Wells Fargo Helps Mortgage Customers Facing Payment Challenges

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced it is hosting a Home Preservation Workshop for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, Wachovia Mortgage and Wells Fargo Home Equity customers in the Detroit metro area facing financial hardships. The two-day workshop — to which Wells Fargo has invited southeast Michigan homeowners — will take place April 19 and 20, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., at the Hyatt Regency Dearborn-Detroit, Great Lakes Center, located at 600 Town Center Drive, Dearborn, Mich.

"Wells Fargo wants our customers to succeed financially and helping them stay in their homes is one of our top priorities,” said Russ Cross, regional servicing director with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. "This workshop will offer homeowners who are facing payment challenges the opportunity to meet face to face with a representative to find options available for them.”

About 100 home retention team members will be available to work one-on-one with mortgage customers facing payment challenges. Bilingual representatives will be available to assist borrowers during the event. In many cases, borrowers may receive a decision on a workout, loan modification, or other option, on site or shortly following the workshop. Options include the federal government’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Wells Fargo’s own loan modification program.

How to register

Walk-ins are welcome, but registration is strongly recommended in order to guarantee your ability to meet with a representative. Sign up by Sunday, April 17, at www.wfhmevents.com/leadingthewayhome. For more information call 1-800-405-8067.

This is the 24^th Home Preservation Workshop Wells Fargo has conducted. The Detroit workshop is one of more than 20 Wells Fargo will hold across the country in 2011.

About Wells Fargo’s loan modification efforts

Wells Fargo is making every effort to keep people in their homes through the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the company’s own modification programs focused on mortgage payment relief. As of Feb. 28, 2011, Wells Fargo modified 649,075 mortgage loans since the beginning of 2009 – of which 86 percent (or 556,294 mortgages) were done outside of HAMP.

In the fourth quarter of 2010, about 92 percent of Wells Fargo’s mortgage customers remained current on their loan payments and the company’s delinquency and foreclosure rates were three-fourths that of the industry. As a result, fewer than 2 percent of the loans secured by owner-occupied homes and serviced by Wells Fargo proceeded to a foreclosure sale in the last 12 months.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 280,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 19 on Fortune’s 2009 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.