Consumer complaint received 2022-03-25
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
Wells Fargo Bank, my core bank of fourteen ( 14 ) years has declined my mortgage refinance without a legitimate reason or rationale. I informed the Mortgage Intake Representative, XXXX XXXX, about my successfully confirmed and closed XXXX  XXXX, BEFORE I agreed to apply to avoid a two-year hard inquiry. In addition, I shared that in XXXX four ( 4 ) years ago, I filed a one-off voluntary motion requiring the XXXX XXXX be re-opened for the motion to be heard and it was quickly closed within a matter of a month or so. 

This is the procedure, if a case is closed, you have to re-open the case to have the motion heard- this was about a creditor, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, that was not in compliance with the case. This was the entity, primary cause of the XXXX  XXXX - regarding an approved property improvement, this was all disclosed in the Explanation Letter the bank required I submit. 

So, I was transparent and shared all of these issues upfront, seeking direction, before my credit was going to be ran, and subjecting my credit history to a two-year hard inquiry. Hard inquiries, while non-monetary, damage credit reports and quickly degrade a XXXX score- it's a known fact. So, this was my primary concern, and I did everything to avoid a " wasted '' inquiry. 

Wells Fargo Bank knew what the issues were, due to my honest and upfront disclosures, knew of my concern as primary considerations BEFORE applying for the mortgage refinance. As a result, the Intake Representative sought direction from the Underwriter, and sharing my full disclosure around the XXXX XXXXXXXX, never-the-less, encouraged her to encourage me to apply, against my expressed trepidation. 

Yet I was unceremoniously declined without discussion, or any right to rebuttal, for the exact reason I tried everything to avoid, the XXXX XXXX. Most distressing, they are using the XXXX Motion date as the actual case closure date. This can not be tolerated. This is inaccurate and must be rejected by any and all underwriting procedures and policy that are used to determine one 's credit worthiness. It's prejudicial, irrational, irrelevant to my ability and willingness to pay this loan request - and flat out, unfair. 

Most insulting is, the Intake Representative said the Underwriter advises to re-apply in XXXX, this would clear the four-year hurdle, it is disingenuous at best, nothing will change in four months, not my credit, my income, my excellent credit history. This is an excuse ; it's mean and abusive. 

Wells Fargo KNEW they were not going to approve the loan - their policy was long established before I applied and they failed to share it with me, yet allowed me to spend numerous weeks, complying with multiple document requests, incurring a two-year hard inquiry - all could have been easily avoided by simply stating their policy upfront which I directly inquired about. A XXXX XXXX is a reorganization, not a liquidation, mine was a causation case. They are expensive and rigorous to endure and only a minority get confirmed. It appears, they have used my transparency against me. 

There is no reason to decline this refinance for {$380000.00} : -No cash out needed -Request is only to reduce my interest rate -They sent me two rate lock agreements 4.3 %, 3.9 % ; currently at 6 % interest only. 
- My income is high - Six figures - lucrative consulting and healthy rental income streams over the years, all deposited with WFB. 
-Completed a successful Wells Fargo Bank consulting engagement in XXXX. 
- Adjusted Gross Income XXXX {$370000.00} - No Dependencies -Low Debt ( one XXXX card, one car payment, one mortgage ) all other accounts have zero balance with exceptional payment history- very low 13 % utilization across all credit accounts. 
- Receive Social Security Income - {$140000.00} cash in bank -WFB XXXX XXXX XXXX utilization 30 % perfectly paid - $ $ $ Millions in aggregated cash deposit history concentrating in personal and business accounts,100 % of all income sources deposited at WFB exclusively over 14 years -Property value is well over {>= $1,000,000} -Equity is substantial - loan to value extremely low -Excellent Credit XXXX XXXX as WFB reports -Excellent client history with WFB for 14 years -Have enjoying a successful Financial Services career spanning decades -Excellent mortgage history across three homes that I owned at one time ( sold XXXX in XXXX, XXXX as regular sales, paid-as-agreed ) -A successful XXXX XXXX XXXX - opened 10 years ago, closed in XXXX - fully confirmed, no adverse issues. 
XXXX is the only credit reporting entity that has ever shown the XXXX  XXXX, and they confirm it will come off in XXXX - no other details are included in the Credit Report, therefore, I didn't need to mention the XXXX motion. 

Wells Fargo has denied and dismissed all of my strong positive financial attributes. As a XXXX single female, could it be age, gender? 

They conveniently asked me to complete a survey, that encourages an applicant to offer a high favorable score, early in the loan processing process before the applicant knows the negative covert activity the bank will pursue. This survey only boosts their favorables but it is premature- they need to offer a survey AFTER the loan approval/declination process is complete. Further, they close the Application Process WHILE the loan is in processing, to reduce the number of days a loan request is processing. First, they stopped the timeline progress needle, and I was told that was because underwriting has it. Which makes no sense. Then, they remove the application from the process and say that is expected and others are reviewing the loan request. Then completely removed my submission from their loan portal before informing me that I was going to be declined. This is fishy- a loan request process takes 20 to 45 days- they are clearly trying to show manufactured favorable processing timelines. 

A false sense of security was created during my application process. Well Fargo never intended to provide me a refinance, to help me get into a conforming loan, reduce my interest expense, a facility I more than qualify for. With Wells long established corruption history, they are in no position to judge my character or reputation.

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