Wells Seeks to Keep Mortgage License

Wells Fargo & Co. asked a federal court to block California from pulling its home loan license, saying it doesn’t need a state license because it operates under federal rules.

The court should prohibit the state from examining Wells Fargo’s home loan portfolio, stripping its license and forcing it to repay customers’ interest charges, the San Francisco-based bank said in an amended complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

The California Department of Corporations wants to take Wells Fargo’s mortgage license because it said it found the bank overcharged borrowers and didn’t provide adequate disclosure to consumers in a sampling of loans it reviewed last year.