Wells Fargo to Help Washington Customers Facing Mortgage Payment Challenges.

5,000+ Washington homeowners invited to free workshop in Bellevue July 7-8

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today it is hosting a free workshop for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Wells Fargo Financial, Wachovia Mortgage and Wells Fargo Home Equity customers facing financial hardships. The two-day workshop -- to which Wells Fargo is inviting more than 5,000 customers -- will take place July 7-8, from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue - Bellevue Ballroom, located at 900 Bellevue Way NE, in Bellevue, Wash.

How to register

Walk-ins are welcome, but registration is strongly recommended in order to guarantee the ability to meet with a representative. Sign up by midnight, July 5, at www.wfhmevents.com/leadingthewayhome. For more information call 1-800-405-8067.

About 100 homeretention team members will be available to work one-on-one with mortgage customers facing payment challenges. Bilingual representatives will be available to assist borrowers during the event. In many cases, borrowers may receive a decision on a workout, loan modification, or other option, on site or shortly following the workshop. Options include the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and Wells Fargo's own loan modification program.

"Wells Fargo wants our customers to succeed financially and helping struggling homeowners stay in their homes is a top priority," said Patrick Yalung, Wells Fargo's Washington regional president. "This workshop will offer homeowners who are facing payment challenges the opportunity to meet face to face with a representative to find options available for them."

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is making every effort to keep people in their homes and made the decision to organize the company's 16th Home Preservation Workshop in 2011 - and 32nd workshop since Sept. 2009 where Wells Fargo home retention specialists have met with more than 21,700 homeowners - in Bellevue since Washington has been hit hard by the economy and foreclosures.

In the first quarter of 2011, about 93 percent of Wells Fargo's mortgage customers remained current on their loan payments. Wells Fargo services one out of every six mortgages in the United States, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.

About Wells Fargo's home preservation efforts

Wells Fargo, the country's largest mortgage servicer, is organizing 32 free Home Preservation Workshops and participating in more than 100 third-party sponsored events in 2011 to assist customers facing mortgage payment challenges in hard-hit communities.

Wells Fargo attempts to reach out to customers, on average, more than 100 times during the period of first delinquency in an effort to assist homeowners.

January 2009 through April 2011, the company had 673,179 active trial and completed modifications. Of those modifications, 574,128, or 85 percent, were done through Wells Fargo's own modification programs and 99,051 have been done through the federal government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

As of the first quarter in 2011, Wells Fargo's delinquency and foreclosure rate decreased for the fourth consecutive quarter and remains significantly below the industry average.

Fewer than 2 percent of the loans secured by owner-occupied homes and serviced by Wells Fargo proceeded to a foreclosure sale in the last 12 months.

Just 7.22 percent of first mortgage and home equity loans Wells Fargo services were past due or in foreclosure in the first quarter of 2011 compared to an industry average of 10.27 percent, according to the May 27 issue of Inside Mortgage Finance, and Wells Fargo's totals are down from a peak of 8.96 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.2 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 280,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 23 on Fortune's 2010 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy all our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially.