Wells Fargo (Wachovia) to pay out $67 million in NJ Settlement

Attorney General Announces Settlement with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage; Company Providing $67 Million in Loan Modifications, Paying State $3.98 Million

Attorney General Paula T. Dow announced today that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has agreed to provide New Jersey consumers with nearly $67 million in loan modifications and pay the state $3.98 million to resolve allegations that companies it acquired – Wachovia Corporation, Golden West and World Savings – deceptively marketed adjustable rate mortgage loans.

Direct link can be found at: www.wellsfargo.nj.gov
Announcement of Restitution Fund
For eligible individuals who had a Pick-A-Payment option ARM mortgage now owned by Wells Fargo and originated by Golden West Financial Corporation, World Savings and Loan Association, or Wachovia Corporation or its subsidiaries and affiliates.
The New Jersey Attorney General has entered into a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. that resolves New Jersey’s investigation of Wells Fargo’s “Pick-a-Payment” option arm residential mortgage product. These “Pick-a-Payment” option arm mortgages allow borrowers to make minimum monthly payments that are less than the interest due in a month, in many cases leading to negative amortization. While Wells Fargo did not originate this product, it acquired this portfolio when it acquired Wachovia Corporation on December 31, 2008.
As part of this agreement, Wells Fargo has made a payment to New Jersey, which will be used in part to provide restitution to eligible consumers who lost their homes to a forclosure or a short sale while they had this mortgage.
Qualifying “Pick-a-Payment” Mortgage
This is a mortgage loan originated or acquired by Golden West Financial Corporation or Wachovia Corporation or one of their affiliates such as:
 World Savings Bank, FSB
 World Savings and Loan Association
 Wachovia Corporation
 AmNet Mortgage, LLC
 American Mortgage Network, LLC
 Wachovia Mortgage, FSB
 Wachovia Bank, FSB
 Wachovia Bank, N.A.
Wells Fargo did not originate these loans, but purchased the portfolio of these Pick-a-Payment mortgages from Wachovia in December 2008.
The Pick-a-Payment mortgage loan allowed the borrower to select and make a minimum payment for a limited time and subject to certain conditions. In particular, for each monthly payment, the borrower could choose from four options:
1. make a fully amortized interest and principal payment such that the loan would be satisfied in the traditional 30-year term;
2. make a 15-year fully amortized payment;
3. make an “interest only” payment, or
4. make a lesser “minimum payment” that would not cover the interest owed
Eligibility Criteria
If you meet ALL of the following criteria, you may be eligible for a restitution payment as part of this settlement:
 You lost your home in a foreclosure sale or sold it in a short-sale between January 2005 and December 18, 2010;
 At the time of your foreclosure or short sale, you had a qualifying Pick-a-Payment mortgage loan, as defined above;
 The mortgage was secured by a home that was a 1 to 4 unit residential property located in New Jersey;
 The home was your primary residence;
If you believe you meet all of the above criteria, please provide your contact information by following the link below.
You will be required to provide documents including your loan documents to verify that you had a Pick-A-Payment option ARM loan and foreclosure or short-sale documents that show that while you had this mortgage product you lost your home to foreclosure or sold it in a short sale.
 Follow the following link for the New Jersey Attorney General’s press release.
 Continue to the Wells Fargo Restitution Fund online application.