OREANDA-NEWS. July 31, 2015.  Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. announced today that it will withdraw from mortgage marketing services and desk rental agreements with real estate firms, builders and certain other referral sources. The decision was made as a result of increasing uncertainty surrounding regulatory oversight of these types of arrangements and as part of Wells Fargo’s ongoing efforts to simplify the process that customers experience as they weigh all of their choices when shopping for a mortgage.

“Real estate firms and builders always have been—and will continue to be—very important to Wells Fargo’s retail mortgage operations, and we are exploring a number of new options for enhancing and strengthening those relationships over the long term,” said Franklin Codel, executive vice president for mortgage production at the company.  “Because we value our strong relationships with real estate professionals and builders, the decision to exit these marketing services agreements was difficult, but we are taking this action to ensure that we continue to conduct our business in a way that represents the best interests of all of our customers and clients. We believe the best way to earn the relationship with real estate firms and builders is through timely, dependable service delivered by the best team in the business.”

The decision is effective Aug. 1 and the wind down will occur over the following 90 days. Termination of these marketing services agreements is not expected to have a material impact on Wells Fargo’s total mortgage production. 

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with \\$1.7 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through 8,700 locations, 12,800 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 266,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 30 on Fortune’s 2015 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.

Cautionary Statement About Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements about our future financial performance and business. Because forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding the future, they are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. Do not unduly rely on forward-looking statements as actual results could differ materially from expectations. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made, and we do not undertake to update them to reflect changes or events that occur after that date. For information about factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations, refer to our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the discussion under “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website at www.sec.gov.