Article: Wells Fargo takes a hit on loans: $1.4 billion; The bank responded to losses in home equity loans by tightening credit standards and taking a special fourth-quarter charge.(BUSINESS)

Byline: Mike Meyers; Staff Writer

Worried about the trends in the housing market, Wells Fargo & Co. quit making certain types of home equity loans last summer.

The bank didn't close that lending window fast enough.

Wells Fargo disclosed Tuesday that it would set aside $1.4 billion this quarter as a special charge for rising losses on those equity loans, which were arranged outside the bank by wholesalers and involved situations where the combined total of first and second mortgages came to more than 90 percent of the value of a house.

The loan loss provision is more than triple the $408 million that Wells Fargo charged off for bad mortgage debt - first and ...

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