Updated April 22, 2021
As the pandemic continues to impact our daily lives, we’re making sure you have current information so you can make informed decisions about your home loan and finances.
If you’re having difficulty making your payments due to COVID-19, learn more here about your options before requesting payment suspension to pause your mortgage payments.
If you’re able, you can continue to make safe and secure payments through online banking.
Thanks for your business, and please know that keeping you informed and keeping you in your home are our top priorities.
Understanding how payment suspension works
Payment assistance via short-term payment suspension (forbearance)
If you’re experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19 and are unable to make your regular mortgage or home equity payments, we can help. You can request an initial payment suspension — a temporary pause of your loan payments for up to 6 months. We will make this available in 3-month increments, checking in with you to understand if you continue to experience financial hardship.
At the end of the initial 6 months, if your mortgage is covered by the CARES Act, you may request an additional 6 months of payment suspension for a total of 12 months in accordance with the CARES Act. We will continue to contact you every 3 months to understand your needs.
March 2021 update
To provide you with more time to financially recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be able to extend your mortgage payment suspension for additional months, beyond the 12 months provided in accordance with the CARES Act. The amount of months you may be able to extend varies by the investor on your loan and their eligibility requirements.
See the “Understanding Investor and program timelines” section for information on how to tell who the investor is on your loan.
It’s best to request payment suspension only when you really need it because these payments are not waived or forgiven. Depending on your loan status at the time you requested payment suspension, you may need to repay any missed payments at the end of the short-term relief period, or through repayment program options, which may vary by loan type.
You can make payments during the suspension – even partial payments – at any time. This will reduce how much you’ll owe at the end of the payment suspension period. If your financial situation changes, you can end payment suspension at any time.
For detailed information about post-payment suspension programs, visit wellsfargo.com/repaymentdetails
By accepting this short-term payment suspension, you will be ineligible for any new Wells Fargo mortgage product, including a new home loan or a refinance of an existing home loan, until certain conditions are met. Your financial hardship must be over. You must be out of payment suspension. You must have resolved any missed payments. You may also be ineligible for other new Wells Fargo consumer credit products, such as an auto loan, personal loan, or credit card, until these conditions are met.
During payment suspension:
- We won’t charge late fees.
- If your loan was current when you requested payment suspension:
- We won’t report missed payments to the consumer reporting agencies.
- We will report you as current with a comment that the loan is in short-term payment suspension forbearance.
- If your loan was past-due when you requested payment suspension:
- We will not report any additional missed payments to the consumer reporting agencies during the payment suspension period.
- We won’t refer the loan to foreclosure at this time.
Payment suspension is counted by calendar months, not by missed or deferred payments. Examples may help illustrate this:
Customer A entered forbearance in April 2020 and, based on their loan investor, is eligible for 12 months of forbearance (April 2020-March 2021). They made six payments between April 2020-January 2021 because they were able to. They have used 10 months of forbearance and have 2 left (February, March) because the months of forbearance are not impacted or extended if payments are made.
Customer B entered forbearance in April 2020, made 3 payments, and exited forbearance in June 2020. In November 2020, they reentered forbearance for an additional 3 months. They have used 6 months of the 12 months for which they are eligible (April, May, June, November, December, January).
Assistance can be requested for all eligible accounts. You will need to make the request on each account individually. When you are ready to resume making payments or need to extend relief, contact us. Let us know about each account and we will review the steps needed.
The payment suspension is not retroactive. We can apply it immediately once you request it, but any reporting to the consumer reporting agencies will remain as stated prior to your request for payment suspension.
Once you miss a payment, even if you are enrolled in the payment suspension plan, your loan will have an outstanding balance and we’re required to send notification of that outstanding balance to you. We are not notifying the consumer reporting agencies of this outstanding balance.
You can contact us by calling 1-800-219-9739.
Yes, we are legally required to send you a billing statement showing the amount due every 30 days. While the statement will still show the amount due, it will also reference your short-term payment suspension under the section Important Messages.
There is no fee for the short-term payment suspension. If you suspect you have been contacted by a scammer, please submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission.
Considerations before requesting suspension
We know everyone’s situation is different. Here is some information to help you decide if short-term payment suspension, also known as forbearance, is right for you.
You are eligible in both situations, but you may have fewer repayment options at the end of your payment suspension period. We can explain the differences to you and discuss what repayment options are best for your situation.
If you select to use this short-term payment suspension, we must cancel your loan modification. Contact us to discuss the best option for your situation.
If the mortgage was modified under the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) or Second Lien Modification Program (2MP) and you don't make a payment during this time, you could lose the pay-for-performance incentives. This is because you must remain in good standing with HAMP and 2MP.
Yes, you are eligible for payment suspension. We recommend you speak with your bankruptcy attorney about post-payment suspension options.
