Wells Fargo boosts its count of improper foreclosures

Wells Fargo & Co. improperly foreclosed on 545 customers after wrongly denying them mortgage loan modifications, up from the 400 borrowers the company had disclosed in August, according to a report Wells Fargo filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday. The bank has also suspended fees on some wealth-management assets and accounts after finding "instances of incorrect fees." The bank had previously said this was a problem area. As Wells Fargo digs deeper into its past misdeeds, the bank continues to add to the number of consumers affected. Three months ago, the company said it improperly denied mortgage loan modifications to 625 customers, a number that increased to 870 in Tuesday's filing. (More: Wells Fargo places two executives on leave)​ The lender is facing myriad regulatory probes and conducting its own internal reviews after a series of consumer scandals erupted in September 2016 with the revelation that it opened accounts for as many as 3.5 million customers who didn't want them. The latest disclosures demonstrate that chief executive officer Tim Sloan still has work to do to move Wells Fargo past the scandals after taking the top job two years ago. (More: Ex-Wells Fargo brokers sue for damages, claiming they lost business in wake of scandals)​