If you had a Wells Fargo account anytime between 2011 and 2022, you may be owed some money.
The financial services company reached a $3.7 billion settlement late last year with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau after the agency took action against them, saying they broke federal consumer protection laws in regards to auto loans, mortgages and bank accounts. CFPB says their illegal practices included misapplied payments, wrongful foreclosures and incorrect fees and interest charges.
As part of their settlement, CFPB has ordered Wells Fargo to pay more than $2 billion to customers who were harmed, plus $1.7 billion to the victims’ relief fund.
“More than 16 million accounts at Wells Fargo were subject to their illegal practices, including misapplied payments, wrongful foreclosures, and incorrect fees and interest charges,” the CFPB reports.
Auto loan customers may have been affected by mismanaged auto repossessions, prepaid GAP coverage that wasn’t refunded when the loan was terminated early, as it should have been, and failure to correctly apply payments to their balances, leading to late fees, higher interest charges and even wrongful repossessions.
For those with a mortgage loan, illegal practices included unfairly turning down loan modifications to avoid foreclosure, charging incorrect fees, reporting some customers as deceased and overstating attorney fees.
Lastly, some bank account holders were incorrectly charged surprise overdraft fees on debit purchases and ATM withdrawals and monthly fees when they shouldn’t have been, and some customers had their money frozen for weeks when it should not have been.
The amount of money each affected customer will receive will vary. Wells Fargo is required to have a plan for each violation and will contact you if you’re eligible to receive money; you do not need to take any action in order to receive payment.
“We have already proactively communicated with most of the customers who may have been impacted by the matters covered in the settlement, and those efforts are ongoing,” a Wells Fargo spokesperson told CNBC Make It.
However, if you believe you are eligible and have not received money yet, the CFPB says you should contact Wells Fargo at 844-484-5089, Monday- Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. If that does not help, you can submit a complaint to the CFPB online.
Kaitlin is a freelance multimedia journalist with a degree in journalism and psychology. Along with Don't Waste Your Money, she also writes for Simplemost, where she covers new product and food launches and overall general news. You can email her at [email protected] or find her on Facebook at Facebook.com/KaitlinGatesWrites. More.