Wells Fargo is honored to serve those who serve our country. The immediate short-term payment suspension is for any Wells Fargo Home Lending mortgage or home equity customer who requests assistance.
In addition, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) may offer protection or relief to members of the military, including the Reserves and National Guard, the Public Health Services, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and their spouses, partners, and dependents. If you have recently been called to military service in support of state or federal efforts during the COVID-19 response, or are the spouse, partner in civil union, domestic partner, or dependent of a person who has been called to military service, and you have not made us aware of your status, you can provide your military service documentation in one of these ways:
- Mail or overnight mail:
Wells Fargo Bank c/o SCRA Request
DSR – MAC D1118-02M
1525 W. WT Harris Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28252-8522 - Fax: 1-855-872-6262
- Secure email options. For details, call 1-855-USA-2WFB (1-855-872-2932).
- Visit any Wells Fargo branch.
We’ll continue to make your tax and insurance payments during the payment suspension period if you have an escrow account. However, depending on your loan type, this could increase your future monthly payments. If there is a shortage on the account, we will continue to work with you.
As a result of unpaid or partially made payments during payment suspension, you may be ineligible to have your escrow account closed.
If you miss payments or make a partial payment during payment suspension, you may delay when you can remove mortgage insurance.
If you have flood insurance, you may be required to increase your flood insurance coverage. Your flood insurance premiums may also need to be paid through an escrow account. We’ll let you know if either of these are needed.
While you’re protected under the payment suspension (forbearance) for this loan, if you have a Wells Fargo home equity line of credit, it will be restricted from further advances and you will not have access to funds from the account. When the payment suspension ends on the loan and you’ve resumed regular payments, please contact us to request a review for reinstatement to access funds on the line of credit account.
Call 1-866-508-7059 or write to:
Wells Fargo Home Equity
MAC-P6051-01A
P.O. Box 4790
Portland, OR 97208-4790
If you had a loan modification in the past that offered principal forgiveness that was contingent on your loan remaining current, you risk losing that benefit. Contact us to discuss the best option for your situation.
By accepting this short-term payment suspension, you will be ineligible for any new Wells Fargo mortgage product, including a new home loan or a refinance of an existing home loan, until certain conditions are met. Your financial hardship must be over. You must be out of payment suspension. You must have resolved any missed payments. You may also be ineligible for other new Wells Fargo consumer credit products, such as an auto loan, personal loan, or credit card, until these conditions are met.
Our sympathy is with anyone who has lost a family member. If our customer has died, we encourage you or an authorized representative to contact: 1-877-822-7864. We have a dedicated Life Events Team that can assist during this difficult time.
Understanding the difference between servicers and investors
What is the difference between a mortgage servicer and an investor?
As you may know, the company to whom you send your home loan payments is called your mortgage servicer. Wells Fargo is the servicer on your loan. As the servicer, Wells Fargo is responsible for collecting and applying payments to your loan, handling escrow accounts (if applicable), communicating loan information to borrowers, and assisting borrowers with applying for programs when they are facing financial difficulty.
It’s important to also know who the investor is on your loan. A lender or loan originator is the entity that gives you the loan. Typically, loans are backed by investors, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Servicers are required to apply the investor rules when servicing your home loan.
This is important because the CARES Act protections extend to federally-backed government-backed loans: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). For additional information on the CARES Act protections, visit the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s site.
In addition to these investors, there are other, private investors that back mortgage loans. The CARES Act does not extend to these loans, however, there may be programs available to assist you with your financial hardship.
For new payment suspensions, a communication will be sent to you 7-10 days from your request for suspension. It will state who the investor is on your loan, provide information on your payment suspension and details on available repayment programs.
If you’re already on a payment suspension, you will receive a letter and email asking you to update us on your payment suspension needs every 3 months. Those letters will also state who the investor is on your loan, provide you with your payment suspension details and the available repayment programs. If you do not have an email address on file or have not requested suspension, you can call us at 1-877-937-9357.
You can find out if your loan is through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac by visiting these sites.
Requesting your initial payment suspension
To request mortgage payment suspension, sign on to online banking. Select the payment assistance alert at the top of the account summary. Then, complete the form to request assistance for any eligible Wells Fargo credit accounts. You can also call us at 1-800-219-9739.
For home equity account payment assistance, call us at 1-800-219-9739.
Payment assistance is available even if the payment suspension enrollment form is not available for your account in online banking. Just call us at 1-800-219-9739 to discuss the available payment assistance on your account.
If you don’t have Wells Fargo online banking, you can enroll online or contact us at 1-800-219-9739.
