Nearly 1,600 Wells Fargo customers say the bank paused their mortgage payments without their consent, far more than previously known, according to correspondence the bank sent to two U.S. senators in August and September, NBCNews.com reported. The letters also indicate that the bank didn't know how many customers had been affected by its practice of placing them in so-called forbearance programs, raising questions about Wells Fargo's internal controls. In July, an NBC News investigation detailed how Wells Fargo, in more than a dozen states, had suspended customers' mortgage payments without their permission during the COVID-19 pandemic. Placing customers in unwanted forbearance can harm borrowers' credit reports by making it seem as though they aren't making required payments when they are. The conduct can also prevent borrowers from refinancing their home loans to benefit from record-low interest rates. At the time, Wells Fargo said that it was trying to help borrowers potentially harmed by the pandemic by proactively pausing their mortgage payments. Following the NBC News report, Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Brian Schatz of Hawaii, both Democrats on the Banking Committee, asked the bank for information about the practice, including how many customers had been affected. Wells Fargo responded in August but didn't provide lawmakers with the number of customers whose mortgage payments had been suspended without their consent. The bank said it was "affirmatively reaching out to customers where we do not have evidence of a clear request for a forbearance," one letter said. The bank did report having received 1,600 complaints of unwanted forbearances and said it had identified about 900 customers going through personal bankruptcy who had had their mortgage payments paused even though they hadn't requested it. Wells Fargo said it doesn't "receive, nor do we pay our employees, any incentive fees or other compensation for placing customers in forbearance."
