Wells Fargo has reportedly agreed to pay $869 million to government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) Freddie Mac to settle disputes over faulty mortgages the bank sold to the firm prior to Jan. 1, 2009.
As per the agreement, Wells Fargo will make a one-time $780 million cash payment to Freddie Mac, a reduction based on credits tied to previous buybacks, according to a Bloomberg News report.
Other U.S. banks including Bank of America and Citigroup have been working to resolve similar claims over faulty mortgages from Freddie Mac and its sister GSE, Fannie Mae.
Last week, Citigroup agreed to pay $395 million to Freddie Mac – and in July it agreed to a $968 million settlement with Fannie Mae.
The Wells Fargo payment ‘resolves substantially all repurchase liabilities related to loans sold’ to Freddie Mac before 2009, the bank says in a statement.
As of June, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, along with other U.S.-backed firms, had outstanding claims against Wells Fargo for the repurchase more than 6,300 loans with an original balance of $1.4 billion. About 89% of those were for loans originated from 2006 to 2008.
The bank continued to sell loans after the period covered by the settlement, including $126 billion to Freddie Mac in 2009 and $155 billion to Fannie Mae, according to the report.