Hundreds Lost Their Homes Thanks to Computer Glitch

Wells Fargo said a mistake contributed to hundreds of foreclosures
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 5, 2018 4:00 PM CDT
Hundreds Lost Their Homes Thanks to Computer Glitch
A Wells Fargo bank in northeast Jackson, Miss.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

Wells Fargo says a company mistake contributed to hundreds of foreclosures because it miscalculated customers' eligibility for mortgage modifications, per the AP. The bank said in a filing Friday the error caused about 625 customers to be denied, or not offered, loan modifications they otherwise qualified for. Foreclosures were completed in about 400 of the cases. The customers had been using federal programs that helped families at risk of losing homes. Spokesman Tom Goyda says there's no breakdown of where the foreclosures occurred. The error in the bank's underwriting tool lasted from 2010 until it was fixed in late 2015, an internal review found.

Per Reuters, where the error was first reported, Wells Fargo said it has set aside $8 million this year to help the affected customers. This new headache merely adds to the pain Wells Fargo has felt since a scandal first erupted around its retails sales practices that led to the opening of millions of fake accounts for customers without their authorization in order to meet unrealistic quotas. In an unrelated settlement announced just this month, Wells Fargo agreed to pay a $2.1 billion fine to settle allegations it misrepresented the types of mortgages it sold to investors during the housing bubble that ultimately led to the 2008 financial crisis. (More Wells Fargo stories.)

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