Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog

The bank says the move will eliminate more than 2,800 jobs nationwide, with existing mortgages being serviced by other parts of Wells Fargo

Los Angeles, CA – Wells Fargo Financial in Duluth will soon close, along with the division’s 600 locations across the country as Wells Fargo & Co. gets out of the subprime home mortgage business.

The branch, at 2220 Mountain Shadow Drive, is one of 13 outlets in Minnesota. Wisconsin has 15.

All will close by early September, eliminating more than 2,800 jobs. Another 1,000 positions probably will be eliminated during the next year, according to a company statement.

Like most of the branches around the country, the Duluth branch has about six employees.

“We’re working very closely with our community banking team members to reassign as many as possible,” said Diana Rodriguez, a Wells Fargo spokeswoman.

The manager of the Duluth branch declined to say how many employees were losing their jobs. But Rodriguez said those who aren’t placed will receive severance packages.

Wells Fargo Financial issued home mortgages to borrowers considered high-risk. Those loans stopped being issued July 8, as Wells Fargo imposes tougher lending standards.

Wells Fargo had escaped the financial troubles of many other subprime lenders, some of whom have gone bankrupt.

Those with mortgages through Wells Fargo Financial will continue to be served by Wells Fargo.

“All of our customers will continue to receive service as normal,” she said. “There will be no impact on customer accounts. The accounts will be redistributed into another part of the Wells Fargo association.”

During the first three months of the year, Wells Fargo Financial issued less than 2 percent of all Wells Fargo’s real estate loans, a company release said. 

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--- Brian and Jennifer Vanderhoff North Fulton County REALTORS Vanderhoff Real Estate (770) 331-1206 --- Milton, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale North Fulton County, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale Forsyth, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale ---

Labels: lenders, shuts down, wells fargo, wells fargo home mortgae

A thousand Atlanta homeowners who expected to lose their houses this week were given new hope Monday by one of the nation's largest banks. Wells Fargo gave word it is pulling homes from Tuesday's foreclosure lists.




Atlanta community leaders have been battling Wells Fargo for months, saying the bank needs to modify mortgages rather than foreclose on homes. Monday, the bank took a big step in that direction.



That means instead of seeing their homes sold on the courthouse steps, the homeowners will get another chance to keep their houses.



"The question we're going to have to look at is now that we've pulled those homeowners off the list how do we modify those loans so they are not back on the foreclosure list in the future," said Senator Vincent Fort.



The homes were scheduled to be auctioned on the courthouse steps Tuesday.



"It's a good first step, of course it's not the whole ball of wax," said Sen. Fort.



For six months Sen. Fort and others protested and petitioned Wells Fargo and Wachovia, which it owns. The protestors were arrested on criminal trespass charges at a Wells Fargo branch back in August.



Last week Sen. Fort said bank officials met with him for the first time and decided to put on hold many of Tuesday's scheduled foreclosures.



"Stopping the foreclosure isn't enough it's making sure people can get terms they can stay in the home," said Sen. Fort.



So the homeowners will temporarily avoid foreclosure.



Sen. Fort said the big question is what will happens next and what kind of payment plans and loan modifications the homeowners can get.



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Brian and Jennifer Vanderhoff
North Fulton County REALTORS
Vanderhoff Real Estate
(770) 888-9269
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Milton, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
North Fulton County, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
Forsyth, GA Real Estate, Condos, Homes for Sale
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Labels: avoid foreclosure, Bank owned properties, Foreclosures, wells fargo

Transaction worth about $15.1 billion; talks with Citigroup end.

In an abrupt change of course, Wachovia Corp. said Friday it will be acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. in a $15.1 billion all-stock deal, wiping out Wachovia’s previous plan to sell its banking operations to rival suitor Citigroup Inc.

A key difference is that the Wachovia deal will be done without government assistance, while the Citigroup deal would have been done with the help of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The Wachovia-Wells deal, announced Friday, comes in a turbulent time for banks and financial firms as they grapple with the ongoing credit crisis, which led to the recent bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the failure of Washington Mutual Inc.

Wachovia shareholders will receive 0.1991 shares of Wells Fargo for every share of Charlotte, N.C.-based Wachovia stock they own, valuing Wachovia at about $7 per share. This is a nearly 80 percent premium over the stock’s Thursday closing price of $3.91. Shares closed at $10 last Friday, the last trading session before the deal with Citigroup was announced.

On Monday, Citigroup had agreed to buy Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.16 billion in a deal orchestrated by the federal government.

That deal, which had been approved by the boards of both companies, was still subject to approval by Wachovia’s shareholders and regulators.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo will record merger and integration charges of about $10 billion, but says it expects earnings to be boosted within the first year after the acquisition closes. No government assistance is part of the deal terms.

A Wachovia spokeswoman said neither Citigroup nor the FDIC is involved in the Wells Fargo transaction. Citigroup officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

“This deal enables us to keep Wachovia intact and preserve the value of an integrated company, without government support,” said Wachovia President and Chief Executive Robert Steel.

Wachovia’s board approved Wells Fargo’s offer Thursday night.

Labels: buys wachovia, wachovia bank, wells fargo