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Veterans
Related: About this forum$5.4 M (more) RELIEF TO COMPENSATE SERVICEMEMBERS FOR UNLAWFUL (vehicle)REPOSSESSIONS BY WELLS FARGO
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/justice-department-obtains-54-million-additional-relief-compensate-servicemembers-0Department of Justice
U.S. Attorneys Office
Central District of California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OBTAINS $5.4 MILLION IN ADDITIONAL RELIEF TO COMPENSATE SERVICEMEMBERS FOR UNLAWFUL REPOSSESSIONS BY WELLS FARGO DEALER SERVICES
WASHINGTON The Justice Department announced today that it has obtained an additional $5.4 million for servicemembers whose vehicles were unlawfully repossessed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The bank, which does business under the name Wells Fargo Dealer Services, has agreed to pay this money to approximately 450 servicemembers under a 2016 settlement that resolved the departments SCRA lawsuit against the company. This additional amount brings the total compensation under the settlement to more than $10.1 million and the total number of servicemembers eligible for relief to more than 860.
On Sept. 29, 2016, the department filed a complaint in United States v. Wells Fargo Bank N.A., d/b/a Wells Fargo Dealer Services in United States District Court in Los Angeles, alleging that Wells Fargo repossessed 413 vehicles of SCRA-protected servicemembers without court orders between Jan. 1, 2008 and July 1, 2015. On the same day, the department agreed to a settlement that required Wells Fargo to pay $10,000 to each of the affected servicemembers, plus any lost equity in the vehicle with interest. Wells Fargo was also required to pay a $60,000 civil penalty to the United States and repair the credit of all affected servicemembers. At the time of the settlement, the department announced that 413 servicemembers were eligible to receive compensation.
Since entering into the settlement with the department in September 2016, Wells Fargo has identified additional violations affecting approximately 450 servicemembers that occurred during the period covered by the settlement. Wells Fargo has begun to provide over $5.4 million in compensation to these additional servicemembers under the agreement. Together with the compensation previously announced by the department in September 2016, a total of more than 860 servicemembers and their co-borrowers are eligible to receive $10,183,950.
(snip)
The SCRA requires a court to review and approve any repossession if the servicemember took out the loan and made a payment before entering military service. The court may delay the repossession or require the lender to refund prior payments before repossessing. The court may also appoint an attorney to represent the servicemember, require the lender to post a bond with the court and issue any other orders it deems necessary to protect the servicemember. By failing to obtain court orders before repossessing motor vehicles owned by protected servicemembers, Wells Fargo prevented servicemembers from obtaining a courts review of whether their repossessions should be delayed or adjusted to account for their military service.
For more information about the departments SCRA enforcement, please visit www.servicemembers.gov. Servicemembers and their dependents who believe that their rights under SCRA have been violated should contact the nearest Armed Forces Legal Assistance Program Office.
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$5.4 M (more) RELIEF TO COMPENSATE SERVICEMEMBERS FOR UNLAWFUL (vehicle)REPOSSESSIONS BY WELLS FARGO (Original Post)
nitpicker
Nov 2017
OP
niyad
(120,663 posts)1. does not make up for all the anguish and inconvenience that was caused, but at least
it is something.