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WILKES-BARRE — Attorney General Josh Shapiro this week announced that Wells Fargo Bank N.A., the nation’s biggest bank, will pay $575 million to resolve claims that the bank violated state consumer protection laws by:
• Opening millions of unauthorized accounts and enrolling customers into online banking services without their knowledge or consent.
• Improperly referring customers for enrollment in third-party renters and life insurance policies.
• Improperly force-placing and charging more than 850,000 auto finance customers for unnecessary and duplicative insurance policies.
• Failing to ensure that customers received refunds of unearned premiums on certain optional auto finance products.
• Incorrectly charging customers for mortgage rate lock extension fees.
Shapiro’s Bureau of Consumer Protection co-led the investigation and negotiation of the settlement. As a result, Shapiro said Wells Fargo will be forced to change its corporate behavior to ensure these types of abuses will not happen again.
Additionally, he said the company will be forced to pay a sum of money to consumers who were harmed — though that amount is confidential under the terms of settlement — and pay the state of Pennsylvania $16.5 million, which will be remitted to the Pennsylvania Treasury.
“Wells Fargo is paying over half a billion dollars to the states because of conduct that caused widespread harm on a national level, in bank accounts, auto loans, and mortgages,” Shapiro said. “This bank opened millions of accounts for customers who didn’t know about them, charged auto finance customers for insurance policies they didn’t want or need, and charged mortgage customers over $100 million in unwarranted fees. With this settlement, we are holding Wells Fargo accountable and changing corporate conduct to protect consumers.”
Wells Fargo has identified more than 3.5 million accounts where customer accounts were opened, funds were transferred, credit card applications were filed, or debit cards were issued without the customers’ knowledge or consent. The bank has also identified 528,000 online bill pay enrollments nationwide that may have resulted from improper sales practices at the bank. In addition, Wells Fargo improperly submitted more than 6,500 renters insurance and/or simplified term life insurance policy applications and payments from customer accounts without the customers’ knowledge or consent.
Wells Fargo’s auto loan and lease agreements required the borrower or lessee to maintain collision and comprehensive insurance for the vehicle. The states allege that, despite evidence that many customers already had the required insurance, Wells Fargo improperly charged premiums, interest, and fees for force-placed collateral protection insurance (CPI) to more than two million auto finance customer accounts. Many customers complained about unnecessary CPI charges, but Wells Fargo and its vendors maintained their flawed CPI process from 2005 to 2016.
As part of its settlement with the states, Wells Fargo has agreed to implement within 60 days a program through which consumers who believe they were affected by the bank’s conduct, but fell outside the prior restitution programs, can contact Wells Fargo to be reviewed for potential redress. Wells Fargo will create and maintain a website for consumers to use to access the program and will provide periodic reports to the states about ongoing restitution efforts.
First Day Hikes set at
Pa. parks on New Year’s
To promote a healthy start to the new year, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) officials will be joining hikers at several parks across the state as DCNR again sponsors free, guided hikes in 29 state parks on New Year’s Day. It’s part of America’s “State Parks First Day Hikes” initiative in all 50 states.
“Our First Day Hikes help remind people that our state parks and forests are open for healthy outdoor adventures in all four seasons, including winter,” said DCNR Secretary Cindy Dunn. “They are a great way to make a resolution to enjoy nature and get more exercise, and keep it on the first day of the year.”
The following Pennsylvania state park facilities are participating during daylight hours Jan. 1: Bald Eagle, Beltzville, Black Moshannon, Caledonia, Canoe Creek, Codorus, Cowans Gap, Delaware Canal, French Creek, Gifford Pinchot, Greenwood Furnace, Hills Creek, Keystone, Kinzua Bridge, Lehigh Gorge, Moraine, Nescopeck, Parker Dam, Pine Grove, Prince Gallitzin, Pymatuning, Racoon Creek, Shawnee, Sinnemahoning state parks, and Jacobsburg, Kings Gap, and Nolde Forest environmental education centers.
Presque Isle State Park and Jennings Environmental Education Center are offering New Year’s Eve or “Last Night” hikes for those who wish to ring in the New Year mid-hike. These easy hikes, spanning 1 to 3 miles, begin at 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 31 and conclude around 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1.
Park staffers and volunteers lead the hikes.
“Last year, we hosted over 700 participants who hiked more than 1,793 miles in our state parks across the Pennsylvania,” Dunn said.
Organized by the National Association of State Park Directors to promote both healthy lifestyles throughout the year and year-round recreation at state parks, all 50 states have cooperatively sponsored First Day Hikes since 2012.
Additional details can be found at www.dcnr.state.pa.us; click on “Events,” then select the “First Day Hikes” tab.
Hikers are invited to share their experience on social media using #FirstDayHikes.
Legislative Audit report
reveals $137M reserve
The bicameral, bipartisan Legislative Audit Advisory Commission (LAAC), chaired by Rep. Mark Keller (R-Perry/Cumberland), this week voted to accept the audit report of the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s finances for the 2017-18 fiscal year as conducted by an independent certified public accounting firm.
The annual audit of the various legislative departments and service agencies revealed a reserve of $137,872,630, as of June 30, 2018. The audit was carried out by Boyer and Ritter LLC of Camp Hill.
“The point of the annual legislative audit is to confirm that we, the people’s representatives to state government, are following the policies, procedures and the law when we expend our appropriated state funds,” Keller said. “We accepted the final audit of the General Assembly’s expenditures for the last fiscal year which ended June 30, 2018, so these numbers are already months old and out of date, but show we followed the generally accepted policies and procedures.”
Below is a breakdown of the reserves included in the audit (as of June 30, 2018):
• House of Representatives – $53,200,395
• Senate – $27,235,211
• Legislative Reference Bureau – $7,611,492.
• Legislative Budget and Finance Committee – $2,150,219
• Legislative Data Processing Committee – $28,772,682
• Joint State Government Commission – $1,285,228
• Local Government Commission – $971,911
• Legislative Air and Water Pollution Control Commission – $508,355
• LAAC – $482,000
• Independent Regulatory Review Commission – $1,900,728
• Capitol Preservation Committee – $3,503,782
• Independent Fiscal Office – $3,590,264
• Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission – $2,759,999
• Commonwealth Mail Processing Center – $6,459,252
• Center for Rural Pennsylvania – $640,031
The LAAC consists of eight members, including a majority and a minority member of the House of Representatives and two public members appointed by the House speaker; and a majority and a minority member of the Senate and two public members appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate.
