Consumer complaint received 2017-01-19
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Credit decision / Underwriting

Complaint:
My complaint is against Wells Fargo Bank ( WFB ). 
I applied for a refinance of my 1st. mortgage which is held by Wells Fargo and 2nd mortgage held by XXXX to combine both loans into one primary loan at a lower interest rate. 
I applied for the loan on XXXX/XXXX/2016. I have been a customer of WFB for 15+ years and never been late on a mortgage payment. My credit score is XXXX. I was asked to supply several pieces of documentation i.e. bank statements, XXXX and IRA statements, XXXX and pay stubs. All that documentation was supplied to WFB within 24 hours of applying for the loan. I then paid close to {$700.00} to have my house appraised. The amount being refinanced was going to be about $ XXXX. My 1st mortgage balance is approx. $ XXXX and 2nd with XXXX is around $ XXXX. The home was appraised a couple days later after the application date for $ XXXX. I have about $ XXXX of equity. So between the $ XXXX I have in savings, $ XXXX in my XXXX and IRA and the $ XXXX of home equity, my net worth is around $ XXXX. 
I was sent an approval letter within a few days after I applied. WFB, did an employment verification on me and everything was good to go. I asked when we could close on the loan as soon as I got the loan commitment letter and I was told that due to the holidays I may have to wait due to " lack of resources ''. The property I was refinancing is my home in XXXX. I am presently living in XXXX, so WFB would have to coordinate with someone in my area to close the loan. I had to relocate to XXXX. due to work, so for the past 5 years have had tenets that have been renting the home. Every month I am in the negative about $ XXXX between what I am charging for rent and what the 1st and 2nd mortgage are costing me. Doing this refinance would actually put me into a positive cash flow of over {$500.00} each month. Being XXXX years old, I was planning on moving back into my home in XXXX when I retired and that {$500.00} a month over a period of 5 years would add up to $ XXXX I could put into my retirement fund. Anyway I was already to go as far as closing the loan. I go on a cruise and while I am on my cruise, the company I work for eliminated my job along with XXXX other employees due to client not renewing a contract. When I return from the cruise I notified WFB what happened and they then tell me they will deny the loan. I explained to them the company had just cut me a $ XXXX severance and I would be collecting {$750.00} a week unemployment and there was more then enough money just between my savings, checking, XXXX and IRA accounts to cover the amount being refinanced, not to mention the $ XXXX in home equity. The underwriter told me " we do n't consider unemployment income '' The underwriter wanted me to start drawing money out of my XXXX to show income. I explained that makes no sense since I have $ XXXX in cash and why would I want to pull money out of my XXXX and pay taxes on that money when I do n't need to. Needless to say dealing rationalizing with WFB is like talking to a wall. It would be in their best interest to honor the loan. Remember, I have PERFECT credit. The ONLY bills I have are the 1st. and 2nd. mortgage and I owe about $ XXXX on my car and THAT 'S IT! I have had the same tenants in the home for 5+ years, they are never late on their payments. Finally if worse came to worse, I could always sell the home which I do n't want to do as I would be able to live there comfortably when I retire living on SSI and my retirement. I argued the fact that because they could n't close quicker, they would not have known that my job was eliminated. PLUS they erased the entire timeline from their loan processing site to cover their butts, after I told them I was going to consult an attorney about all this. That site showed every step of the loan and when documents were received.

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