Consumer complaint received 2018-06-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: VA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Each Month Wells Fargo as required by Federal Law sends out a monthly mortgage billing statement which must include the current status of the account, amount due for billing cycle, the payment terms and the due date. These are required by Federal Law. Further, it is also not legal to send a monthly billing statement which states the terms of billing and repayment but privately apply another set of term. You can not legally use a double standard for billing. The monthly mortgage billing statement states the terms of the payment. In the case of Wells Fargo, my monthly mortgage billing statement says late fee may apply after the XXXX of the month.

This is what I am experiencing from Wells Fargo. The Monthly Mortgage statements clearly state the after the XXXX of each month a late fee of {$34.00} may apply. Attached you will find a copy of a Wells Fargo Monthly Mortgage billing showing the late fee terms, and you will find a Customer Account Activity Statement, provided to me by Wells Fargo, which covers the periods between the requested period XX/XX/XXXX andXX/XX/XXXX.

As a result I pay my mortgage bill on or before the XXXX of each month to avoid the {$34.00} late fee. In addition I use the ACH bank wire transfer to assure that the amount is received on or before the XXXX. You will also find Banking images that confirm that Wells Fargo Received payment on or before the XXXX of each month during the periodsXX/XX/XXXX-XX/XX/XXXX which complies with the monthly billing statement, and therefore should not be billed for any late charges. There is one exception, where payment was received on the XXXX, but you will also find a cancelled check image showing the late fee for that month was paid the same month.

In addition to the double standard for billing late fees, Wells Fargo sends me Mortgage statements for the next month, before the XXXX of the previous month, and appears to add the previous months Mortgage due with the next months mortgage due statement without any itemization of what that amount is. I say appear because the mortgage billing statement arbitrarily quotes an amount without itemizing. This adds confusion about what is actually due, and accuracy.

As a customer of the Veteran Administration Loan, it appears that one of the problems with the Veterans Administration allowing Wells Fargo to service their loans is that Wells uses its liberty as a cloak of malicious when using the escrow and monthly billing statements as a revenue generation process and not as a method to apply a fee for work that may be needed to update payment data. Wells Fargo appears to be misapplying late fees, after which they liquidate monthly payments and distribute funds to parts unknown. I say parts unknown because there is no itemization in their unapplied funds account that is available in the Monthly Mortgage pay statement nor is it trackable.

I understand that Wells Fargo has been fined XXXX XXXX  dollars this year for a host of abuses. It is also documented that there are other complaints and patterns of misuses. During the time Leading up to its fines for abuse Wells Fargo denied its activities. As a customer of the VA Administration Loan program, I find it also difficult to speak with Wells Fargo due to their denials and out right dishonest, which is why I am contacting the Consumer financial Protection agency for help with these offenses. I have more than 1 VA loan but its only with Wells Fargo do I experience the falsification of late payments, and the obscuring of monthly billing statements.

Here are other cases in point of why it is difficult to speak with and resolve issues due to their dishonesty. I recently asked Wells Fargo to show which payments were paid after the XXXX   which would be late according to the terms of the Monthly Statement. I also asked to show what fees what fees were being applied to those dates. You will find an attached copy of their response. You will also find the copy of my bank imaging showing the electronic payment received date which directly contradicts what Wells Fargo is billing me for. This also supports my concern that Wells Fargo is creating false late fees as a method to generate income profits at the expense of the VA Loan recipient.

When I asked what months was a late fee applied for payments after the XXXX of the months XX/XX/XXXX XX/XX/XXXX in accordance with the terms indicated on the monthly mortgage billing statement this was they replied on XX/XX/XXXX with Document Customer Account Activity Statement sub titled activity fromXX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX( See attachments ) : Transaction Date XX/XX/XXXX Late Charge XXXX Transaction Date XX/XX/XXXX Late Charge XXXX  Transaction Date XX/XX/XXXX Late Charge XXXX Transaction Date XX/XX/XXXX Late Charge XXXX Total accordingly to this provided information 4 x XXXX = XXXX   However if you will notice in the same statement at the top of the Wells Fargo Document Customer Account Activity Statement sub titled activity from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX You will notice they are showing outstanding fees of XXXX This again supports that Wells is falsifying the billing and using it to generate revenue. Additionally, With the exception of XX/XX/XXXX all payments were made on or before the XXXX. In that solitary case I issued a check which Wells cashed on XX/XX/XXXX for the amount of XXXX -see bank image check # XXXX XXXX  cent more than the late fee.

The monthly Mortgage billing statement says late Fees may apply After the XXXX not on or before the XXXX. In 2 of the 4 referenced above Wells is charging a transaction fee on XXXX of the Month. But to further illustrate the false data please review the attached Bank image document which shows the date Wells actually received the money via bank electronic transferred ( circled ). On that list you will find that Wells received payments on : XX/XX/XXXX andXX/XX/XXXX.

So then the honest record should show the following : Received XX/XX/XXXX - on or before the XXXX not after, no late charges Received XX/XX/XXXX - Late Charge XXXX paid with check # XXXX   on the XXXX  ofXX/XX/XXXX Received XX/XX/XXXX - on or before the XXXX not after, no late charges Received XX/XX/XXXX on or before the XXXX not after, no late charges

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