Things to know when requesting payment suspension: While you’re protected under the payment suspension (forbearance) for this loan, if you have a Wells Fargo home equity line of credit, it will be restricted from further advances and you will not have access to funds from the account. When the payment suspension ends on the loan and you’ve resumed regular payments, please contact us to request a review for reinstatement to access funds on the line of credit account.
By accepting this short-term payment suspension, you will be ineligible for any new Wells Fargo mortgage product, including a new home loan or a refinance of an existing home loan, until certain conditions are met. Your financial hardship must be over. You must be out of payment suspension. You must have resolved any missed payments. You may also be ineligible for other new Wells Fargo consumer credit products, such as an auto loan, personal loan or credit card, until these conditions are met.
If you’re making automatic payments from bill pay on Wells Fargo Online® or with any other financial institution, you’ll need to stop them.
If you have a plan with us to automatically withdraw your mortgage payments directly from your checking or savings account, you’ll need to cancel it right away. If you need our assistance to do so, you must notify us that you want to cancel automatic payments at least 3 business days before you want the automatic payments to stop. If you don’t, we’ll cancel your automatic payments for you. If we’re not able to stop the next withdrawal before it occurs, please call us if you would like us to return it.
You’ll need to set up any automatic payments or plans again once the payment suspension period ends.
Yes, if you are currently on payment suspension you may be able to set up automatic payments anytime by visiting Wells Fargo Online. Once you set the automatic payments back up, we will not cancel them.
Yes, if you have set up your mortgage payment to be automatically withdrawn directly from your checking or savings account, we’ll cancel your automatic payments once you enter payment suspension.
We can refund payments that will not cause a customer’s account to become past due (due for a previous calendar month). For example, we can refund October’s payment if you make that request in October, however we could not refund September’s payment if you make the request in October.
Please call us at 1-800-219-9739.
Making payments whenever you are able is always a great choice. Using electronic payments is the preferred and safest way. Here are your options:
- Wells Fargo Online: Go to Transfer and Pay to make your monthly payment.
- Bill pay: If you have a Wells Fargo checking or savings account, access bill pay through that account, rather than your mortgage account. Learn more about Bill Pay
- If you do not have a Wells Fargo checking or savings account, you may use your preferred bill pay service provider to make your payment from a non-Wells Fargo checking or savings account.
Other options:
- Call 1-800-219-9739 and follow the voice response system or speak to a representative to pay by phone. Please have your bank account and routing number available.
- Mail your payment: You can continue to mail your payment and coupon to the address on your monthly statement.
Extending payment suspension
At the end of the initial 6 months, you have a decision to make. If your loan is covered by the CARES Act, you have the option to extend the suspension period for up to a total of 12 months. You will need to let us know if you need more time to recover either by signing in to online banking and using the Payment Assistance form or by calling 1-800-219-9739.
March 2021 Update
Depending on the type of loan you have and when your hardship started, you may be able to get additional assistance beyond the 12 month period provided under the CARES Act. The amount of months you may be able to extend varies by the investor on your loan and their eligibility requirements. If you are still experiencing a hardship, contact us by signing on to online banking and using the Payment Assistance: Action Requested form. You can also call us at 1-800-219-9739.
With the short-term payment suspension, you still owe the payments that were missed. Keep in mind that extending your payment suspension period means that you’ll have more payments to repay at a later time.
The CARES Act covers federally insured loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), Fannie Mae (FNMA), Freddie Mac (FHLMC), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). If your loan is backed by Wells Fargo or other investors not noted above, other options are available.
To extend your mortgage payment suspension, sign on to online banking. On the mortgage account details page, use the Payment Assistance: Action Requested form. Or call 1-877-937-9357. To extend your home equity account payment suspension, call us at 1-800-219-9739.
We want to understand if you are continuing to experience financial hardship. We’ll ask:
- Are you ready to resume regular mortgage payments and discuss options for repaying any missed payments?
- Do you need additional time to recover?
We want to make sure you do not suspend more payments than you may need. Remember, payment suspension requires you to make up the suspended payment at some point and can impact your ability to obtain additional credit.
You do not have to wait until 3 months to update us about your forbearance needs. Let us know as soon as you are ready to resume monthly payments — there is no need to wait for your 3-month check-in.
Resuming payments and ending payment suspension
If your situation changes, and you have the ability to make partial or full mortgage payments, you can end the payment suspension at any time. If you decide to shorten the plan, or if you decide later that this is not the right solution for you, please contact us. You’ll need to set up any automatic payments or plans again once the payment suspension period ends.
With the short-term payment suspension, you still owe the payments that were missed. Keep in mind that extending your payment suspension period means that you’ll have more payments to repay at a later time.
For details about post-payment suspension programs, visit wellsfargo.com/repaymentdetails
Because resuming payments:
- Provides you with the opportunity to apply for new credit or to refinance.
