Consumer complaint received 2023-09-24
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MT
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage
Sub-issue: Applying for or obtaining a modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or deed-in-lieu

Complaint:
I called Wells Fargo in XX/XX/XXXX to let them know we ( my husband and me ) were going to be late on our mortgage payment that month. I was advised to seek a loan modification. I informed them that we had already tried to get a loan modification through them twice already and both times we were denied. In both previous instances we were told we were denied on the phone for a particular reason then a week later we received letters from Wells Fargo stating we were denied for a completely different reason. The reasons made no sense to us it felt like they were just making up reasons that didn't apply to us. So I wasn't sure it would be approved this time either. The person on the phone told me that they had received more money and that we might be approved this time so I agreed to give all my personal information over the phone so they could check. After about an hour or so of giving this information I was told we were approved. They gave me instructions on what to do and I followed them exactly as I was told. I was given a particular person to work with XXXX XXXX who was in contact with us almost daily. She told us which documents to fax which we did at our local Wells Fargo branch. Then we were told they didn't receive them, or that it was a new month and they needed the current bank statements or the current tax year forms etc. This went on through XXXX, XXXX, XXXX and in XXXX we received a notice on our door that foreclosure proceedings were started. We were shocked and called XXXX to find out why and what were we supposed to do? I had previously asked how much to send them as we were going to be late with our payment and I was told she didn't know because our payments would be lower and that our modification was approved and was at the underwriters and would be ready any day now. She kept telling that over and over. I was having trouble paying our monthly payments because I had been going to their mortgage website to pay and I was paying extra on the principle every month. Then one day the website was not working so I went to Wells Fargo regular web site to pay but wasn't able to add more to the principle. So I went to the local branch where I live to make a payment and they couldn't find our loan information. I waited and waited while they made calls. I couldn't wait for half and hour every time I made a payment so I tried mailing in a check to the address on the monthly statement to a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX California but that worried me because if the mail didn't get to them or they didn't process it it could show it was late or not paid. I got a letter from Wells Fargo stating I mailed it to the wrong address. So I mailed another check and double checked I mailed to the address stated on the statement and again got another letter stating I had mailed it to the wrong address. This was worrying because we felt they were making it hard for us to pay. So in XX/XX/XXXX I was skeptical of Wells Fargo by then but had no idea the lengths they go to to get us into foreclosure until much later. If I would have known this I would have refinanced with another bank or gone to family to refinance so we wouldn't have lost our home and land to foreclosure. But we were constantly told we were already approved and it would come through any day. XXXX told me not to worry about the foreclose notice because that department didn't know that we were in a loan modification and foreclosure takes 4 months to happen and our refinance would come through any day. By XX/XX/XXXX we still didn't have the modification and we sent Wells Fargo a XXXX which we filed in XXXX XXXX recorders office. We didn't receive a proper response. We opened a law suit against Wells Fargo and others to try to stop the foreclosure process. Wells Fargo and others won through a summary judgment. By the end of XX/XX/XXXX we received a phone call from XXXX XXXX that the modification was denied. By then it was too late we were already into the foreclosure process and the sale was dated for that XXXX. We received a letter stating we were denied the modification because Wells Fargo could not get in contact with us. That was a lie. We talked to XXXX almost on a daily basis and others were constantly calling us from Wells Fargo also. We kept asking them to send us a true accounting, not just a monthly statement as we were now realizing Wells Fargo was actually trying to get us into foreclosure not help us. We had asked Wells Fargo over a XXXX times for this information and only received a print out of numbers and codes for about a years worth of payments. This printout looks like there were more than XXXX loan number on this sheet. It has XXXX and a series of numbers with a due date of XXXX. None of these codes were defined so we could know what they represented. This XXXX is not our loan number. Our loan number is also listed on this form but had no due date. Was this an investor loan? We could never get information as Wells Fargo always sent back our requests with the statement that they couldn't communicate with us as it was proprietary