Wells Fargo Continues to Deliver Modifications to More Borrowers and Focus on Home Retention Efforts

Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC) said today that it had 523,336 active trial and completed modifications as of March 31 through its own modification programs and the federal Home Affordable Modification Program. Active non-HAMP trials in place at the end of March 2010 and non-HAMP modifications completed since the beginning of 2009 comprised nearly 380,000 of that total. Wells Fargo also reported 144,932 HAMP active trial and completed modifications as of March 31, including 30,014 permanent modifications and 9,162 permanent modifications pending completion.

Wells Fargo initiated or completed three modifications for every one foreclosure sale on owner-occupied properties from October 2009 through March 2010. Fewer than 2 percent of the loans secured by owner-occupied homes and serviced by the company proceeded to a foreclosure sale in the last 12 months. According to the March 5 edition of Inside Mortgage Finance, Wells Fargo’s delinquency and foreclosure rates in the fourth quarter of 2009 were three fourths that of the industry, and more than 91 percent of Wells Fargo’s mortgage customers remained current on their loan payments.

"Wells Fargo maintained its focus on delivering payment relief to borrowers and has provided modifications to more than 520,000 of our customers since the beginning of 2009,” said Mike Heid, co-president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. "HAMP is the starting point in our efforts to help borrowers facing financial challenges, but we been very successful in finding other workout options when a customer is not eligible for HAMP.”

Wells Fargo’s ongoing analysis of its modification experience continues to support the company’s previously reported expectations that outcomes for customers who make all three trial payments likely will be:

In addition, on April 5 Wells Fargo rolled out the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives (HAFA) program, which provides incentives to servicers and customers who work on short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. Even before HAFA, Wells Fargo looked to foreclosure alternatives such as short sales when the company determined that a homeowner does not qualify for any modification. Short sales and deeds-in-lieu provide the homeowner with a more graceful way out of a difficult situation, and help reduce the number of foreclosed, vacant properties.

To support implementation of existing and new home preservation initiatives, Wells Fargo has added more than 10,000 home retention staff since the beginning of 2009 and now has about 17,400 U.S.-based staff focused on these efforts.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is the nation’s leading mortgage lender and services one of every six mortgage loans in the nation. A division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., it has a national presence in mortgage stores and banking stores, and also serves the home financing needs of customers nationwide through its call centers, Internet presence and third-party production channels.

Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through more than 10,000 stores and 12,000 ATMs and the internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and internationally.