Wells Fargo Owes You Money? Here’s How to Find Out Before It’s Too Late

Okay, let’s break this down. If you’ve heard about Wells Fargo sending out checks in 2025, you might be wondering: What is this all about? Is it legit? Could I get money?

Yep, it’s real. Wells Fargo is involved in a few major settlements this year, and some of them come with actual payouts to regular folks like you and me. Here’s what’s happening — no fluff, no legal jargon.

1. The Mortgage Mess – $185 Million Settlement

During COVID, a lot of people were struggling with mortgage payments, and banks offered something called “forbearance” — basically a pause on your loan payments.

But here’s the catch: Wells Fargo reportedly put some people into forbearance without even asking them first. It messed up people’s credit, stopped them from refinancing, and in some cases, made things worse instead of better.

So now, there’s a big class-action lawsuit. The bank agreed to pay out $185 million, and if you had a mortgage with them between March 2020 and December 2021, you might be part of it.

• Good news: If you’re eligible, you don’t have to do anything. Checks started going out in March 2025, and they’re being mailed to the address on file.

• Bonus: If you had more serious issues (like you lost your home or had huge financial losses), you could’ve filed a separate claim for more money — but that deadline passed in January.

So yeah, if your mortgage got paused without your okay, there’s a good chance money is coming your way.

2. Secret Phone Call Recordings – $19.5 Million for Californians

This one’s wild. Turns out, Wells Fargo (or a company working for them) made sales calls to people in California and recorded the calls without saying a word about it.

That’s illegal in California — both people on the line have to agree to be recorded. So, yep, another lawsuit.

• They settled for $19.5 million.

• If your number was on their call list between October 2014 and November 2023, and you lived in California, you may get $86 per call. Some people are getting thousands.

• But — and this is important — you had to submit a claim by April 11, 2025.

If you filed, great. Payouts are expected to start rolling out in summer 2025.

3. Big Fines — But No Money for Customers

Wells Fargo also got hit with a few other penalties this year — but they’re not direct payouts to the public.

Here’s what happened:

• Some higher-ups at the bank got fined for not doing their jobs properly.

• The SEC fined Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch $60 million for not telling customers where their “idle” money was being parked — they were earning super low interest, and most people didn’t know.

• Oh, and the Federal Reserve finally lifted a limit on how much Wells Fargo can grow — that cap had been in place since the old fake account scandal.

These are more about holding the bank accountable — not checks in your mailbox, unfortunately.

So, Are You Getting Any Money?

Here’s the super quick version:

What You Should Do

1. Check your mail – especially for plain white envelopes (they might not look like checks at first).

2. Look back at your mortgage history – if your payments were paused and you didn’t ask for it, you’re probably in the mortgage settlement.

3. Filed a claim for call recordings? Sit tight — payments are on the way soon.

Banks don’t usually admit mistakes easily. But this year, Wells Fargo is paying up. And if you were affected — especially during the pandemic — you could be getting a slice of that money.

It’s not a scam. It’s not a rumor. It’s happening. So if you’re eligible, keep an eye out — because your payout might already be on its way.