Consumerist
bank of pwnage
-
overdraft fees
Wells Fargo Also Pledges To Reduce Overdraft Fees
Chase and Bank of America aren't the only ones suddenly growing pseudo-human faces and reducing their money-sucking overdraft policies. Today Wells Fargo squirted out a press release that says they "will eliminate overdraft fees for customers when they overdraw their accounts by $5 or less and will charge no more than four overdraft fees per day." More » -
accountability
Party Crazy Wells Fargo Banker Fired
The Wells Fargo banker who turned a foreclosed Malibu beach house intohisher summer party pad has been fired. The couple who originally owned the place were victims of Bernie Madoff, and lost the $12 million house in May. Wells says the banker acted alone, and added, "We deeply regret the activities that have taken place as they do not reflect the conduct we expect of our team members." More » -
bankers gone wild
Banker Uses Foreclosed Beach House For Totally Awesome Parties
It's Saturday night! Let's party! ...But where? Oh, I know. I heard that there's this foreclosed Malibu beach house where a Wells Fargo manager is having some killer parties. Well, at least until ACORN had to go and ruin everyone's fun. More » -
loan modifications
"What Do I Do When My Lender Isn't Playing Fair With Loan Modification?"
Yesterday, the New York Times wrote about a judge in Arizona who forced Wells Fargo to explain why it keeps stalling and being uncooperative with a customer who has been trying to get a loan modification request approved. Sadly, in the past week we've gotten two separate emails from homeowners who are also having trouble with getting banks to approve their requests for the government-sponsored loan modifications. "Who can we contact to complain?" asks one frustrated customer. More » -
i am a robot human
Wachovia Teller Refuses To Deposit Check Written In Two Ink Colors
"The best advice I can offer to those who wish to commit check fraud against Wachovia Bank," writes Jim, "is to purchase a typewriter." Although he's been a customer of the bank for years and had a hefty balance that more than covered the deposit amount of his handwritten check, because the dollar amount was in black ink and the signature was in blue ink the teller said it might be fraudulent and refused to take it. More » -
advertising
Financial Advertising Through The Years
Slate has put together a sarcastic look at financial-type commercials through the years. We like the one with Samuel L. Jackson and the centaur. More » -
funny
Wells Fargo Teller Explains The Ways Of The Desert To Customer
A misinformed bank teller at a Wells Fargo in Arizona was determined to explain how desert life worked to a woman who just wanted to buy some GPB (pounds sterling, aka British money). More » -
disabilities
Wells Fargo Keeps Hanging Up On Your Deaf Grandmother
Rachel's 86-year-old grandmother was a loyal Wells Fargo customer for more than thirty years. She's been forced to take her business to a new bank because Wells Fargo representatives refuse to talk to her. More » -
-
smoking gun
Affidavits On How Wells Fargo Gave "Ghetto Loans" To "Mud People"
Here's the official court filing (PDF) so you can get the full details on how Wells Fargo pushed or even fraudulently placed black borrowers into sub-prime loans, even when those borrowers could afford prime loans, along with an office environment where employees threw around racist slurs, calling black borrowers "mud people" and their mortgages "ghetto loans." The official statements referenced in the NYT article are in this document in full. The affidavits begin on page 48. Two screenshots inside... More » -
affidavits
Loan Officers Detail Wells Fargo's Blatantly Racist Subprime Loans
UPDATE: Read the affidavits here.
Meet Beth Jacobsen and Tony Paschal, two of Wells Fargo's top subprime loan officers, who recently gave affidavits detailing the bank efforts to needlessly steer minority Baltimore families into subprime loans. The banks shady dealings include setting up a special unit to target "mud people" with outrageously expensive "ghetto loans;" targeting black churches leaders because they "had a lot of influence and could convince congregants to take out subprime loans;" and offering cash bounties to loan officers who issued subprime loans to minority communities. And it gets so much worse... More »
-
annualcreditreport
Wachovia Sends Out Its Own "Free Credit Report!" Offer To Customers
Tom just received a great offer from his bank. He can receive a free credit report just by peeling off this sticker and affixing it to another part of the same page. That's right, a free motherloving credit report! Who doesn't want one of those? Free, you say? Sign me up!
Oh, it also comes with an enrollment in some sort of identity theft protection program for $13 a month. More »
-
advice
Wells Fargo Will Let You Refinance For No Closing Costs Online
If you're saddled with a Wells Fargo mortgage, now would be a good time to slash your rate and payment through little effort by hitting up the bank's streamlined refinancing program, which under certain circumstances lets you refi without being gouged for closing costs. More » -
phishing
Here's A Phishing Site Disguised To Trick Wells Fargo Customers
Freddie writes that his friend was tricked by a phishing email. All the warning signs were there to tip off his friend—an email saying he needed to click a link, a suspicious url, a page asking for his login info—but he clicked and entered the info anyway. Please do not be like Freddie's friend, who is now probably on the phone with the real Wells Fargo trying to get his account number changed. More » -
wall street bailout
Government To Banks: Why Are You Making Predatory Loans With Taxpayer Money?
The bailed-out banks have found a new way to annoy the government, according to the Congressional Oversight Panel, the body named by Congress to oversee the federal bailout. Chair of the committee and friend of the blog, Elizabeth Warren, is concerned that the same people who are subsidizing the banks are being targeted by abusive lending practices, says the Wall Street Journal More » -
-
racism
HSBC, Wells Fargo Accused Of Racism In Mortgage Issuing
The NAACP this week filed a class action suit accusing Wells Fargo and HSBC of charging unfairly high interest rates to African American homeowners with high incomes and high credit scores. The banks were quick to slap down the charges as "totally unfounded and reckless," even in the face of convincing evidence from the NAACP. More » -
markets
Freak Out Continues: Markets Close At Lowest Level Since 1997
Bad day on Wall Street today, folks. The S&P 500 closed at the lowest level since April 1997. More » -
mortgage meltdown
Meet The Savings & Loan That Destroyed Wachovia
60 Minutes recently took a look at World Savings Bank, the acquisition that ultimately wounded Wachovia so badly that it had to be acquired by Wells Fargo. What was wrong with an institution for which Wachovia was willing to pay $25 billion? Well, one whistleblower claims that World Savings was engaged in fraud and predatory lending — tricking its customers into signing up for dangerous "option-arm" or (as they cheerfully called them) "pick-a-payment" loans. More »
