Wells Fargo Accused Of Offering Deceptive Mortgage Modifications

On Jan. 18, 2011, a customer exits a Wells Fargo bank branch in Los Angeles. A lawsuit accusing Wells Fargo of having no intention of making mortgage modifications permanent has been partially dismissed by a judge in San Francisco.

Wells Fargo has been sued by a group of struggling homeowners, who say the bank worked with them in bad faith.

Vicki and Richard Sutcliffe, a couple in Kansas City, have filed a class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo, accusing the bank of offering temporary mortgage modifications with no intention of making them permanent, according to Courthouse News Service and a court document. The couple alleges that Wells Fargo allowed them to make lower mortgage payments multiple times, only to later inform them that the mortgage was in default and that the bank would foreclose on their home.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero dismissed some of the lawsuit's claims on Wednesday, but gave the plaintiffs leave to amend their complaint about the alleged breach of contract. He also let the unfair competition claims stay.

The Sutcliffes aren't the only homeowners struggling to secure a permanent loan modification. A number of banks have already been proven guilty of "dual-tracking," or evaluating homeowners for mortgage modifications while simultaneously initiating foreclosure proceedings on them.

Under the national mortgage settlement announced in February, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America and Ally Financial promised to stop dual-tracking as well as "robo-signing," or false documentation that rushed homes into foreclosure. But those promises last only into 2015, and it is unclear how the government will monitor the banks to make sure they're complying.

U.S. bank regulators reached a similar agreement with 16 mortgage lenders and servicers last year. At the time, banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, agreed to compensate homeowners that had been wrongly foreclosed upon and to overhaul their mortgage operations.

Roughly one in five homeowners with mortgages are underwater on their mortgages, or owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

Comments

[Calsunshine97]

12:30 PM on 12/28/2012

I filed a complaint here: https://help.consumerfinance.gov/app/mortgage/ask and I have a Wells Fargo Executive Mortgage Specialist from the Office of Executive Complaints helping me. If you still are trying to modify, you might try this. This is (supposedly) the way the government is monitoring and trying to figure out what the problems are with the modifications.

[wantsachange]

02:00 PM on 11/14/2012

So we did the trial refinance for over a year.....Got tired for waiting around for them to complete the modification they said we qualified for.....So we sent in a large payment covering everything except 3 months worth of payments.....Right after that they claimed the "title work" they were waiting for came back and are now ready to offer us the final modification...Completed that paperwork with the payment completed and I thought everything was good. So the new modification shows we don't have to make a payment for 2 months and the new payment will go into affect. I thought it was good, great finally we are getting some where and they send me new paperwork again and I asked what is this for and they advised because the legal description changed they needed the new paperwork complete....Should we see where the modification goes or should I continue to make payments and forget any modifications and get caught up on the loan?

[C Karen Stopford]

04:06 PM on 11/02/2012

Laws are weak and enforcement is weaker. In days of yore, these banksters would have been hung from the old elm tree in town square.

[Cozy659]

09:05 PM on 10/09/2012

Wells Fargo also did this to Me after a house Fire and upped my Mortgage by $50K
after They held up My insurance payments to Build the New house. I paid my mortgage on-time for 2 years with No house on the Property. They Delayed Building the New house several months.Then they Pull the Forclosure garbage. How do I sign up to Join this Class action lawsuit

[JMB1960]

11:20 AM on 09/19/2012

How can we turn this into a class actions suit with the numerous others that WFHM has
decided to steal homes from?

[Sandy Stanley]

02:47 PM on 09/15/2012

I to have been screwed by wells fargo they held my aug payment until I paid a late fee now I get a letter in the mail that if I don.t make a the late fee they will foreclose on my home I have ask for a mod on my loan 4 times nothing happened they raised my payment . And now they are holding my payment so look out

[whoknew---]

07:09 PM on 09/01/2012

If the banks have been problematic with the loan modifications for underwater loans what do you expect?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/14/wells-fargo-lawsuit-mortgage-modifications_n_1514330.html

[raulgonzalez]

04:30 PM on 08/28/2012

Wells Fargo mortgage and Wells fargo bank in El Paso is operated by a bunch of clowns that do not know what they are doing I applied for an equity loan at wells fargo bank on Lee Trevino they then sent me to wells fargo Mortgage i left all my personel original documents that they ask for they then turned around and told me to go back to Well fargo bank and that it would be faster to get the loan, the bank denied me for I had a good credit at 780, but my equity would not qualify me on a percentage toward the amount, i then said well how much can I qualify they told me to go back to wells fargo mortgage and ask for unsecured loan that I would qualify easy,they asked me again for the documents tp start the application i then called Wells fargo Mortgage to get my documents Mr, David Lucero said he distroyed the documents I asked him why did you distroy them i told you they were my originals forms his response was he thought I was not coming back since I went to Well Fargo bank,when he is the one that sent me to the well Fargo bank in Lee Trevino Mikey lopez, Mike Hernandez, and David Lucero need to go find another line of work you are idiotes you think God gave you a head to seperate your ears WRONG!!!!

