San Francisco Business Times - by Mark Calvey
Date: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 12:40pm PDT - Last Modified: Wednesday, April 13, 2011, 3:02pm PDTWells Fargo said Wednesday that a federal consent decree sends a powerful message to the nation’s largest banks that they must change their ways when it comes to foreclosures and loan modifications.
The consent decree is “intended to send a strong message to the national banks that changes are needed,” Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) said in a statement. “This is an unprecedented measure and a tough message to take, but it will make mortgage servicing practices better across the board.”
Wells Fargo boosted staff focused on helping troubled homeowners to 16,000 at the end of 2010, up from 10,000 in January 2009.
“We’ve made a significant investment in home-preservation staffing already,” a Wells spokeswoman said.
Earlier Wednesday, J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon said his bank may assign up to an additional 3,000 people to help troubled homeowners as it complies with the consent decree.
Wednesday’s consent decree involved the nation’s 14 largest banks, including Bank of America, (NYSE: BAC) U.S. Bancorp, (NYSE: USB) and Citigroup. (NYSE: C)
The banks told regulators that they will review all loans that went into foreclosure in 2009 and 2010. They also agreed to improve how they conduct foreclosures, loan modifications and refinancings. Those measures will involve hiring staff, improving document tracking, assigning a single point of contact within the mortgage servicer and better policing of the banks’ lawyers and vendors.
Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, said, “We are remedying areas that required improvement and continuing to reach out to customers to do everything possible to keep people who can afford their homes in them.
“Through our own review of foreclosure affidavits, we have found no foreclosures that should not have occurred,” Wells said.
Read more: Wells Fargo calls mortgage decree a ‘tough message to take’ | San Francisco Business Times
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