Wells Fargo is at it again. It shows why consumers should be skeptical about trusting big banks.
The repeat offender has agreed to a settlement that requires it to return more than $2 billion to consumers and pay a $1.7 billion civil penalty for legal violations across several of its largest product lines, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or CFPB said Tuesday.
Consumers were illegally assessed fees and interest charges on auto and mortgage loans, had their cars wrongly repossessed, and had payments to auto and mortgage loans misapplied by the bank, the CFPB said in a statement. Wells Fargo also charged consumers unlawful surprise overdraft fees and applied other incorrect charges to checking and savings accounts.
Consumers should get better treatment from one of the nation’s largest banks. Wells Fargo is a repeat offender that has been the subject of many enforcement actions by the CFPB and other regulators for faulty student loan servicing, mortgage kickbacks, fake accounts, and harmful auto loan practices.
In addition, behind the scenes, Wells Fargo is linked to a lawsuit seeking to cripple the CFPB’s ability to protect consumers, according to Accountable.US, a consumer watchdog group. The lawsuit raises dubious arguments about the agency’s structure and authority.
So, I repeat what I often say when the huge big bank fines are announced for wrongdoing: try your local credit union for banking services.
