Consumer complaint received 2020-03-24
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Financial Institution : Wells Fargo Issue : Removal of PMI. 
Specific issues 1. Wells Fargo and/or its associates undervalued the property ; by using non-equivalent, and/or using worst case comparable, so ensure valuation would not support reaching 80 % LTV. 
2. Wells Fargo agent being unreachable and unresponsive, which caused me to miss the deadline to file a complaint/clarification. Tried to contact the agent several time, she did not return calls nor emails. She claims nt having the appropriate contact information, but she has previously contacted me. 
3. Wells Fargo is asking me to do another appraisal, at my own expenses, when I missed the window to submit a complaint b/c of Wells Fargo not being responsive. 
4. Wells Fargo is requesting another appraisal, w/o certainty of being a fair, unbiased appraisal. 
5. Appraisal will take longer, I will keep paying PMI. 

Explanation I closed on my property on XX/XX/XXXX ( not the first property and mortgage I have ). During the lending disclosure, I was again educated on how/when PMI could be removed ( when the outstanding mortgage balance would reach 80 % LTV ). 
After closing, I did significant improvements to my new home. I invested approximately $ 80K ( new wood floors, new master bathroom, new walk-in closet for master bathroom, new half bathroom, updated kitchen, resurfacing and painting ). Called Wells Fargo, they suggested to perform an evaluation, and provided me further instructions. I went ahead and paid wells Fargo for the evaluation ; they sent one of their contracted appraisers, walked through the house, took pictures, and asked specific information on the renovations that had been done. At the end of the walk through, he provided his expert opinion, and stated that he did not anticipate any issues in reaching the valuation needed I did not disclose the amount, but he provided me with a ball park estimate. Walk through was in XX/XX/XXXX, at that time, house need to be valued at approx. $ 515K for the PMI to be removed ; he shared an estimate of $ 540K. In addition, XXXX County Appraisal District appraised the property at $ XXXX. XXXX County Appraisal District valuations tend to be lower than the market value. 
I received their appraisal, and noticed lower price per sqf than the other properties, even though : 1. Appraisal had a couple of properties that were flooded during Harvey, sold at a higher price per square feet that mine. Properties that flooded during Hurricane Harvey sold at a discount with respect to similar properties that did not flooded. My property did not flood, and it is outside of the 100 years flood map. 
2. Compared properties that did not flood, did not undergo same level of renovations as mine. 
3. However, all had higher prices per qsf than mine. 
I contacted the person that came to do get the information appraisal ; he stated that he did not understand what happened, but that the issue was out of his hands, and needed to contact Wells Fargo, to clarify. 
I contacted Wells Fargo - XXXX XXXX Customer Contact Email Servicing Wells Fargo Home Mortgage XXXX, Extension : XXXX Expressed my concern, she mentioned she will investigate and contact me back we agreed on a date and time to contact back She didnt do. I tried to contact her several time, left vmails and a couple of emails, with no response. 
Eventually, I contacted the mortgage broker at Wells Fargo, who asked me to contact back their support line ( he raised the issue internally, but stated this was with a different department ). I received a call from one of their relationship manager, asking if I was interested in re-financing. I brough the issue to him, he offered help, but did not have any further response. 
Finally, I reached out to their customer support line, and after explaining and elevating the issue, he mentioned that I needed to submit for another appraisal, because I missed the opportunity to submit appeal. I explained to him that their customer support had not being responsive could not get a response or call from them, and therefore, deadline passed. I also explained to him the situation about the valuation and specifically mentioned that their valuation was way lower than HCAD which is extremely unusual. 
I received on XX/XX/XXXX, explaining how I could get rid of the PMI. Curiously enough, they have done what Automatic Valuation Model ( AVM ), and in there, they mention that my home is valued at approx. $ 545K close to XXXX. However, they stated the following, as criteria to remove PMI : 1.  Wait for the PMI to be removed when it reaches schedule termination date 2. Use the original value of the property, and may payments, until LTV reaches 80 % or 3. Order a new appraisal, and show significant improvements that increases the value of the property ( similar to previous ). 
Here is what is really troubling : 1. They have gone through the process to perform an AVM, but chose to disregard a value that is significantly higher, so PMI can be removed, and 2. They insist to do a new assessment, but no difference in the process, and no certainty that it will be an unbiased, 3rd party, fair assessment. 
I need your support in trying to move forward, in a way that my pledge for a fair assessment and evaluation, that will enable me to remove PMI from my home mortgage. 
Thanks

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 monetary relief