Consumer complaint received 2021-09-21
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan
Sub-product: Personal line of credit
Issue: Credit limit changed

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX while living in XXXX  I was given a line of credit attached to my checking account with Wells Fargo in the amount of {$15000.00}. Over the years I have used it now and then always paying payments on time. 
I moved to XXXX  approx. 4 years ago. I had some accounts needing to be transferred to Wells Fargo. My personal banker pointed out the Line of Credit I had with a XXXX balance at that time and advised me to never let the account close. That Wells Fargo will never offer anything like them again. 
In XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from Wells Fargo stating in order to keep this LOC open I would need to keep a minimum of {$1400.00} in account. I Spoke to my banker. He could not advise me but stressed I would never have a LOC like this again. So I transferred the {$1400.00} from the LOC and paid interest on this amount from that point on. 
In XXXX of XXXX I had been unemployed for all most 3 years. My family of XXXX, myself and XXXX XXXX  could no longer keep up with all their commitments and we had to have another vehicle. I used this LOC and took out {$13000.00} with the goal of having this paid off within 6 months. 
XX/XX/XXXX I received notification that Wells Fargo was closing this account and the loan needed to be paid off in full by XX/XX/XXXX. 
Unemployed with no way to pay this back I was forced to sell a small inheritance from my grandfather that consisted of oil mineral rights. Because I needed the funds immediately I was unable to take the time to negotiate a price I felt they were worth and settled for what I could get at that moment. In addition I had to sell them all which was more money than the loan, but the company would not buy them from me unless I sold them all. In doing this I not only lost an inheritance that should have been passed down to my children but also lost the monthly income I had been receiving on these shares since the date in which I inherited them. 
At this point I viewed this as just something I had to do and sadly tried to forget the whole thing yet knowing losing this line of credit would effect my credit score poorly. 

But then on XX/XX/XXXX I receive a letter from Wells Fargo stating they had changed their minds and my LOC would stay open with the same terms as before. It took a few minutes for it to sink in that their initial notification forcing me to sell the mineral rights and lose my income was not being enforced and although I had my LOC back there was no way this could make up for my having to sell this inheritance that I clearly could in no way get back. The income was gone when it didn't have to be and the mineral rights that should have been left to my children were gone forever.

I believe Wells Fargo was advised to keep these LOC 's open only after all the Press and complaints from customers that they would close their accounts and take their money elsewhere became an issue. 
In addition I can only imagine the amount of cash Wells Fargo brought in from all the customers like myself who followed their instructions to pay off their LOC 's and did. Including now leaving these accounts open giving Wells Fargo the opportunity to make even more money off its customers with now empty LOC 's to run up again.

I imagine I am not the only one who was forced to go to great lengths to pay off these line of credits. I believe Wells Fargo did this all in bad faith and owes me some kind of restitution after choosing to leave these accounts open. 

I filed a formal complaint with Wells Fargo on XXXX. I then received a letter asking for 10 days to come up with a solution. On XXXX I received a letter stating that they acknowledged my concerns and appreciated the chance to respond. Then the remaining letter was nothing more than telling me the LOC is still open for me to use, that they appreciate my business and apologize for any confusion that all this may have cause. That was it! The person who wrote this letter included her number for me to call her back if I had any other questions or concerns. As of date I have called twice, left voice messages referencing the complaint number and have had no one return my calls.

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