Wells Fargo Mortgage Review

Are you a current Wells Fargo bank or mortgage customer and are thinking about taking out a new mortgage to purchase or refinance your existing home loan? My advice to you is dump Wells Fargo as quickly as possible. As a former Wells Fargo customer and personal finance blogger I can tell you that Wells Fargo views their customers as a source of fees to be exploited for fun and profit. Here’s my not-so-unbiased review of Wells Fargo Mortgage to help you avoid common mortgage mistakes like choosing the wrong lender for your mortgage refi.

I’m not joking about Wells Fargo exploiting their customers for fun and profit; they’re actually testing in several markets including New Mexico charging a $3 fee every month just for having a debit card. The bank wants to know how many customers will accept the fee and how many will dump them before rolling this fee out nationwide. If they lose too many customers I imagine the fee will be scrapped; however, everyone I know with a Wells Fargo account is saying enough is enough and moving their accounts elsewhere.

Wells Fargo Mortgage Rates

Many homeowners shop for mortgage refinance rates with blinders on. They’ll focus on getting the lowest possible refinance rates at the expense of fees and bad customer service. If there was an award for the worst customer service in the mortgage industry while charging the most ridiculous fees, Wells Fargo would win hands down.

Here’s a little corporate background on our Greedy Fee Bank. Wells Fargo Mortgage is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo Bank, which is owned by Wells Fargo & Co, operating as a federally chartered depositor bank. They are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange with the symbol WFC as the second largest bank and mortgage company in the United States.

Wells Fargo Mortgage Review

Despite being the ridiculous Greedy Fee Bank, Wells Fargo is a huge bank and does a ton of home loans! In 2009 they closed nearly two million home loans exceeding 440 billion dollars! Unfortunately, they beat out Bank of America that year (a sensible alternative to the Greedy Fee Bank despite their acquisition of Countrywide) for the top mortgage lender ranking (by volume only…JD Powers snubbed Wells Fargo) in the United States.

Wells Fargo Mortgage Complaints

According to the Better Business Bureau, Wells Fargo Mortgage (Greedy Fee Bank) has had a whopping 2,662 complaints filed against it during the past three years. The BBB has closed 912 of these complaints during the past 12 months. Searching Google for “Wells Fargo Complaints” reveals 2,060,000 results which may or may not be relevant.

Should you trust Wells Fargo with your mortgage refi? Aside from being the Greedy Fee Bank, my problem with Wells Fargo Mortgage is that they are a bank. Banks are exempt from the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act thanks to the Banking Lobby, which exists to protect homeowners like you from predatory lending practices and they go on happily charging whatever they want for mortgage refinancing. If you’re looking to take advantage of today’s lowest refinance rates without paying bank junk fees my advice is to give Wells Fargo Mortgage a wide berth and take your business elsewhere.