Wells Fargo Cites Fewer Delinquencies for Job Cuts

Wells Fargo will close its home-lending servicing office in Milwaukee and cut 1,000 jobs, saying fewer homeowners are falling behind on payments and seeking help keeping their homes.

Wells Fargo’s Milwaukee site deals largely with troubled home loans, a part of the market that rose rapidly after the mortgage collapse of 2008. 

"As the economy has improved over the last two years, we have seen steady declines in delinquencies and fewer customers needing extra assistance to remain in their homes,” the banks said in a statement about the layoffs.

Overall, Wells Fargo services 1 in 6 U.S. home mortgages, or 11 million mortgages worth a combined $1.8 trillion. The company has 48,000 employees in its home lending business combined, including origination.

Mortgage servicing handles the day-to-day operations of holding a mortgage, including ensuring payments are made and working with lenders who are late on their payments.

“Any decision to reduce our workforce is difficult and made with great concern for the team members who are affected,” the company said. “We made this announcement today so our team members will have several months to plan for this change.”

The San Francisco-based company has about 265,000 employees.

 

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