Consumer complaint received 2017-08-07
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
My wife and I moved into our new house XXXX of 2016, the house was brand new and we paid {$400000.00} for the house and put 5 % down because we knew we were going to need additional cash for things such as landscaping painting the interior etc. that need to be completed when you move into a new house. After about 10 months of being in our house, more houses on our side of the street ( which backs to a golf course ) were completed and sold. The houses sold anywhere from {$470000.00} to {$580000.00}. I reached out to Wells Fargo to see what my options were in removing our primary mortgage insurance ( PMI ) and they told us about a Broker 's Price Opinion ( BPO ) that could be completed for {$200.00}, and if a realtor came out and thought our house could be listed for what would equate to 75 % loan to value ( LTV ) we could have our PMI eliminated, this number for us would have been {$500000.00}. We had the broker come out and look at the house and put a report together with different " comps '' that had recently sold, my wife and I thought there would be no problem with us coming in at {$500000.00} because of the houses that had been sold recently not having completed backyards and our house was larger than all but 1. We were shocked when the report came in at {$490000.00} and filled out a dispute form because the comps that were used in the report, while being brand new homes, did not back to the golf course. In the dispute we used three homes that sold, within 6 houses of us all backing to the golf course and all selling for over {$500000.00} without completed landscaping. In the report I used total square footage for the house 's instead of gross living area ( GLA ) and the initial dispute was rejected because total square footage was the incorrect  measurement. I then resubmitted the dispute form with the GLA numbers and again had the dispute denied because the comps that I was using were new construction. Wells Fargo is not looking into the matter again and is telling us we will not have the matter reviewed any further. My concern is that Wells Fargo is using this BPO as a method for them to collect and additional {$200.00} of revenue without having any intention of actually eliminating their clients PMI. The representatives that I have spoken with understand my frustration and do not know why we can not look into the matter further and get another review done. They can not give me a reason why the broker can use new builds as comps but I can not, nor why none of the houses that were used as comps back to a golf course in the brokers report. While I know XXXX is not always the most reliable source, currently XXXX has our estimate at {$580000.00}. I would like to see the statistics on how many BPO 's have been completed and how many have resulted in elimination of PMI, where I stand, this is another black mark on Wells Fargo and further evidence that they will do whatever they need to to generate revenue with total disregard for their clients.

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