Wells Fargo claims that it is fulfilling its obligation under the Attorney General Settlement that was brokered in early 2012 (but effective later in 2012). Wells Fargo indicates that it has assisted 70,000 home owners with “expanded loan modifications, other customer relief options, and refinances” between March 1, 2012 and December 1, 2012. The lender estimates it has fulfilled about 73.5 percent of its $4.3-billion commitment to consumer relief and refinancing made as part of last year’s mortgage fraud settlement between 49 of 50 state attorneys general and big banks. Wells Fargo also says that in the same time period it “assisted customers with more than 4.7 million refinances allowing them to take advantage of lower interest rates.
The 73.5% number seems to be compelling. However, 70,000 customers seem to be the proverbial “drop in the bucket”. 70,000 out of how many million?? Doing some simple math, it does appear that Wells Fargo has done a credible job since $4.3 billion divided among 70,000 home owners equals over $61,000 per households and that is significant.
This pace would indicate that Wells will fulfill its obligation during the second quarter of 2013. One has to wonder what they will do with requests for assistance after they have fulfilled their commitment. Additionally, there are other settlements that may add to this (The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Settlement for example).
The re-fi number is also compelling since it has been difficult to obtain re-financing for many customers. This number really surprised me since the re-financing number is actually HIGHER than the assistance number and the assistance number was mandated by a legally binding settlement.
I hope that these numbers are accurate. Many will dispute this. There are a lot of home owners complaining about Wells Fargo and other larger servicers that refuse to modify. Bear in mind that the number ne reason that modification requests are denied is incomplete files!!!
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