information and we would have to subpoena them or that it was in active litigation. They would give me phone numbers to call which led no where. The property was allegedly sold on XX/XX/XXXX but I say allegedly because we were there with other witnesses including a sheriff 's deputy and the woman doing the sale was the process server from the local area. She said she was not the trustee or successor trustee. The successor trustee was not there to perform the sale as required in the deed of trust and Notice of Sale. Wells Fargo was constantly representing to us that they were the lender, and beneficiary of the deed of trust and had the right to foreclose. But during some calls to Wells Fargo I was given the number to call Fannie Mae. When I called that number it was actually Wells Fargo 's number. I looked up our loan on XXXX XXXX XXXX website and found they claimed to own our loan on XX/XX/XXXX. This was in XX/XX/XXXX but the alleged sale of the property took place in XXXX XXXX years later when they claimed they purchased it at the sale. The address of the property was always wrong from the beginning of the loan application process with Wells Fargo and after repeatedly notifying them they never would correct the error. So Wells Fargo and Fannie Mae both claim to have a mortgage on property in a city that our property is not in. So looking up both addresses Fannie Mae had claimed to own the loan to the wrong address not the actual address of our property. On XX/XX/XXXX I again looked up our loan on Fannie Mae 's site and this time it showed they did not own the loan at either addresses. At the alleged trustee 's sale the successor trustee was not present, nor was any buyer. The successor trustee was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. We witnessed no buyer making a bid so we asked the woman conducting the sale what happens next and she said since their was no bids placed the property goes back to the bank. We then find out Fannie Mae claims per the Trustees ' Deed that they were the highest bidder at the sale. According to the Notice of Sale the successor trustee is to sell the property and the bid price must be paid immediately upon the close of bidding at the sale location in cash or cash equivalents ( valid money order, cashier 's check, or certified check ). The successor trustee claims they sold the property on that date to XXXX XXXX. None of this took place in fact. XXXX of XXXX XXXX XXXX attorneys claimed in court that XXXX XXXX placed a credit bid. I looked up the meaning of credit bid and only the original lender can place a credit bid. So we then received a XXXX made out by Wells Fargo Bank in Iowa that claims XXXX XXXX  acquired our property ( with the wrong address ) on XX/XX/XXXX and the market value was {$240000.00}. We sent in an affidavit challenging this form to the IRS. To this day we have never received any monies to reimburse us for the amount we put into that property which was over {$250000.00} XXXX XXXX all the labor as we had built our home and buildings ourselves and were never paid for our labor together making the fair market value well over {$500000.00}. They took both parcels with separate surveys and different addresses with XXXX separate buildings and over XXXX acres of land. They could of easily got what they claimed we owed them by selling just XXXX parcel and giving us the rest. We received a letter from XXXX XXXX XXXX the agent for the successor trustee that the property was sold to Wells Fargo. We received a letter in XX/XX/XXXX from Wells Fargo that their records show that our loan was reviewed for loss mitigation options 7 times from XXXX XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX but not currently. We know of 3 times we applied for modifications not XXXX. Did someone else apply for us? This letter states the last denial was on XXXX XXXX as " we were unable to reach you to discuss your situation. '' That is not true. I contacted XXXX at Wells Fargo Bank on Friday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX concerning the settlement between CFPB and Wells Fargo for unfairly denying borrowers loan modifications. XXXX was unable to provide us with any information at that time but she took down the information we gave her which was our names and the mortgage account number. She said she would provide that information to the research department and get back with us on Monday or Tuesday. We received a call from XXXX on Monday at XXXX from phone number XXXX. She stated that the department which researched our claim found we were not impacted for that claim. I stated how could we not be impacted when Wells Fargos denial of our modification, which we were told was approved and would come through any day now, caused the foreclosure. I asked what criteria was used to make this determination? She stated she would look and came back and said there were no notes and she didn't know and that that was a different department and she was just the messenger. I told her we would be filing a claim with Consumer Financial protection Bureau for this issue. I asked if I would be receiving a letter stating this determination and she said no they would not send me anything in writing. I have many more documents besides the ones attached herein to support my claims if required.

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