[marilou2226]

09:54 AM on 08/17/2012

I've been trying for over a year and they suspended my paperwork 2x without notifiying me until i called them... I don't understand.. I just faxed another set of papers and I have an email follow up stating I sent everything over and if anything else was needed... we'll see what happens, i think it's a deadend street with them....i wasn't supposed to receive foreclosure papers and i did.. due to a divorce my household income was cut in half.... I'd be willing to pay something, but they haven't worked with me,,,, you'd think something is better than nothing, but if you think of all the interest we've all paid them through the years, they aren't willing to help us out..... one comment said we should all stop paying... I couldn't agree more,,, Banks are all crooks...

[Sandy Stanley]

02:49 PM on 09/15/2012

Had that done to me

[Alex500 S]

04:55 PM on 07/13/2012

I asked wells Fargo for a loan modification on march 2011 due to my salary was cut 30% less, Wells Fargo within 3 months denied the modification saying I did not have any problem to continue paying the mortgage so I applied again within few months they denied the modification again saying that my single family home is a more than 4 dwelling house unit,I told them they made a mistake,so they reopen my case..within few months they denied my request again saying there is an investor who owns my house (Freddie mac) so Well Fargo said NO to modification,then I talked with WF modification rep. she said that modifications is not for me I have 7 years to finish paying off my house and the modification is for people who owe 30 years loan , also my house has a lot of equity,now WF offer me no options. I hired a lawyer. :(

[Dolrez87]

11:56 AM on 06/02/2012

I would like to be apart of this class action lawsuit against Wells Fargo. My home lan modification process has been dragging for the past 3 months without any resolution. I've jumping hoops after hoops, running paper trails and still haven't gotten any help. They pretend as if they want help but they really don't. I finally gave up on 5/30/12 after another request for additional information. They need to be held accountable for misleading their customers.

[Sandy Stanley]

02:55 PM on 09/15/2012

I know what your saying been there done that 4 times for them to tell me no

[ijustsnapp]

07:12 PM on 05/24/2012

everyone need to stop paying...there loans and make these banks fix all home loans...they cant foreclose on the whole nation..lets show them if there is no us/there no them...boycott..................

[Kathleen Dujakovich]

04:42 PM on 08/08/2012

I SO agree with you I am gong thru the same thing

[Sandy Stanley]

02:50 PM on 09/15/2012

I tried that did.nt work for me almost lost my home

[Bet42]

10:52 PM on 05/19/2012

Dear Wells Fargo with all he law suits that you have against your bank, just to inform you when you cut off my free checking, I will no longer be a costumer. You are not going to make me pay for your mistakes.

[Cully Waggoner]

11:32 AM on 05/17/2012

As a homeowner, I know firsthand what it is like to have financial difficulties due to the economy and get behind on mortgage payments. I have Wells Fargo myself and have spent the last 2 ½ years fighting with them for a Loan Modification, I detailed my story here

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/Wells-Fargo-One-Lie-After-Another.aspx

I know that Loan Modification is all but nonexistent without good legal representation. I now represent Practical Solutions Group. I’m a Consumer Advocate and I help people struggling with their mortgage companies every day to work at saving their home. If you are struggling with your mortgage company or know somebody that is, I want to help you. Call me at 877-388-1938 Ext. 2219 for a free no obligation Case Analysis.

I especially like helping out people with Wells Fargo as I want to help them get back at Wells Fargo for what they did to me and the rest of us.

Cully Waggoner
Consumer Advocate
Practical Solutions Group
Office: 877-388-1938 Ext 2219
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [e-mail]
Hours: Mon-Thurs 1 PM - 10 PM, Friday 11 AM - 7 PM

[realitybaby]

10:23 AM on 05/15/2012

I have a 750 credit rating and have NEVER BEEN LATE ON ANY PAYMENT IN MY LIFE and Wells wont refi my mort and neither will OneWest Bk - so now Im hitting up the CREDIT UNIONS - I am the easist money they will ever make! I got 2 works for Wells and OneWest and the last one is YOU!