Those loans will become Wells Fargo's problem under this deal; Wells, for its part, has its own substantial $84 billion portfolio of home equity loans, half of which are located in hard hit states like California and Florida. Wells officials said they will record Wachovia's credit-impaired assets at fair value, as part of the acquisition, and that they expect the Wachovia deal to to add to earnings this year. "As always, we only consider acquisitions that add to earnings per share no later than the third year after purchase and earn an internal rate of return of at least 15 percent," said CFO Howard Atkins. Credit rating agencies had not yet commented on the deal's effect on either Wachovia, Wells Fargo, or Citigroup at the time this story was published. Disclosure: The author held no relevant positions when this story was published. Indirect holdings may exist via mutual fund investments. HW reporters and writers follow a strict disclosure policy, the first in the mortgage trade.