Reneging on previous statements that its foreclosure paperwork is sound, Wells Fargo & Co. said late Wednesday that it planned to resubmit affidavits in 55,000 foreclosure cases after finding instances where the documents were not properly executed.
The San Francisco bank said in a statement that as part of its continuing efforts to monitor and review its affidavit procedures, it found instances where "a final review of the affidavit, as well as some aspects of the notarization process did not strictly adhere to the required procedures."
Wells said it does not believe any of the cases in question led to foreclosures that should not have occurred and reiterated that it had no plans to halt foreclosures.
The bank said it expects the process of resubmitting documents to be completed by mid November.
Wells had previously denied that there were any problems in its foreclosure processes, saying in a statement on Oct. 12 that it continually reviewed its procedures and that daily auditing showed its affidavits were accurate and its processes sound.
Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage was the first major servicer to admit last month to discovering defects in the way its affidavits were processed, and subsequently halted foreclosures in some states. That was followed by similar actions at Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., MetLife Inc.'s mortgage unit and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s Litton Loan Servicing. Some servicers have since restarted the foreclosure process.
The number of cases affected by the foreclosure documentation issues is unclear. Only a handful of companies have released any figures. JPMorgan said it was reviewing 115,000 affidavits in 41 states; Bank of America said it would be resubmitting documents in 102,000 cases.
