Consumer complaint received 2023-05-03
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Getting a credit card
Sub-issue: Card opened as result of identity theft or fraud

Complaint:
My husband died last year. I found out that he co-signed for a card in my name. I sent Wells Fargo information proving my ex-husband and I lived at separate addresses at the time he did this and a cash out mortgage 2 years later showing it wasnt on my credit report to pay off at the closing. they are still saying it isnt fraud bc he used our joint checking account to pay the payment like he did for all his debt and bc I own the property where the merchandise was installed. I didnt even live at the property at the time of installation which I also proved. Plus, This is not a secured debt. I proved to Wells Fargo that I didnt know about the debt until after my exhusbands death. I due diligently sent them solid proof of the two different residences and even my digital signature which was not used to sign the contract for the card. My partial name typed out was used to sign the document. They are not using the definition of fraud to determine my case. They are just going by the fact that the merchandise increases the value of my property. Which it does not bc my property is only valued for the land not the building per the tax records. I actually have a negative against the house on my taxes records bc the building is devalued by the tax dept. I can provide proof if they would like the tax statement on my home. I have been contacting Wells Fargo since last year of this issue. It has effected my credit score and cost me thousands of dollars for my husband to have used my information to gain this card. Ive also offered to provide proof that we had no debt in 2019 together not even my mortgage or any debt there after. And Wells Fargo doesnt care about the facts. Ive done everything theyve asked of me only to be denied my fraud claim for the same unproven reasons even after supervisor told me to provide proof I lived at a separate address. No check is signed by me and the first correspondence they had with me about this debt was a month after my husbands death when I was contacting all his creditors about his death and making payments until his estate was set up. They didnt even have my telephone number or email Or employment information until I started fighting with them. They only had my social security number and a value of my income. I even proved my husband lied on the application about his income. He has no income at the time and it states he has XXXX XXXX month. And they only have his email address that I didnt even know he had until they sent me a copy of the digitally signed contract he signed through his email. I was forced to settle this debt to keep it from further ruining my debt bc unlike what I was told by the people at Wells Fargo- they were reporting late payments against me. This is a shady company that does shady business practices. I was also told that a spouse can sign a joint agreement on behalf of the other spouse. Im not sure how that is even legal.

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