A Wells Fargo authorization form lets you give another person access to your account or loan information, and the bank uses a different form for each level of access: the Authorization to Inquire for read-only account access, the Authorization to Release Information for mortgage and home equity loans, IRS Form 4506-C for income verification during underwriting, and a Power of Attorney packet when someone needs to actually act on your behalf. Picking the right form is the first decision, because each one has its own fields, its own submission address, and its own scope. Send the wrong form to the wrong place and you add weeks to the process.
Which Form Fits Your Situation
Start with what you want the other person to do.
- If they only need to see balances, deposits, or transaction history on a deposit account, use the Authorization to Inquire. They can call in and ask questions. They cannot move money.
- If the account is a mortgage or home equity loan and you want someone (an attorney, agent, or family member) to receive loan information or update insurance or tax details, use the Authorization to Release Information for home lending.
- If you’re applying for a mortgage or large loan and the bank needs to pull your tax transcripts, you’ll sign IRS Form 4506-C. This one is handed to you during underwriting; you don’t initiate it.
- If the person needs to make payments, request advances, update account information, or close an account, you need a Power of Attorney. The Authorization to Inquire and the Release form don’t grant any of that.
A note on scope the forms themselves won’t tell you: the home lending Release form covers only three categories of change (receive loan information, update insurance, update tax). If your third party needs to modify loan terms or do anything beyond those three, Wells Fargo requires a notarized Power of Attorney or a court order instead.
Authorization to Inquire
This is a single page, and the fields are narrow. The bank asks for the last four digits of your Social Security number, not the full number, for both you and the third party. Have ready:
- The specific account number you want the third party to access.
- Your name, phone number, and mailing address as they appear in Wells Fargo’s records.
- The last four digits of your SSN.
- The third party’s full name, phone number, mailing address, and last four SSN digits.
Then you pick the type of authorization: verbal (they can phone in), written (they can request information in writing), or both. “Both” is the common choice. If you want to keep the scope tighter, pick verbal only.
Set a duration. You can enter an end date or mark it permanent. Permanent means it stays in effect until you actively revoke it, so for short-term situations, like helping a relative while you travel, a specific end date is safer. Both you and the third party sign and date. No notary is required.
Submit the completed form by one of three routes:
- Mail to Wells Fargo, Attn: Home Equity Correspondence, MAC: X2302-04E, P.O. Box 10335, Des Moines, IA 50306-0335.
- Fax to 866-328-0418.
- Drop it off at a branch, where a banker can check it for completeness before sending it on.
Once the authorization is active, the third party should expect to verify their own identity, including those last four SSN digits, every time they contact the bank about your account.
Authorization to Release Information (Home Lending)
This form is for mortgages and home equity loans, so it asks for your borrower name, property address, and loan number rather than a deposit account number. You also provide the third party’s name, mailing address, phone number, email, and their relationship to you (attorney, real estate agent, family member).
The privileges section uses checkboxes. You pick one or more:
- Receive information about your loan.
- Update existing insurance information, or provide replacement coverage details.
- Update existing tax information.
Read these carefully before signing. Granting the insurance or tax update privileges can trigger an immediate change to your monthly mortgage payment, because escrow follows the new figures.
The form has an expiration field. Leave it blank and the authorization lasts for the life of the loan. One exception overrides whatever you write there: authorizations granted to real estate agents automatically expire one year after signing. You sign and provide the last four digits of your SSN or TIN.
Submit by fax to 1-866-359-7363, or mail to Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, MAC X9999-01N, P.O. Box 1629, Minneapolis, MN 55440-9790.
IRS Form 4506-C for Income Verification
If you’re applying for a mortgage or a large loan, Wells Fargo will typically ask you to sign IRS Form 4506-C. The form authorizes the bank, as a participant in the IRS Income Verification Express Service, to pull your tax transcripts directly from the IRS to confirm the income you reported on your application. You fill in your name, address, Social Security number, and the tax years you’re authorizing, then designate the lender as the recipient on line 5a.
This is a federal requirement tied to ability-to-repay rules, not a Wells Fargo policy, and it’s used only during underwriting. You won’t file this one on your own initiative.
Power of Attorney
A POA goes beyond information sharing. Your agent can make payments, request advances on a line of credit, update account information, and close accounts, depending on what the document grants. Wells Fargo accepts either its own Power of Attorney form (which applies only to the Wells Fargo accounts you specify) or an externally prepared POA document you bring to a banker. Either way, the agent’s authority is capped at what the paperwork says.
The submission is heavier than the other forms. The agent completes a cover sheet and a notarized affidavit. The affidavit must be signed before a notary public, who confirms the agent’s identity and certifies the POA document as a true copy of the original. Along with the cover sheet and affidavit, the agent submits:
- A certified copy of the POA document, verified by a notary or court official as a true duplicate.
- Proof of the agent’s Social Security number: a Social Security card or W-2.
- Proof of the agent’s name, address, and date of birth: a driver’s license, state ID, or U.S. government-issued alien ID card.
On the affidavit, you check boxes for what the agent can do: make payments, make inquiries, update account information, make advances on lines of credit, obtain documentation, close a line of credit, or a combination. Scope matters here. “Payments only” means the agent cannot pull statements or close anything. Checking every box gives the agent nearly full control over the account. Many people managing affairs for an elderly parent check all boxes; for a narrower situation, like paying a mortgage while someone recovers from surgery, check only what’s needed.
The personal-lending POA packet can go in four ways:
- Mail to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2800 South Price Road, Bld. D, 3rd Floor, Chandler, AZ 85286.
- Email to PLGDocVer@wellsfargo.com.
- Fax to 1-877-722-5232.
- Visit a branch in person.
Authorizations for Business Accounts
Business accounts add verification of your authority to act for the entity. When opening the account, Wells Fargo prefers that all owners and key executives with authority come in person. Anyone who can’t has to complete and notarize the bank’s forms separately.
The documentation varies by entity type:
- Sole proprietors: a fictitious name certificate, business license, or registration of trade name.
- Partnerships: a partnership agreement, plus a fictitious name certificate or business registration. If there’s no written partnership agreement, all owners must sign a statement saying so.
- LLCs: articles of organization, certificate of organization, or certificate of formation.
- Corporations: articles of incorporation, certificate of good standing, or certificate of incorporation. Wells Fargo also offers a Corporate Resolution for Depository and Brokerage form that formally designates which individuals can access and manage the account.
After You Submit
Wells Fargo verifies that the information on your form matches the records on file: names, account numbers, and the last four SSN digits all have to line up. For a POA submission, the bank also confirms the notary seal and the supporting identity documents. If something is missing or doesn’t match, you’ll be contacted to fix it, and the authorization doesn’t take effect until a clean submission goes through.
Confirmation comes through your online banking portal or by mail. From that point, the third party can interact with the bank within the scope you authorized, verifying their own identity each time they call.
Changing or Cancelling an Authorization
You can cancel a third-party authorization at any time. For the Authorization to Inquire, submitting a new form that removes the third party, or setting a past end date, cancels the previous authorization. If you set a specific expiration date when you first filled it out, access ends automatically on that date with no further action.
For data-sharing authorizations tied to external apps or services, Wells Fargo requires you to notify the bank with the name of the company and the accounts you want disconnected. Call 1-800-TO-WELLS (1-800-869-3557) or visit a branch.
Whichever authorization you’re revoking, keep written confirmation that you cancelled it. If a question comes up later about whether the third party was still authorized when they accessed your information, that confirmation is your proof.