Wells Fargo has set aside $56,850,000 to settle claims that it reported California mortgage borrowers as “in forbearance” when their loans were current. The case, Stoff v. Wells Fargo Bank, has run in San Diego Superior Court since 2020, and a judge gave final approval in June. Eligible borrowers file nothing, and the money arrives as a one-time check.
Which California borrowers are in the class
The class is defined narrowly. It takes in California residents with a Wells Fargo mortgage on a property in the state whose loans were listed as current, who received a CARES Act forbearance on or after March 27, 2020, and who were then reported to a credit bureau as “in forbearance” or something similar.
Three groups are left out: borrowers outside California, borrowers who were already behind on payments when the forbearance began, and anyone who opted out before the deadline. A borrower who fits the definition needs no claim form and no phone call, because the settlement pays automatically.
The test for a borrower is simple to state. Did the mortgage show as current when the pause began, and did a credit report afterward say forbearance? Anyone who held a Wells Fargo loan on a California home through 2020 and took a pandemic payment pause can answer from loan statements and a pulled credit file.
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What the lawsuit says Wells Fargo reported
The complaint alleges Wells Fargo gave credit reporting agencies inaccurate information, telling them California borrowers’ accounts were in forbearance. It says the notation hurt credit scores and mortgage status, and that it broke CARES Act rules barring lenders from reporting accounts as late or in forbearance unless the borrower was already behind.
The federal rule sits in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. When a lender grants a payment accommodation and the borrower makes the payments, or none are required, the law tells the lender to report the account “as current”. The statute speaks of an accommodation and never uses the phrase “in forbearance.”
The case has taken six years. It was filed June 18, 2020, and Judge Katherine A. Bacal approved the deal on June 10, 2026. A.B. Data, Ltd. is the settlement administrator, and payments go out by check to the last address Wells Fargo holds on the mortgage account.
Where the $56.85 million goes before borrowers see it
The $56,850,000 is a gross fund, not a per-borrower figure. Each class member gets an equal share of what remains after attorneys’ fees, administration costs and service awards to the lead plaintiffs are paid. No per-person amount has been published.
Class lawyers asked for up to 30 percent of the fund, about $17.06 million, plus up to $190,000 in expenses. Administration is estimated at $297,000, and service awards could reach $98,000. If the full fee request was approved, roughly $39 million would be left for borrowers.
OpenClassActions says the approved amounts have not been confirmed, and a final class count had not been published as of October 1. Without a head count, the size of each check cannot be worked out. Borrowers are waiting on the envelope itself.
Leftover money may go to class members who cashed their first check, if enough remains and the court approves. No second distribution had been announced as of October 1. That gives borrowers a reason to deposit the first check promptly.
Some borrowers confuse this payout with an earlier one. A separate $185 million Wells Fargo forbearance settlement covered forbearance entered without adequate informed consent, and its checks went out in March 2025 through a different administrator. The two cases have different classes and different checks.
If the credit report still says forbearance
The settlement pays cash. An incorrect forbearance notation still sitting on a credit report is a separate matter, and the Federal Trade Commission says a borrower can dispute it with the credit bureau, which has 30 days to investigate. The borrower can also write to the business that supplied the information, which must investigate and report back.
Free reports are available at AnnualCreditReport.com, and the FTC says the three bureaus have permanently extended free weekly access. Pulling all three shows whether an old forbearance line survived. A bureau that changes a report must send a free copy of the corrected version.
A complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a second route. The bureau says most companies respond within 15 days, and its phone line is (855) 411-2372. For an inaccurate credit report entry, it asks that the dispute go to the credit reporting company first.
Checks go to the address on the mortgage account, so a borrower who has moved since 2020 should expect trouble. The deadline to update an address with the administrator was March 25, 2026, but OpenClassActions says a lost or misdirected check can usually be reissued if the request comes before the void date. Checks expire 90 days after they are issued.
Is a Wells Fargo settlement check headed to the right address?
A borrower who moved after 2020 can have a settlement check sitting at an old address, and the 90-day clock starts when the check is issued, not when anyone opens it. With no claim form in this settlement, there is no receipt to show the borrower was ever in line.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a claim log and payment tracker for keeping each expected check, its issue date and its void date in one place. It also lays out the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, plus a 5-tab Excel tracker pre-filled with all 51 state unclaimed-property offices.
Track every expected settlement check with this recovery system’s payment tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
