Wells Fargo cuts 1,000 home loan service jobs

MILWAUKEE — Wells Fargo & Co. said Wednesday it is planning to close its home loan servicing operation in Milwaukee this summer, eliminating about 1,000 jobs.

Jim Hines, assistant vice president of consumer lending communications, said the company told employees at the West Parkland Home Lending Servicing center Wednesday morning that the office is set to close in late July “due to shifting customer needs and market dynamics.”

The West Parkland facility is a call center from which employees helped customers who were having trouble making their monthly mortgage payments.

“The group here was relied upon to find solutions for customers to help them avoid a foreclosure sale,” Russ Cross, senior vice president and community relations director for Wells Fargo, said in an interview. “They played a key role in helping create modifications for folks. They also got involved in borrower outreach events as well.”

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo said that as the economy has improved over the last two years, there have been fewer mortgage delinquencies and less need for the assistance that workers at the West Parkland call center provide.

Cross said “the improving economy has a huge bearing on the amount” of work the call center has been seeing.

Cross said the company made the announcement to employees Wednesday via phone and in face-to-face meetings so they would have time to prepare for the job cuts.

“We wanted to give these team members as much notice as possible because we want to help them in every way possible during the next few months,” Cross said.