No doubt you've seen the recent headlines about the state of the mortgage industry. The news has focused on a variety of topics from nonprime lending to rising foreclosures to the lack of investors in the capital markets, but some media reports have been inaccurate and leading people to draw wrong conclusions. We
want to help quell fears. While today's mortgage market is challenging, our business is positioned to succeed.
Wells Fargo remains committed to serving you and your employees through The Relocation Mortgage ProgramSM and The Employee Mortgage Program?.
We believe we are uniquely positioned to work with you in bringing homeownership and home financing solutions to your employees. We are well-positioned, and as such will continue to be a reliable lender that provides competitive pricing for our retail customers.
- Wells Fargo is a well capitalized, diversified financial services company with 84 businesses and a proven track record of generating 20-years double-digit annual compound growth.
- Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only bank in the U.S., and one of only two banks worldwide, to have the highest credit rating from both Moody's Investors Service, "Aaa," and Standard & Poor's Ratings
Services, "AAA." - Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., is the nation?s No. 1 retail mortgage lender and servicer of home mortgages, according to Inside Mortgage Finance 2006 annual rankings.
- Wells Fargo Home Mortgage has long lived by responsible lending principles, and made the right decision not to make loans with features that we believe are inconsistent with our responsible lending commitment (for example, option ARMs and other negative amortizing products).
While the capital markets? demand for real estate loans has contracted, the strength of our organization and the performance of our products enable us to take a longer-term view, and sell to investors only at fair market prices. We continue to offer a wide range of both prime and nonprime loans through The Relocation
Mortgage Program, The Employee Mortgage Program and our broader Retail channel.
Our relationship with brokers and correspondent lenders continues to be important; however, our current pricing through these channels is a reflection of the changing investor demand for certain products.
Fair and Responsible Lender
We are committed to providing access to credit for borrowers, but only where consistent with responsiblelending principles. We have long applied these principles in creating home ownership opportunities for consumers across a wide credit spectrum. Similarly, we have long adhered to responsible servicing practices to help customers handle the financial aspects of owning a home.
- Wells Fargo is a leader in responsibly originating and servicing residential mortgage loans. We remain committed to making homeownership possible for a wide spectrum of consumers and to keeping people in their homes.
- We actively collaborated with other industry stakeholders to expand and enhance the options we provide consumers facing financial difficulty. We have enrolled 30,000 customers in our free Steps To SuccessSM program. Participants become more familiar with credit reports, and information about banking products that can help make money management routine and effective. Early results from the
program are encouraging. It is one of several education programs that we offer in English and Spanish. - We provide consumers with the information necessary to make fully informed decisions about the terms of our loans. Additionally, we only approve applications for loans when we believe that the borrower has the ability to repay the loan.
- Our prudent underwriting practices and strong commitment to fair and responsible lending have servedus well in these turbulent times.
We have expanded our ARM reset process to better inform and help consumers. Months in advance,we send letters to certain customers likely to experience difficulty with payments. We send official notices 45 days in advance of ARM resets. We have dedicated experts ready to help them develop workout options appropriate for their situation. The toll-free number is (866) 398-7556.
We approach every interaction from the customer's point of view - putting his or her needs first. Wehave a strong track record of helping borrowers stay in their homes. We try to provide options to help customers meet their financial obligations at every stage of default, typically continuing up to the point of foreclosure sale. We work diligently using workout options and repayment plans to help bring accounts current and mitigate losses.
We are committed to teaming with you and your employees. We work hard to tell our customers how much we appreciate them and their business. We remain confident in our ability to work with you in providing valuable home financing benefits to your employees though The Relocation Mortgage Program and The Employee Mortgage Program. If you have additional questions, please contact your Wells Fargo Home Mortgage representative.
