Consumer complaint received 2019-03-29
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
In XX/XX/2018 Wells Fargo applied an escrow account on my mortgage account for the property assuming that there was no active homeowners insurance. In late XXXX, I reached out to Wells Fargo and informed them that I have insurance with XXXX XXXX. I supplied Wells Fargo with a copy of the insurance declarations pages. I was then told that I would not the get credit on my mortgage account until there is proof that the insurance has been active on the home for more than one year and that there has not been any late payments or elapsed lost time with the insurance. I went to XXXX XXXX and got copies of the policy for the past two years and supplied copies to Wells Fargo Bank. I assumed this would solve the additional fees applied to my account. 

Each month I went in and paid my mortgage of {$2300.00} even though the amount on the bill was different due to the inappropriate application of the escrow account. I knew that there was going to be a credit applied to my account soon. And I did not want to be late or miss a mortgage payment. 

On XX/XX/XXXX I was still noticing the difference with the payment amount. It was at that point that Wells Fargo informed me that they do not take partial payments so funds were left floating and not applied to the account until I pay the additional amount that never should have been placed on my account. I informed by Wells Fargo that there would be a credit from the Mortgage Insurance Department soon. So in XXXX the XXXX was paid on time but not applied because Wells Fargo was requesting a different amount. 

On XX/XX/XXXX again I spoke to someone to discuss the difference in amount and the process I went through to resolve the inappropriate escrow placement on my account. However the women on the phone was not able to explain the extra fee on the account and she referred me to the insurance department again. She stated that perhaps it was homeowner taxes that were not paid on my part? I was upset that Wells Fargo was not able to explain the fees. 

On XX/XX/XXXX again I called due my account stating that it is delinquent and that some monies is not being applied due to partial payment. Again my account is stating that I am late with my payment, which I have not been and this is now being reported to the credit bureau. After concluding a long conversation with the women on the phone and with the insurance department representative they were able to find the mistake/error on my account. I was informed that Wells Fargo took it upon themselves to pay {$430.00} to XXXX XXXX to pay for my homeowners insurance. I was not sure why this payment was paid out from Wells Fargo to XXXX XXXX. It was never approved on my part nor has my homeowners insurance ever been late due to its auto-payment with my XXXX bank account. I then informed Wells Fargo that I could pay the lump sum back. {$430.00}. However, it was already spread out into my account monthly beginning on XX/XX/2018, which changed my payment from {$2300.00} to {$2300.00}. I then proceeded to pay the difference in the month of XXXX according to the agreement with the women on the phone from Wells Fargo. 

After finding out about the mistake, I reached out to XXXX XXXX and asked if a bill was sent to Wells Fargo. According to XXXX XXXX that was not the case, I was informed that my payments have not been late and that it is listed on the account that this is NOT and escrowed account that it is personally paid for by client. I was also informed that Wells Fargo called in XXXX of 2018 to request a copy of the statement and insurance coverage and that a copy was sent to the bank with policy amount and balance and payment history. Again, I am not clear why Wells Fargo paid the insurance without notifying me. Because of this action my account is now being listed as delinquent! 

On XX/XX/XXXX again I called and spoke to someone on the phone about my payment of {$2300.00} in XXXX which is floating and not being applied so my account looks delinquent. In addition it is being reported as delinquent which is causing issues and stresses with my other creditors. I asked to get this resolved and they stated that they were not sure why that amount is different nor why money is not being applied to the account. It seems that there is approximately a {$76.00} dollar discrepancy. They asked me to pay the XXXX dollars so that it does not seem delinquent anymore. I do not feel that I should have to pay something that is not clear of its purpose. I asked the representative to explain to me what this fee is? Why is it being applied? It was not explained nor was it clear why it is still looming over the accounts. 


On XX/XX/XXXX again I met with a representative at Wells Fargo to rectify the problem in the your XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX XXXX. The representative was helpful, but again he was not able to figure out why this is happening. It was a Saturday when I went into the bank so many of the departments were closed. The representative was going to get back to me with a solution. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I went into the bank again and met with a representative that made phone calls to help with the situations again. The representative called different departments and gave me copies of all the letters sent to me by Wells Fargo. Although the letters were generated and stated the change in balance in none of the letter is it explained to me that Wells Fargo paid my XXXX XXXX Homeowners insurance nor was it expressed to me that escrow account was incorrectly applied by Wells Fargo Bank. 

I am attaching copies of the declaration pages of the insurance on the house. I have enclosed payment history made to XXXX XXXX, which proves account has not been delinquent so payments should have NEVER been made by Wells Fargo Bank to my account. 

I need my account to be up to date and not stating that it is delinquent. I would like an explanation why Wells Fargo paid the homeowner insurance without informing me. And I would like to know why the funds of {$2300.00} are not being applied to my payments. I would also like this to be clarified with the credit bureau regarding me paying my accounts on time. 

I am disputing my account credibility. Wells Fargo has made some errors that have caused my account to seem delinquent and me as an irresponsible creditor.

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 non-monetary relief