Consumer complaint received 2020-07-25
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Credit limit changed

Complaint:
RE-Wells Fargo Accounts >Personal Loan ACCT # XXXX >Home Equity ACCT # XXXX >Checking- ACCT # XXXX Several people have encouraged me to write to your agency to request your assistance : titled Financial Elder Abuse. The abuse was and is Wells-Fargo Bank. For several years I have persisted in attempting to resolve the problems. The following is a small partial list of the issues. 

1. Wells-Fargo has tapped my phone and interrupted both in-coming and out-going conversations. 

2. Wells-Fargo has periodical cut off access to my on-line statements. 

3. Wells-Fargo has shuffled funds of {$30000.00} home equity loan. {$6000.00} was the amount moved to my checking account which was used for dental work. Wells-Fargo moved {$7500.00} into my checking account. In a two month period W-F evaporated the {$7500.00} and the {$14000.00} plus deposit made to my checking account. {$27000.00} evaporated. W-F then changed the terms of the home equity loan and then closed my access. W-F has charged the monthly payment to include All of the {$30000.00} even though by W-Fs accounting only {$15000.00} was used. 

4. W-F cashed the checks to pay on the home equity loan but did not credit my account. 

5. W-F calls at least once a day. I believe their harassment is a deliberate attempt to get me to drop all claims I might make and accept the W-F offer to give me a deal on the percentage charged on the balance. 

6. W-F did not honor or make the auto pays required .The mortgage money was moved 5 times in one month, each move was charged {$100.00} in fees. 

7.Please help me to resolve the problems with Wells-Fargo. I believe that Wells-Fargo needs to return # 10s of thousands taken from me. I believe that W-F took {$2000.00} to {$4000.00} a month for every month since I opened my account 8. The harassment from W-F never ends. The last call that I took from them was made on my land line phone. The call was on XX/XX/XXXX. The caller was extremely rude. He demanded that I make a very large payment because he claimed that a payment was last made in XX/XX/XXXX. For three months in a row I took a certified check into the W-F bank. Each time I asked for and received a receipt. Then the monthly interest payment on the Home Equity Loan was put on auto pay, just like the mortgage. The XXXX statement show the payment and the date paid. It may be an over payment since typically it would shrink as the payments were made. W-F does not send monthly statements so it is unknown where the interest payments are used but W-F accepts the monthly auto payments. When I answer the phone when W-F calls I request that they account for where the payments are going and to investigate who moved {$7500.00} from the Home Equity Loan. The money disappeared and there is no proof that I took the money out by withdrawal or by check. In a two month period of time W-F took the {$7500.00} and over {$14000.00} that I deposited. 

9. Each and every month that I have had an account with W-F there has been a shortage of funds. Since I moved to XXXX I regularly have a minimum balance of {$3000.00}. My spending habits have not changed except for finally purchasing items that I have needed for several years. These items have not come close to emptying the balance. When I left XXXX my credit score was XXXX. It is now in the mid 500s so I am unable to close out my mortgage and Home Equity Loan. 

10 Phone call from XXXX XXXX, Executive Office, Wells-Fargo Bank, XX/XX/XXXX. She informed me she had taken over the account. 

11. This call was the 5th one from the bank in the previous 5 days, including Sunday. This was the first one I answered because I was going to tell the caller that I considered the calls to be harassment and the conversations were always the same and the bank did not make the adjustments that I find to be necessary. I was going to inform the caller that I believe the banks activities to be Financial Abuse of the Eldery which is not legal. This prelude is what I told XXXX. The following is the substance of what I told her. The list is not a complete itemization of my numerous complaints that I have previously expressed. Wells-Fargo says that the conversations are recorded. 

12. I did not request that {$7600.00} be moved into my account. I did approve the transfer from the Home Equity Loan into my checking account. This amount plus the {$6000.00} I did request plus the almost {$14000.00} I deposited in the same months, XXXX and XXXX, total to plus the amount that should have been in my checking account brought the total to {$27000.00}. No where by withdrawals nor checks has the money ever shown up on the statements. My monthly bills, including the home mortgage, never has exceeded {$2000.00}. Use of my debit card did not exceed {$4000.00}. 

13.The interest on the Home Equity Loan appears to be calculated on the entire {$30000.00} which was the approved amount but the bank froze the account at {$15000.00}. 

14. The Home Equity Loan was revised. The bank asserted that the money had been used for a project the bank dreamed up. The bank demanded that I send them a copy of the rehab work that was signed by a licensed contractor. When I took out the loan they did not ask what I was using the money for, nor did I volunteer what its usage was to be. 

15. Once when I took a certified check into the bank to make an interest payment they wouldnt take it because I didnt know the name of the account. They did tell me that the name on the account was a girls name. Finally they relented and took the check. 

