus.

Some banks’ employees are not working with Americans who are between jobs or lost their jobs and just found a new one, and are trying to catch up on mortgage payments. Homeowners who have paid their mortgages for years and therefore have equity in the property, but are now in financial distress, are being targeted by select banks‘ employees.

This makes foreclosures of homes available to investors at lower prices, as the bank auctions off foreclosed properties for what is owed on the mortgage, not the actual value of the property, which is significantly higher in a number of cases (market value of homes). America is headed for another foreclosure crisis if this behavior continues and a proper intervention does not occur regarding the financial damage from the coronavirus outbreak.

STORY SOURCE

Two senators demand answers from Wells Fargo following NBC News reports

July 30, 2020, 10:01 AM EDT - Citing a recent investigation by NBC News, two U.S. senators have asked the chief executive of Wells Fargo to answer extensive questions about the bank’s practice of pausing mortgage payments for borrowers without their consent under a federal program designed to help homeowners financially hurt by COVID-19.

The senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, both Democrats and members of the Senate Banking Committee, wrote a letter on July 29 requesting information and documents about Wells Fargo’s policy of placing customers in so-called forbearance programs they did not request.

The conduct can harm borrowers’ credit reports by showing that they are not making payments even when they are and can prevent them from refinancing their home loans to take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates.

The senators’ letter said the bank “appears to be incapable of self-governance,” and noted that reports of borrowers being placed in forbearance programs they did not want “raise even more questions about the inability of Wells Fargo and its leadership team to comply with the law and the needs of its customers.”

The letter, obtained exclusively by NBC News, was addressed to Charles W. Scharf, Wells Fargo’s relatively new chief executive officer. He has been on the job since last fall; the bank’s two previous chief executives both resigned in the wake of revelations in 2016 that Wells Fargo opened millions of accounts for customers who did not request them.

“Wells Fargo may have gotten a new CEO — but the same-old, badly broken culture that repeatedly scams its customers runs deep,” Warren said in a statement to NBC News. “We want answers on why the bank has been placing nondelinquent borrowers in mortgage forbearance without their consent, especially during one of the worst economic crises in history.”...

https://www.nbcnews.com

More Wells Fargo customers say the bank decided to pause their mortgage payments without asking

July 22, 202002:22 - In March, Tammi Wilson was checking on her family's mortgage online at Wells Fargo when she saw a link to information about COVID-19 on the bank's website. After clicking through, she provided contact information so she could receive materials on programs at the bank. Days later, she said, she returned to the payment page to transmit what she and her husband, David, owed on their loan. A message popped up saying she had no active accounts and couldn't make the payment.

Wilson later learned what had happened. Without her knowledge, the bank had put her into a program that suspended payments on her federally backed loan. Known as forbearance, it is a CARES Act program that aims to help borrowers who are having trouble making their payments because they've been hurt by COVID-19.

Because she hadn't asked for forbearance, Wilson continued to make all her family's mortgage payments. She has also spent hours on the phone with Wells Fargo to get out of the program. Finally, on July 1, the bank sent her a letter confirming her request to "opt out" of the program she said she never opted into.

Still, Wilson's credit report, dated July 18 and reviewed by NBC News, shows that the family mortgage is "in forbearance" and that the April and May payments weren't credited to the account, even though the Wilsons submitted them.

While in forbearance, Wilson and her husband almost certainly can't refinance their mortgage, because most banks won't underwrite new loans for borrowers whose mortgage payments are suspended. As long as the forbearance notation remains in their credit report, the Wilsons can't take advantage of rock-bottom interest rates and are stuck at Wells Fargo...

https://www.nbcnews.com

‘Embarrassed’ by Wells Fargo, 6 advisors take $300M in AUM to Raymond James

August 04, 2020, 5:45 p.m. EDT - Wrung out by years of scandals at Wells Fargo, a team of six financial advisors became the most recent defectors after the bank failed to secure Paycheck Protection Program loans for about 50 business owners they serve.

“We basically had clients demanding that we find a new home,” says Chris Williams of his team’s decision to move $300 million in assets under management to Raymond James. “We wanted to land at a place that wasn’t going to embarrass us in the future.”

The advisors, who were affiliated with Wells Fargo’s independent broker-dealer, now operate as Uinta Wealth Management in Salt Lake City within Raymond James’ independent advisor channel. In addition to Williams, the team comprises advisors Robb Farr, Brad Wittusen, Jeffrey Smith, Roger Thornton and Kelly Holtman.

Earlier this year, the federal government created PPP to help business owners survive the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as part of the $2 trillion CARES Act. The government provided the funds to banks and lenders which then extended loans to businesses.

When the federal stimulus money became available, Wells Fargo quickly allocated loans primarily to large businesses, according to Wiliams. “They just weren’t offering them” to his clients, Williams says...

https://www.financial-planning.com

RELATED ARTICLES

Wells Fargo Bank Confesses Homes Have Wrongly Been Placed Into Foreclosure Due To A Computer Glitch

How George Bush Destroyed The U.S. Economy

Exclusives