Wells Fargo settles class action over marked up fees for appraisals

FeeWells Fargo has agreed to pay $50 million to a class of more than 250,000 mortgage holders to settle claims that the bank improperly marked up fees for third-party home appraisals following loan defaults in California.

The complaint alleged that although the mortgage agreements allowed Wells Fargo to charge borrowers for getting broker price opinions (“BPO’s”) from third-party real estate brokers, Wells Fargo secretly charged more for the BPOs than the bank paid for them.  A BPO is an informal type of home appraisal prepared by a real estate broker that a lender will typically demand once a borrower defaults on a residential loan.

The case is Latara Bias, et al., v. Wells Fargo & Co., et al., case number 4:12-cv-00664, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

Steve Larson

An experienced trial lawyer who handles both hourly and contingent fee cases, Steve has expertise in class actions, environmental clean-up litigation, antitrust litigation, securities litigation, corporate disputes, intellectual property disputes, unfair competition claims, and disputes involving family wealth. Steve regularly represents individuals and businesses in federal and state court and has obtained class-wide recovery in multiple class actions. A veteran practitioner, Steve’s clients value his creative approach to resolving complex litigation matters.

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