Wells Fargo customer? You may be eligible for part of $2 billion settlement; how to apply (2024)

Wells Fargo customers may be eligible for payments as a result of a $2 billion settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The settlement covers more than 16 million Wells Fargo accounts that were subject to “illegal practices, including misapplied payments, wrongful foreclosures, and incorrect fees and interest charges.” CFPB said.

Wells Fargo customers from 2011 to 2022 are potentially covered by the settlement. Wells Fargo is required to notify its customers if they are included but if you believe you are eligible for a payment and have not received a letter yet, you should first contact Wells Fargo at 844-484-5089. If that that does not resolve the issue, you can submit a complaint online.

The amount of repayments will vary. For automobile repossessions, you could be reimbursed at least $4,000. Another $77.2 million will be paid to some 3,200 customers who had issues working with the company to modify their loan payments to avoid foreclosure.

What types of loans could be included?

Auto loans

• Auto loan borrowers that prepaid for GAP coverage – which insures the amount owed on a car loan if you have an accident or your car is stolen. Wells Fargo acted unfairly by not refunding money when the loan terminated early, for example if it was paid off ahead of schedule CFPB said.
• Some customers’ auto loan payments were not applied correctly to their balances, leading to higher interest charges, late fees and wrongful repossessions.
• Some auto repossessions were also mismanaged, including how the vehicles were sold after repossession.

Mortgage loan borrowers

• Some mortgage loan borrowers were unfairly turned down when they requested modifications to their loan to avoid foreclosure. They also may have been charged incorrect fees and other costs.
• Wells Fargo wrongly reported some customers as deceased, overstated attorney fees that meant applications were denied instead of approved and brought thousands of wrongful foreclosure actions.

Bank account holders

• Some customers were unfairly charged surprise overdraft fees on debit purchases and ATM withdrawals, even if they had enough money in their account at the time of the transaction.
• Some customers were charged monthly fees when they shouldn’t have been. Wells Fargo advertised no fees if a customer made “10 or more debit card purchases and/or payments” in a month, but the bank limited the types of eligible payments and didn’t count debit transactions that posted days later.
• Some customers’ money was unfairly “frozen” for weeks if Wells Fargo suspected a single deposit was fraudulent.