Consumer complaint received 2023-02-13
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: GA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
I am XXXX XXXX years old with both physical and mental XXXX. I have lived at my address for XXXX XXXX years and my mortgage is with Wells Fargo Bank. With only one year left on my mortgage loan, I decided to apply for a home improvement loan. On XX/XX/2022 I applied for this loan and was referred to mortgage consultant XXXX XXXX. 
I informed XXXX XXXX that I wanted to apply for a mortgage loan for home improvement. I informed him that I wanted to borrow XXXX XXXX dollars. He stated after looking at your file I recommend that you borrow far more than XXXX XXXX dollars. He stated that XXXX XXXX XXXX would be better since your home is almost paid for. I immediately informed him that my XXXX XXXX dollar loan request was directly based on my ability to repay the loan because I am a senior on a fixed income. He then began pressuring me to borrow more than I knew that I could afford to pay back. He went down from XXXX XXXX XXXX to XXXX XXXX XXXX dollars which I also refused along with the XXXX XXXX dollar amount that he also tried to push on me later in the conversation. 
At that point I reminded him that I am a senior citizen with a physical and mental handicap. I told him that I feel extremely pressured, anxious and overwhelmed by his tactic. I then told him that I would go up to XXXX XXXX dollars if he would stop harassing me. XXXX XXXX reluctantly said that he would process my loan at XXXX XXXX. He then stated that I would have to go through an application process to get the loan. 
During the application process XXXX XXXX asked me how much my house was worth. I stated about XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX dollars. He asked if that was the last appraisal and I informed him that the last appraisal for my property was about XXXX years ago. I informed him that they offered me one point XXXX XXXX because they wanted to put a XXXX store on my property. I clearly explained that that amount was not an appraisal for my house but for my property because I live on almost six acres. I also clearly explained again that the offer was about XXXX years ago and not related to this loan. After going through the application process with XXXX XXXX I felt horrible because his tactics were unbearable for me. 
Consequently, I decided to file a complaint for harassment of an elderly XXXX person, discrimination and unwarranted predatory lending tactics against XXXX XXXX. I received an acknowledgment of my complaint letter on XX/XX/2022. My complaint was sent to Case XXXX XXXX XXXX for review. I requested any and all documents, applications and phone recording be reviewed before she come to a conclusion. I then restated my property value at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX because at that point I didnt trust XXXX XXXX XXXX On XX/XX/2022 I received a response from Case XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
Case XXXX XXXX XXXX stated that she completed her investigation on my complaint of paying an upfront loan application fee. She also put in writing that We confirmed with your mortgage consultant that the higher loan amount was recommended in an effort to ensure you did not have to pay any closing cost out of pocket. I immediately called and informed her that my complaint was about harassment of an elderly disabled person, discrimination and unwarranted predatory lending tactics. I also informed her that I never discussed out of pocket closing cost with XXXX XXXX. She informed me that as per the banks policies, another consultant would have to investigate my complaint now because she miss understood my original complaint. 
On XX/XX/2022 I received another Acknowledgment of complaint for account number XXXX. At that point I was not told who would be handling my complaint since Case XXXX XXXX XXXX failed to address any of my complaints. On XX/XX/2022 I received a letter form Case XXXX XXXX XXXX asking for more time to complete his investigation. This was the first time I had heard from him regarding my complaint so I was a little confused. He asked that I wait until XX/XX/2022 for his response. In The mean time, I filed another complaint because XXXX XXXX was allowed to continue harassing my by phone about completing the loan application after I filed several complaints against him. At this late date I was informed Case XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX of her assistants that my loan application XXXX be problematic because my house is appraised at XXXX point XXXX XXXX. I then informed her and her assistant that I thoroughly explained to XXXX XXXX that my house is appraised for XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX dollars but about XXXX years ago I had an offer for XXXX point XXXX XXXX when they were considering putting a XXXX XXXX here. Subsequently I filed another complaint for retaliation because XXXX XXXX put XXXX point XXXX XXXX on my application as my home appraisal in retaliation for filing a complaint against him. 
Of course I didnt get the loan and on XX/XX/2022 I received a final resolution letter basically stating that there was nothing wrong with the loan process or the way I was treated during this ordeal. They also said that it is against their policies to give me any and all documents, correspondence between staff and phone recordings that I requested. 
They did however state In your inquiry you wanted copies of all documents and call recordings including policies and procedures related to the case per the XXXX of XXXX XXXX ( FOIA ). You also requested policies on XXXX. 
We recognize that you requested a copy of the recordings ; we determined this is unduly burdensome to provide in the requested format. For that reason we are unable to provide the recorded calls you requested. We were able to review the calls and provide you with a summary of the conversations. I read their summary of the calls and did not recognize most of the conversations they claim were recorded. The conversations that I did recognize were grossly manipulated and changed to fit their conclusion that they loan process was appropriate in every way. It stated that XXXX XXXX was also appropriate and proceeded as per their policies with no predatory lending tactics noticed.

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