What Wells Fargo Customers Need to Know
What Wells Fargo Customers Need to Know
If you have a relationship with Wells Fargo Bank, including: Auto Loans, Mortgages, Credit Cards, Checking Accounts, Savings Accounts or a Merchant Account, here’s what you need to know:
Auto Loans: Check your loan statement(s), not just the current one, and look for late charges, particularly when you’ve been paying the loan on time. Look for “Insurance Charges”, where Wells Fargo may have added the “unneeded” expense of auto insurance when you may have already had insurance in place. If you’ve had any of the above charges, you may be eligible to receive a refund from Wells Fargo. This has taken place with over 800,000 people with auto loans, through Wells Fargo.
Mortgages: Wells Fargo may also have charged you late fees or insurance charges for your property. Additionally, Wells was selling “Home Warranty Services” through American Home Shield. Wells would collect the Home Warranty charges on behalf of American Home Shield, via your mortgage payment. There have been claims that American Home Shield would solicit for this service and if you don’t “opt out”, it is automatically added to your mortgage bill. Charges for this service can be $43.00 per month. These charges would be on a mortgage statement, so you’ll need to look at ALL of your statements and make sure.
Checking and Savings Accounts: Wells employees were paid bonuses on the number of accounts they opened, as were Wells Executives. You’ll want to be sure there are no accounts opened in your name that you’re unaware of. These accounts can accumulate overdraft fees and charges which can affect your credit. Call your branch and have them check for accounts using your Social Security number as the search criteria. You will also want to assure you don’t have Credit Cards or Debit Cards that are associated with those accounts.
Merchant Accounts: If you are a business owner and accept credit cards, you’ll want to check for excess credit card processing fees. Check your Merchant agreement, there is a pending lawsuit in New York that claims the Merchant Account agreement has language that allows Wells Fargo to charge any fee they deem reasonable, for their service.
Wells Fargo is the Nation’s largest bank. The above information is only scratching the surface of what may lie below, so make sure you’re diligent about checking everything related to Wells Fargo and your relationship with that bank.
If you find fraudulent charges or accounts, contact your local branch and pay them a visit. If this doesn’t solve the problem, you can contact the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau; toll free 855-411-2372. There are also a number of class action suits in various states.