Thousands of student-loan borrowers will receive refunds from Wells Fargo after the government hit the bank with $4 million in penalties for charging illegal fees, misrepresenting payments and failing to update inaccurate credit report information.
On Monday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Wells Fargo illegally charged late fees to consumers who made payments on the last day of their grace periods, as well as those who elected to pay through partial payments. The government agency said the bank also failed to update and correct inaccurate, negative information provided to credit-reporting companies about borrowers who made partial or extra payments.
Investigators also found instances of the bank spreading out payments across loans to trigger late fees and telling people with multiple loans that paying less than the full amount due would not count, when in actuality, partial payments can satisfy at least one loan in an account.
Read more at The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/08/22/wells-fargo-to-pay-4-million-for-illegal-student-loan-practices/