- Reduces the chance that your escrow account, if you have one, will have a shortage. If you miss payments, your escrow account may not have enough to cover your tax and insurance bills. We’ll continue to pay them, but this could increase your future monthly payments.
- Reduces the number of suspended payments that you’ll need to repay.
You can contact Wells Fargo and resume your payments. With the short-term payment suspension, you still owe the payments that were missed, however fewer missed payments means less that you will owe.
If you can afford to do so, you can repay the entire amount due at once. You can then continue with your normal payments. We understand that you may not be able to do this. We’ll work with you to discuss other programs that may help.
We'll consider your financial situation, which includes your loan status, type of loan, and whether your payments were current when the COVID-19 emergency was declared in March. This information will help us determine if you’re eligible for one of these programs:
- A repayment plan: We may be able to divide the amount due from the missed payments into manageable amounts, spread out over time.
- Payment deferral: We may be able to move the amount of the suspended payments to the end of your loan term.
- A loan modification: We may be able to change certain terms of your loan — such as the interest rate or the time allowed for repayment — to make payments more manageable. This program is intended for those experiencing long-term income reduction due to the crisis.
Please know that most COVID-19 payment deferral programs can only be used once. This varies depending on who the investor is on your loan. For detailed information about post-payment suspension programs, visit wellsfargo.com/repaymentdetails.
You can end the payment suspension at any time. If you decide to shorten the plan, or if you decide later that this is not the right solution for you, please contact us. When the payment suspension period ends, we’ll review available options to help you take care of missed payments. At that time, we’ll let you know when your next payment is due. You’ll need to set up any automatic payments or plans again once we do.
Exploring additional home financing
If you are still able to make your mortgage payments and are interested in lowering your monthly payment, or buying a new home, we’re here to help you in today’s evolving mortgage market.
- Learn what to expect, including how social distancing is changing the lending process.
- Find out why historically low interest rates are generating a lot of borrower interest.
- Get help from a home mortgage consultant, who will help you navigate loan options, appraisals, inspections, and loan closings.
Call us at 1-877-937-9357, use our online mortgage application, or contact a local home mortgage consultant to guide you through the process. Our physical mortgage branches are closed; however, our local home mortgage consultants are available by phone or by appointment.
You may be able to access the credit in your home through a cash out refinance, which Wells Fargo will begin offering on March 20, 2021. We are not currently accepting applications for home equity lines of credit (HELOCs). Please contact your home mortgage consultant or call 1-877-937-9357 to discuss.
We have decided to make temporary changes to the products we offer after carefully considering current market conditions and economic uncertainty due to COVID-19. We will begin accepting new home equity line of credit applications when the economic situation and housing market conditions improve.
No, unfortunately, we are not currently accepting applications. However, please call us at 1-877-937-9357 so we can review other options with you.
No, unfortunately, these temporary product changes also impact customers with existing home equity lines of credit. We’re happy to work with you to see if another option could meet your needs.
Refinance loan applications are now eligible for interior appraisal inspections. The health and well-being of our customers, vendors, and team members is our highest priority. Therefore, the following safety protocols will be followed.
- Maintaining social distancing and refraining from shaking hands.
- Use of face coverings and other protective equipment as appropriate.
- Limiting the number of people present in the property during inspection to the greatest extent possible.
- Customers (or other points of contact) are urged to leave all lights on and doors open for the appraiser.
- Refraining from scheduling an interior inspection if participants in the inspection have been sick or exposed to others who have been sick.
If you are unwilling to complete an interior appraisal, other options may exist. Please contact your Home Mortgage Consultant or call 1-877-937-9357 to discuss.
Working with a housing counselor
If you need help dealing with broader financial challenges, reach out to a local HUD-approved, non-profit housing counseling agency for financial education, mortgage help services, and other free assistance. Go to HUD.gov to find an agency near you or call 1-800-569-4287 (TDD 1-800-877-8339).
Additional information on mortgage and housing assistance during the coronavirus national emergency can be found on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) site: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/coronavirus/mortgage-and-housing-assistance/(link)
Information on this site can be viewed in the following languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Tagalog.
Avoid anyone who asks for a fee for counseling or a loan modification, asks you to sign over the deed to your home, or asks you to make your mortgage payments to anyone other than Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.
Counseling agencies who are authorized to communicate on behalf of a Wells Fargo customer can call 1-877- 937-9357 or contact the assigned home mortgage consultant.
Note: We’re experiencing high call volumes. We apologize for any long wait times.
Counseling agencies who are authorized to communicate on behalf of a Wells Fargo customer can call 1-800- 219-9739. Note: We’re experiencing high call volumes. We apologize for any long wait times.
As we continue to evaluate how to best collaborate with partners and stakeholders, we encourage our partners to visit wellsfargo.com/mortgageassist for the most up-to-date information.