Good news for a few veterans and their families:
Nearly 60,000 service members and veterans who have refinanced their VA mortgage loans through Wells Fargo, Wachovia and SouthTrust will receive refunds as the result of a $10 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit, a Wells Fargo official said.
Refunds are should be about $175 but will vary with each loan. I say, take what you can get. Heaven knows that these banks don't need the money.
Military.com sent me the news today:
Wells Fargo & Co. will pay $175 to any eligible veteran who had a Department of Veterans Affairs Loan refinanced between Jan. 20, 2004, and Oct. 7, 2010, the bank said Tuesday. The move comes as part of a court settlement in a Georgia lawsuit that alleged the bank overcharged active-duty military personnel when they executed the refinances. Federal law protects active-duty military members from foreclosure and high interest rates. Wells Fargo will alert eligible households with letters. The bank could pay out up to a total of $10 million.
But I found a much better story out of Georgia.
Basically, Wells Fargo used their 'normal' rules to process VA Loans and, in the process, illegally charged veterans for legal fees.
Although Wells Fargo will be sending out letters to those families who should be receiving refunds, we know the ways of the military world. Multiple moves, multiple assignments, and those letters may never find their way into the hands of the families that could use that money.
That's why we need your help to spread the word! We know this story will never make the national mainstream media. So share it on Facebook, Twitter, and military websites. Hopefully some folks will get a nice check and take the family out for a dinner or two.