Consumer complaint received 2020-02-19
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
We applied for a mortgage with Wells Fargo on XX/XX/XXXX for a closing on XX/XX/XXXX. We have 2 other mortgages with them and we were dealing with the same mortgage broker we have dealt with in the past. We filed the joint application with my wife and her credit was frozen due to a fraud issue. XXXX XXXX, the mortgage agent, stated we needed to unlock her credit report to move ahead. We did and had it unlocked within 48 hours. He called up and stated " we don't need her income to qualify for the mortgage, so we should move ahead with the application without her on it ''. I stated her income was significant and much greater than the last time we applied for a mortgage. He stated " that is okay we should be fine without it ''. We proceeded ahead even though the credit was now unlocked. I had no idea that to add her back on it would restart the entire process, that was never told to me. I had thought he stated we were leaving her off for the start and then login to just add her on once the credit was unlocked. 

What I found out afterward is that he would have had to start a whole new application and he did not want to do the work at that time. They proceeded with the application process as is. They requested documents, and more documents, and delivered all of them within 24-48 hours of request. I am very organized. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a call telling me they could not approve my mortgage. This was well past my mortgage commitment date, that they were aware of. I asked what was the problem? The income was not enough for the ratios to qualify for the loan. I stated that I wanted to see what income was reported. I quickly noticed my wife income that represents 25 % or more of our household income was not on the report. I quickly said " well that make sense, you are missing a big part of our household income ''. He stated he would send it up for an exception and 2 review. That did not work because her income was still not there. I asked why her income was not being reported, and then is when it was told me that she was never added back onto the application. My response " add her back on and show her income and get this resolved, we have 10 business days till closing ''. 

He then informed me if we added her back on we are starting from the beginning and there is no way we could close on time. After I exploded on him as to why she was left off, he stated that was his call and he made a mistake. " He should have added her back on, but he thought we would be fine without her income ''. 

I then called several people who I know to ask about getting a mortgage quickly. I moved onto another broker in XXXX XXXX, UT and he asked for documents, which I had ready, and we actually went from application to conditional approval in 3 days, final approval 3 days after that including a new appraisal, and closing all within 9 days. This was a traditional mortgage underwritten to government standards, nothing fancy with over 50 % down. 

XXXX XXXX, the Wells Fargo Mortgage representative, suggested I file a complaint with Wells Fargo to try and get back my appraisal money and application fee since I had to pay it again to the new firm. He actually opened the complaint internally. Wells declined to reimburse me for the appraisal fee and the application fee because they state I knew my wife 's credit was locked and my broker moved ahead without her on it. I was never told she would not be added back on and we would start all over if something didn't go right. 

I work in an industry where " FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY '' is mandated by the federal Government. I am a trusted advisor that can be held accountable for any recommendation because I know more than the average individual and they need to be protected. Where is the same standards in the banking and mortgage business? They have the nerve to call themselves " Financial Advisors '' so they  must be held to the same standards. 

All I asked was that my fees that I paid for services that were not delivered, to be refunded. There is a return policy under consumer law for shopping. If services are not provided under a contractor, there is consumer fraud protection. Where is the banking standards? 

I am asking for help to just get my money back for fees paid twice because of a mistake by an employee of a company that already has no morals.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation