Wells Fargo Accused of Outing Southern Minnesota Family in Victim Protection Program
According to the Star Tribune a lawsuit has been filed against Wells Fargo after one of its mortgage bankers mistakenly outed a southern Minnesota family that was in the victim protection program.
Shortly after a young member of the family was sexually assaulted the family began receiving death threats from the alleged attacker. That's when they enrolled in Minnesota's Safe at Home program. The Safe at Home program relocated the family and required that mail in their names be sent to a P.O. box and then delivered by the state without any of their names being revealed.
Wells Fargo did receive notification from the state about how their mail was to be handled according to the lawsuit. Unfortunately, it looks like they neglected to follow the policy. Shortly after applying for a mortgage for the new property the family began receiving mailings from Wells Fargo and other vendors congratulating them on their new home. The family's attorney, Randy Knutson, told the Star Tribune that “once vendors have the address ... the name and address can often be located online. It has been released to the public, so to speak. Basically, if vendors have it, everyone may be able to access it.”
CBS News reports the mother tried for more than five months to have the mailings stopped before Wells Fargo called in May 2017 and admitted to the breach.