$56.85 Million Wells Fargo CARES Act Settlement: Automatic Checks for California Borrowers

In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Section 4021 of that law changed how lenders report pandemic relief to credit bureaus. Under CARES Act Section 4021, a lender that gave a borrower an accommodation such as forbearance had to report the account as "current" if it was current before the accommodation.

Plaintiff Michael Stoff filed a class action against Wells Fargo on June 18, 2020, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego. He claimed that Wells Fargo furnished information to consumer reporting agencies showing borrowers' mortgages as "in forbearance" (or something similar) rather than simply current, that this reporting did not comply with the CARES Act, that it was inaccurate or incomplete, and that borrowers were harmed as a result. A forbearance notation can matter when a lender pulls your credit report for a refinance or new loan.

Wells Fargo denies every claim, denies that it furnished inaccurate or incomplete information, and denies that it broke any law. The parties settled after more than five years of litigation, discovery, and mediation. The court certified the class on February 5, 2024, before the settlement was reached.

This is a state court case focused on credit reporting. If you are dealing with other Wells Fargo problems, our Wells Fargo lawsuit page covers other claims against the bank, and our guide to the Fair Credit Reporting Act explains the federal rules on credit report accuracy.

The settlement class is the same class the court certified in 2024. You are in it if all of the following are true:

• You were a mortgagor on a mortgage secured by property located in California.
• Your account was current (not delinquent) when you got relief.
• You received a CARES Act forbearance on or after March 27, 2020.
• Wells Fargo reported your account to a consumer reporting agency as "in forbearance" or something similar.

The only exclusion listed in the class definition is the judge assigned to the case. The court's final order also notes that one class member timely opted out and a second was allowed to opt out late.

You are probably not in the class if your mortgaged property was outside California, if you were already behind on payments when you entered forbearance, if your servicer was a different company, or if you never took a CARES Act forbearance. The class is limited to mortgages on California property, so Wells Fargo borrowers in other states are not covered by this $56.85 million fund. If a forbearance notation or other error is still showing on your report, you can dispute it yourself with the bureaus; see how to dispute a credit report error.

Every class member gets the same amount. The settlement divides the net fund by the number of class members, so each person receives an equal pro rata share. The administrator has not published a per-person dollar figure or a class count, so we cannot tell you the exact check size.

What we can show is how much is left to divide, using the court's June 10, 2026 fee order:

Item	Amount
Settlement fund	$56,850,000
Attorneys' fees (30%)	$17,055,000
Litigation expenses	$190,000
Administration (estimated)	About $297,000
Service award to Michael Stoff	$90,000
Approximate net for class	About $39.2 million

The court awarded class counsel 30% of the fund in fees and $190,000 in expenses, leaving roughly $39.2 million for equal checks to class members. The judge denied separate service awards for six other class members who had been proposed for smaller payments. If administration costs come in under $297,000, the leftover goes back to the class.

If money remains after the first round because some checks go uncashed, the remainder is split evenly among people who cashed their first check, unless that second payment would be less than $5 each. Anything still left goes to Credit Builders Alliance, a nonprofit the court approved, as a cy pres award. Our guide on what happens to unclaimed settlement money explains that process.

You do not file a claim. Settlement checks are mailed to class members automatically, without claim forms or documentary proof. Wells Fargo's own records identify who is in the class.

1. Watch your mail for a check from "Wells Fargo CARES Act Mortgage Credit Reporting Class Action, c/o A.B. Data, Ltd."
2. Deposit or cash it within 90 days. After that the check is voided.
3. If you moved since 2020, contact the administrator to update your address: 1-877-307-7268, info@CaresActLitigation.com, or P.O. Box 173008, Milwaukee, WI 53217.
4. If your check is lost, expired, or never came, ask the administrator about a reissue as soon as possible, before the second distribution is calculated.

Anyone who contacts you and asks for a fee, your bank login, or your Social Security number to "release" this money is not the administrator. Read our list of settlement scam warning signs.

Event	Date
Lawsuit filed	June 18, 2020
Class certified	February 5, 2024
Objection and exclusion deadline	March 25, 2026 (passed)
Final fairness hearing held	May 15, 2026
Final approval and fee orders signed	June 10, 2026
Checks mailed	By the end of August 2026 (per administrator)
Check cashing window	90 days from issue

The notice originally set the final approval hearing for April 17, 2026. The court's orders state that the fairness hearing took place on May 15, 2026, and the judge signed the final approval and fee orders on June 10, 2026. As of September 2026, the settlement website says the administrator would mail each class member a check for their pro rata share by the end of August 2026. The court overruled the single objection it received. For how to follow a settlement after approval, see how to check a settlement's status.

Because payment is automatic, there is no claim deadline to miss. The main risk is an old address. If you think you are in the class and nothing has arrived by early fall 2026, call the administrator and confirm your mailing address. Our guide on what to do if you have not received a settlement check walks through the steps.

The deadline to object or ask to be excluded was March 25, 2026. Only one class member timely opted out, and the court allowed one late exclusion. Everyone else is bound by the release, which covers claims relating to how Wells Fargo furnished information to credit reporting agencies about mortgage loans in CARES Act forbearance. That means you generally cannot bring your own lawsuit over that reporting now.

The release is limited to that credit reporting issue. If Wells Fargo did something else to your account, such as a wrongful fee, a foreclosure error, or a separate reporting mistake on a different debt, that may be a different claim. Those issues are not covered by this settlement and would need to be evaluated separately.

Credit reporting cases often end in settlements where people are paid automatically. Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, a willful violation can carry statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per consumer, which is why these cases are often brought as class actions. See the Wells Fargo bankruptcy reporting settlement and the TransUnion inaccurate report settlement for two others.

For this settlement, the only official source for check status is the settlement website linked above. If a lender's reporting error cost you a loan, a higher interest rate, or a job, and your situation is not covered by this release, a free case review can connect you with independent attorneys who handle credit reporting claims.