Consumer complaint received 2023-06-17
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
we had a hurricane and received a settlement w/ the insurance company thru an attorney of {$57000.00}. Of that money {$32000.00} went to us to fix our roof and rest of the home. the rest went to the tarp company and the attorney. Wells Fargo told us if we were spending under {$40000.00} to fix our home then we would get the checks signed off and given back to us. We gave them the closing statement and the settlement agreement. After {$46000.00} was signed off by wells fargo, wells fargo said they would have to hold the last {$12000.00} check until the house was inspected. We were leary about sending the check to the south carolina location so we consulted with the local office and the branch manager there said we could hold onto the check, and have the inspection. Then when the inspection takes place as long as 75 % of repairs are done wells fargo should release the check to us and endorse it. So we had to pay for our roof on the credit card and had made wells fargo aware because we were only working with {$20000.00} left after we paid out the attorney and the tarp vendor. Wells Fargo even had the audacity to ask how are we going to fund the project since they are not releasing the final funds to us. We had begged them to release the money but they said they consulted with XXXX XXXX and it was XXXX XXXX who would not agree. I called XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX said they don't make individual calls like this. So it seems Wells Fargo is misleading people. So last Monday, XX/XX/XXXX, we had an inspection and the inspector said we are 100 % complete in our repairs. She sent a receipt on XX/XX/XXXX showing she uploaded the report saying it was sent to wells fargo around XXXX. The online system continues to show we are still pending to have an inspection as of yesterday XX/XX/XXXX. I called wells fargo today and was on hold for 10 minutes and then got hung up on. I called back and spoke to a XXXX. I asked the status of our check since our inspection was completed 6 days ago and why was this not updated at the XXXX website where people can check the status. I told her I was going to report this to CFPB. She put me on hold for 10 more minutes and refused to let us know if our inspection has been processed by wells fargo and if we can take the check our local bank to get endorsed so we can pay for our roof on the credit card. She said we have to call back monday to speak to the executive department and we will be assigned a case manager. This process takes up to 10 business days which means we may not get our answer for 10 more days or our check endorsed for 10 more days. I believe Wells Fargo engages in stall tactics and deceptive practices to try to keep the insurance claim the money in the escrow account from customers who have had hurricane damage. Hence I am reporting this as we are suffering distress enough from the hurricane and months of enduring tarps on our home and haggling with the insurance company and now haggling with the mortgage company causing us more severe distress. We pay them on time every month. I was told several months ago by a supervisor at Wells Fargo that if we submitted the closing statement from our Attorney showing the breakdown of attorney fees and what we are getting to fix our home, {$32000.00} we should have no problem but that was not the case. Even with the inspection that was done and the inspector saying we did 100 % repairs we are being stalled to get our last settlement payment freed up by this bank. I know Wells Fargo was recently in the news for bad practices regarding illegally repossessing automobiles hence I feel I need to report this to the CFPB for investigation. They also were reported for a prior hurricane for not releasing escrow funds to customers we recall reading.

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