Wells Fargo Nearly Doubles Use of Federal Home Affordable Modifications

62,989 Home Affordable Modifications done under U.S. program through Sept. 30; total of 354,994 trial and completed modifications done in 2009

DES MOINES, Iowa — October 8, 2009 -- Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) said today that it has done 62,989 trial and completed Home Affordable Modifications through Sept. 30; nearly double what the U.S. Treasury reported last month. Also, using its own programs, Wells Fargo has done 292,005 trial and completed home loan modifications.

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This brings the total number of modifications Wells Fargo has done this year to 354,994; a 25 percent increase over last month. In addition, the company has refinanced about 987,000 mortgage loans, thereby assisting more than 1.3 million households this year with mortgage payment relief.

“To help Americans coping with this tough economy, we continue to work hard at keeping people in their homes,” said Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. “We have remained focused on exceeding our share of the government’s goal to reach 500,000 Home Affordable Modifications by Nov. 1. Using HAMP and our own programs, there is still much work ahead to preserve homeownership and to further reduce the number of foreclosed properties on the market.”

Heid said the company works with customers directly to move a modification from the trial stage to completion. HAMP, for instance, requires that during the trial period the customer must make three payments at the new reduced rate and submit documents necessary to complete the transaction. Given the high volume of customers that have entered into HAMP in the past few months, the government has worked to streamline the documents required for the program and Wells Fargo has continued to improve its customer communication and document processing practices.

As reported by Inside Mortgage Finance on Aug. 21, 2009, Wells Fargo’s total delinquency rate, including foreclosures, continued to be significantly below the industry average and the lowest of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers. In the second quarter of 2009, about 92 percent of the company’s mortgage customers remained current on their home payments.

Source: Wells Fargo