16. The majority of the phone calls was to insist that I had not made an interest payment since XXXX of XXXX. They pressured me to pay the full amount to bring the account current. I pressured back by telling them the 1st 3 payments were walked in with certified checks. Three times copies of the checks and receipts were sent in. The bank denied they ever received the copies. After that the interest amount was on an auto pay, which never fluctuated even after {$500.00} was sent in to lower the principle. Because the bank statements were so convoluted it was impossible to tell where the {$500.00} went. This last month the bank would not accept the auto pay and that unleased a whole new set of phone calls. 

17. For a period of time the bank stopped my ability to look at my account online. 

18. The bank sent out statements that the printing was so tiny that it couldnt be read even with a magnifying glass. The ink had run together. The next statement was sent out on a 11x14 paper. It did not show any deposits. 

19. For 10 months the payments were made and for at least 8 months people from the bank would call from 4-5 times a week. No one could tell me where the payment money was being deposited. The phone calls that I did answer the caller would say that I had to make the total monthly amount current, including all the late fees. They would claim no payments were made since XX/XX/XXXX XXXX. I would again repeat that I had sent copies of the receipts to them 3 times and then switched the payment to auto pay from my current bank. The caller would be unable to tell me. Twice I agreed to be put on hold and talk to a supervisor. The supervisor would put me on hold so I could talk to someone in the Executive Office. Each call was hung up by them after the call receiver iterated the amount I owed since XX/XX/XXXX, plus fees. 

20.I think I told XXXX about the non existent branch manager. 
When I first began to recognize that talking to a customer service person was a waste of time because the first one quit after being there only a few months. He was followed by two young men who lasted for less time than the first one. On a day when I was extremely upset after receiving an unreadable statement and driving the 55.3 miles from my garage to the bank I went in and asked to speak to someone in management. I was requested to wait and someone would be identified as having. some ability to handle my complaints. 15 minutes later I was summoned to the phone. The caller gave me his name but declined to spell it for me. He claimed to be the branch manager but did not have time to see me. We set a time and date for the following Tuesday. I arrived 15 minutes early. The greeter came up and asked what she could do for me to help. I explained that I had an appointment with the branch manager. She readily exclaimed that the bank had no branch manger and she had never heard of the name I had given her. I requested she ask to whom she reported. She left and then came back and asked if I was at the right ba 21.The actions of Wells-Fargo was and is Financial Elder Abuse..This was told to several of the callers. There was never any response from caller 5, nor the Supervisor, nor the Executive. 
22. A man called and told me that he was calling for XXXX. He said the resolution was within five days. I never heard from either him nor XXXX  again. 

23. What I had told XXXX was about the numerous harassing calls that never changed. W-F has tapped my phone. They were breaking into conversations I was having with other people. On one memorable occasion when I was talking to my son to wish him a happy birthday. My son said he couldnt hear them. I advised my son not to say anything they could use against him. Often W-F would place their logo across the bottom of my screen. 
24. RELATED COMPLAINTS ; Prior to opening an account with W-F my credit score was XXXX and is now in the 500s due to W-F reporting me to the credit unions for their messing around with my accounts. The callers from the bank treated me like I was a XXXX old XXXX American woman. I am XXXX XXXX. I am attempting to stay in my home. Nursing homes and assisted living are repugnant to me. My art materials, parrot, growing plants, and books take up a lot of space. W-F is taking too much of my time and energy, stressing my energy. 
25. W-F has taken their name off of the caller I.d . They are correct that I will not answer if I know whom is calling. The last Wells-Fargo person I talked to chastised me for not taking a phone call or responding to an email. 
26. On XX/XX/XXXX I answered the phone, but it was not a number I recognized. It was Wells-Fargo. The woman introduced herself as XXXX XXXX of the Executive Branch. She said it was a courtesy call. She talked about the two different cases, and had to explain to me what she was talking about, two different cases. She said that there was the mortgage case and the Home Equity Loan case. She said that the courtesy call was to let me know that resolutions had been extended to XX/XX/XXXX. This is the fourth or fifth time that the bank had called to let me know the resolution had been extended. During the course of these extensions I continued to receive many pages with explanatory notes indicating that it was the final breakdown and all was well. None of the breakdowns reflected previous statements One of the notifications was a single page which was as off the wall and with no explanation for the numbers. 
27. Trying not to be redundant and still provide the backbone of my numerous complaints I hope I have provided enough information for you to continue to help me receive the money that Wells-Fargo took from my account. I realize that the bank will not provide the compensation for the amount of stress they have caused. W-F kept turning me in to the 3 credit agencies that track credit scores. If the bank could also clear up the the negative report so that I can change the W-F accounts to another institution. I So much appreciate your support on this matter. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX Signature Date XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Ca, XXXX XXXX Hm # ( XXXX ) XXXX Cell # ( XXXX ) XXXX

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