Wells Fargo discloses another round of lapses, scandals in tax-credit probe

Wells Fargo disclosed another round of lapses and potential scandals in a quarterly report, saying it faces a US inquiry into its purchase of low-income housing credits and conceding it may have unnecessarily foreclosed on about 400 homeowners.

Government agencies are examining how Wells Fargo negotiated and purchased “certain federal low-income housing tax credits in connection with the financing of low-income housing developments.” The San Francisco-based bank didn’t identify the agencies in the filing.

Separately, the bank said an internal review found it failed to grant about 625 customers modifications to mortgages even though they qualified for relief — and that it ultimately carried out foreclosures on 400. The bank said it erred when calculating attorney fees for changes between 2010 and 2015, deeming some applicants ineligible. It set aside $8 million to make customers whole.

The disclosures add to almost two years of revelations about probes, misconduct and other lapses that have taken a toll on the firm’s reputation, business and relations with regulators, who in February imposed an unprecedented cap on the bank’s growth. In some cases, the firm discovered problems itself as part of a broad review its businesses and efforts to overhaul internal controls.