NEW YORK (AP) – At least three lawsuits have now been filed against Wells Fargo from customers who say they were hurt by the bank’s latest scandal, involving how it operated its auto lending business.
In Washington, D.C., some politicians still angry at Wells Fargo over the sales practices scandal from last year are calling for Congressional investigations. And an influential banking regulator is demanding copies of the bank’s loan contracts with borrowers.
Wells Fargo admitted last week that roughly 570,000 customers were signed up for car insurance that they did not need. Many couldn’t afford both the car payment and the extra insurance, which made them fall behind in payments. In about 20,000 cases, cars were repossessed.
The bank has already agreed to pay $80 million in the form of refunds and account adjustments to customers who were affected, with checks starting to go out this month.
Two of the lawsuits were filed in the Northern District of California and one was filed Southern District of New York. One said the bank’s “abusive” practices caused “significant stress, hardship and financial losses” for customers.