If you are a Wells Fargo customer and are considering refinancing your home mortgage with Wells Fargo mortgage there are several things you should know before making an informed decision about your next home loan. Wells Fargo Mortgage is the second largest mortgage lender in the United States after Countrywide; however, does bigger necessarily mean better? Here are several tips you need to know about Wells Fargo Mortgage and banks in general to help you avoid an expensive mistake with your next home loan.
Free Checking Accounts
Wells Fargo’s business model is to lure customers in with the promise of “free” checking accounts. Then they stick it to you with fees and overpriced investment accounts and loan offerings. Wells Fargo has been accused of predatory lending practices and has recently had their home offices picketed by consumer watch groups. The mortgage division has been accused of targeting homeowners with financial hardships with their overpriced home equity lines.
Bank Originated Mortgage Loans
Wells Fargo Mortgage’s less than sterling reputation notwithstanding, is it ever a good idea to refinance your home mortgage with a bank? There are several problems with Bank originated mortgage loans that you need to be aware of before signing on the dotted line. The first problem has to do with legislation in the United States known as the Real Estate Settlement Procedures act or RESPA. This legislation protects homeowners by requiring mortgage brokers to disclose their profit margin and markup on your home loan. Guess what? Wells Fargo Mortgage and every other bank and credit union in the United Sates are exempt from RESPA.
Thanks to millions of dollars spent by the Banking Lobby Wells Fargo Mortgage is not required to disclose their profit margins on your mortgage. If you neglect to comparison shop and refinance your home loan with Wells Fargo you’ll never know how much the bank has marked up your mortgage rate to make a profit when the loan is sold to investors on the secondary market; after all this is how banks make the majority of their profits. If you’re in the market to refinance why would you even consider doing business with any company that doesn’t have to play by the same rules as everyone else in the market?
How to Save Money on Your Next Mortgage
If you’re looking to save money on your next home loan by lowering your payment the best way to do this is to get a mortgage rate that has not been marked up to give someone a commission. You don’t have to be a financial guru to get a wholesale mortgage rate or avoid junk fees, you just need to take the time to learn how mortgage brokers and banks are compensated for the loans they originate.
You can learn more about your mortgage refinancing options including which fees are junk and can be avoided along with strategies for getting the lowest mortgage rate by checking out my free Underground Mortgage Videos. Register today and you’ll get instant online access to the videos and all the materials you’ll need to lower your payment and save thousands of dollars on your home.
My name is Rob Regehr and I’m a personal finance writer with a chip on my shoulder for banks and brokers that take advantage of my friends and neighbors.
Note Wells Fargo uses Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Uniform Instruments for their HARP 2 refi deed and note – which have some pretty onerous, unreasonable, vague and conflicting terms. Some of these effectively defer to WF’s internal policies, procedures, evaluation criteria and interpretations – which you cannot find out!