Wells Fargo to send refunds to troops, veterans - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Wells Fargo to send refunds to troops, veterans

About 60,000 service members and veterans who have refinanced their Veterans Affairs Department mortgage loans through Wells Fargo, Wachovia and SouthTrust will receive refunds as the result of a $10 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit, a Wells Fargo official said.

Those who may be eligible refinanced their loans between Jan. 20, 2004, and Oct. 7, 2010, said Wells Fargo spokeswoman Vickee Adams. The refunds will be $175 per loan; some service members and veterans may have refinanced more than once during that time.

The settlement was reached as the result of a suit filed in Georgia alleging that Wells Fargo improperly rolled attorneys’ fees into expenses charged to veterans for things like title searches. Under VA rules, the lender must cover any costs for attorneys’ services other than for title work, and cannot bill the borrower for these charges.

In about a month, Wells Fargo will mail letters to each eligible service member and veteran who has participated in the refinancing program, Adams said. The letter will include information about how to apply for the refund, and where to go for more information.

“After a long battle and hard-fought negotiations, we were glad to reach a settlement we think is fair and adequate for veterans,” said Clay Fuller, an attorney with the firm Daughtery, Crawford, Fuller and Brown in Columbus, Ga. The lawsuit was filed Jan. 20, 2009 in state court.

Adams said the refunds will apply to loans refinanced through Wachovia and SouthTrust during the specified time frame as well. SouthTrust merged with Wachovia, which later merged with Wells Fargo.

“Since the lawsuit allegation was raised, we have diligently worked with our veteran customers who inquired about their fees, and we refunded them if there was an error in the third-party charges that were assessed,” said Cara Heiden, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, in an e-mailed statement. “We hope that by settling this matter, we can demonstrate to veterans our steadfast commitment to doing right by them.”

Historically, the required mortgage loan closing documents have not clearly lined up with the VA rules, she said, “so it is difficult to separate the charges” detailed in those documents. Wells Fargo has been working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to improve that process for the entire industry, she said.