Consumer complaint received 2020-09-09
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: TX
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Unable to receive car title or other problem after the loan is paid off

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I paid off my XXXX XXXX auto loan with Wells Fargo. The payment was acknowledged as paid in full, and Wells Fargo guaranteed they would be mailing the paper title to me on XX/XX/XXXX. The loan number is XXXX, and the vehicle VIN is XXXX. 

We had not received the cleared title by XX/XX/XXXX, so my wife called, and Wells Fargo said they had sent the title to a very old address at XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX. I contacted the old address, but they denied having seen it arrive. My wife then asked on XX/XX/XXXX for a lien release letter from Wells Fargo so that we could have Texas issue a new cleared title. Wells Fargo, on the call, stated that it would go out on XX/XX/XXXX. 

I had not received a Lien Release Letter by XX/XX/20, so I called them, and they had no new information, other than to state that the letter was in the mail. I called them back on XX/XX/20 to follow up, spoke to someone in the Auto Title Department, and they said such a letter would take 10 business days. 

I called back on XX/XX/XXXX, still having neither a title or a lien release letter, and I was told that a Lien Release Letter had actually never been issued, but that the original paper title had been returned, and they would be sending it back to us in the mail. Wells Fargo could not guarantee that it would be sent by 1st class mail, but that we should receive it within 10 business days to our current address, XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, TX XXXX. 

I still had not received the paper title as of XX/XX/20, so I called. Wells Fargo could not tell me if the title had actually been mailed, they could not verify any of the above information. When I offered to fly to Wells Fargo HQ in person, present myself and appropriate identification, I was told that this was not allowed.

It has now been 83 calendar days since I fully paid off this auto loan. I am trying to secure a clear title so that I can gift it to my daughter and son-in-law who have a new baby and are badly I need of a working vehicle. I suspect that if I had a car payment that was 83 days late, they would be moving quickly toward collections, while I, as the consumer, who in good faith paid off this vehicle, continue to get the runaround and lots of fraudulent information. 

Since Wells Fargo is headquartered in California, but also has offices I have called in AZ and CO, and is a XXXX  XXXX  I am filing complaints with the Federal Consumer Finance Department and the Business Oversight Departments in each of the respective states above. 

Wells Fargo Auto Loans, XXXX Individuals not known ( not identified during the calls above ), but Auto Loan Department, Supervisor. There are several addresses given as listed below : ( 1 ) Auto Loan Payoff Address is : Wells Fargo Auto, PO Box XXXX, XXXX, CO XXXX ( XXXX ) Wells Fargo Bank ABA # / Routing # : XXXX Beneficiary Name : Wells Fargo Auto Beneficiary Account # : XXXX Physical Address : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, AZ XXXX ( 3 ) Wells Fargo Auto is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, with Wells Fargo Corporate Offices : Wells Fargo XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA 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