U.S. banking company Wells Fargo & Co has agreed to pay $24 million after improperly repossessing cars owned by U.S. military personnel, reports the Los Angeles Times.
From 2008 through to the middle of 2015, the bank repossessed 413 vehicles without a proper court order, in direct violation of a law that protects active-duty military members. It necessitates the use of a court order to repossess a vehicle if a service member acquired the loan and made a payment prior to entering the military.
Consequently, Wells Fargo has been fined $20 million by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency for violations and has also agreed to pay $4.1 million to settle an investigation by the Justice Department. Additionally, the bank will pay a $60,000 civil fine.
As part of the Justice Department settlement, $10,000 will be awarded to each of the affected service members as well as any lost equity in the vehicle involved, plus interest.
According to U.S. Atty Eileen M. Decker of the Central District of California, “We all have an obligation to ensure that the women and men who serve our country in the armed forces are afforded all of the rights they are due. Wells Fargo failed in that obligation.”
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