Consumer complaint received 2018-02-02
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: PA
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the CFPB, and Wells Fargo Audit Committee Chair ; Below I have provided some background, along with detailed summaries of my issue with Wells Fargo. I believe I need further support to get this satisfactorily resolved. I have also mailed this letter to the attention to the Audit Committee chairbecause throughout this process, I find myself wondering, Where is Internal Audit?  Shouldnt they be looking for these types of issues with systems, policies and procedures? 

Background Summary : My husband has been in charge of paying our mortgage for the past several years. It came to my attention in recent weeks that he had both missed a payment, and made numerous late payments leading to significant late fees ( upwards of three thousand dollars ). Upon realizing this, I created / updated my Wells Fargo online profile and reviewed the past several years of statements only to learn that my husband had taken my contact information off the account despite my status as a co-borrower ( so I was never called or otherwise notified when a payment was missed or late over the past several years ). I am now personally trying to get things current and make things right. This memo details the frustration and unreasonable hurdles Wells Fargo created for me in making my payment for XX/XX/XXXX ( Reg Z ). It also details how Wells Fargo put unreasonable limitations on a deposit I made to their branch on XX/XX/XXXX ( intended to pay my mortgage ) to my Preferred Checking account of {$3500.00} ( Reg D ).

Summary of Complaints : Wells Fargo is limiting access to a {$3500.00} deposit I made on XX/XX/XXXX, which based on their receipt said would be available on XX/XX/XXXX, and I have confirmed the funds have left my XXXX XXXX   account ( Wells Fargo representatives also confirmed repeatedly that it had arrived ). 
Wells Fargo is imposing unreasonable and unfair hurdles on me being able to pay my mortgage by limiting the access to my deposited funds. 
Wells Fargo allowed my husband to remove all of my contact information from our joint account without any sort of reach out or contact with me as the co-borroweradmittedly, this is due to my husbands wrongdoing, but nonetheless a lackluster Wells Fargo policy allowed him to do this, and changes to that policy could yield better results for everyone including the Bank. 
Wells Fargo is not treating my complaint with the level of urgency it deserves. 

Detailed Summary of Issues with Wells Fargo ( chronological with dates ) : My mortgage was in jeopardy of being past due at the end of XX/XX/XXXX. I found this out only because I happened to run a credit report. I updated my online profile information on approximately XX/XX/XXXX, so that I would receive communications about my mortgage. I received a call from the Wells Fargo collections department around XX/XX/XXXX ( since my information was now included ), and I gave background on what was happening, and asked about assuming the mortgage myself if it came to that. I also indicated that I intended to make the next payment soon once I was able to free up funds. 

I freed up funds from my XXXX accounts, and created a Wells Fargo Preferred Checking account online with a {$500.00} initial deposit ( which as of the date of this memo, was not deposited, and I have not received any explanation as to whyalthough I have asked and filed a complaint ). Subsequently on XX/XX/XXXX, I made a deposit by check from XXXX of {$3500.00} at the XXXX PA branch. Based on the receipt I received from XXXX my teller, that deposit should have been available on XX/XX/XXXX, and I indicated to XXXX and her supervisor that I intended to use it to pay the mortgage. 

I tried to pay my mortgage with my Wells Fargo Bank account on XX/XX/XXXX, and was told by their phone representatives that for some reason this is not possible. Ive confirmed there is enough money in the account ( {$3500.00} ) to pay the mortgage which is approx. {$3400.00} ( the mortgage representative did the same confirmation ), however I am being told by Wells Fargo representatives that I am not able to access my own money for payment. Impeding access to my hard earned money sitting in an account at their Bank is unacceptable, and the reason for this complaint. As Ive indicated, not being able to make this payment on XX/XX/XXXX impacted the payment status of my mortgage, which I was trying to bring current with this very payment ( in terms of principle payments ). I further confirmed that these funds have been removed from my XXXX XXXX  Account already. 

In my humble opinion, in addition to the clearly unfair nature of this practice ; this also appears to be in violation of REG D, and potentially REG Z. I hope you will take the time to investigate these unfair practices further. I also hope you take the time to listen to my phone call to Wells Fargo on XX/XX/XXXX at approximately XXXX, which lasted approximately 2 hours while they first explained to me that I could not actually have access to my money, and then actually tried to help me by pulling on every customer service agent under the sun ( after I indicated I would be filing a complaint with the CFPB, and that I had already filed  one with Wells Fargo online while I waited ). The customer service agents I spoke to were XXXX, and then XXXX XXXX ( XXXX supervisor ) in the Mortgage division, and then XXXX in the Deposit accounts division ; and then I was forwarded to some kind of customer care team. The customer care agent was XXXX, he was not helpful. Ultimately after 2+ hours on the phone, the customer care team gave up on trying to pay my mortgage, and I gave up on trying to pay my mortgageI am angry, and I think this is unfair. The irony is that each agent joining my phone call immediately assumed ( very rationally ) that oh this should be an easy transaction only to find out, they were for some reason unable to process it. 
I did also file a complaint with Wells Fargo through their online complaint system requesting a phone call to discuss this further. In addition, the customer representatives said that they would forward this issue to the executive response teambut the bottom line for me is that my mortgage payment is now late, and my loan has not been brought current as I had hoped. I also wonder how many people Wells Fargo is submitting to these unfair practices. 

Detailed Summary of Wells Fargos ( lackluster ) response to my complaint to date : At the end of my XX/XX/XXXX call, XXXX XXXX ( mortgage division supervisor ) indicated that he would help drive accountability around my issue ( because that is my problem with Wells Fargos culture, they all want to pass the buck, and there is no accountability as demonstrated by the sheer number of people I am interacting with to make a mortgage payment ). He gave me his direct line phone number and told me when he would be in the office the next day. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, I called XXXX XXXX 3 times, leaving 2 messages and never heard a response back. This was over the course of a full day, his voicemail indicated he was in the office, so I can only deduce I was being ignored. As a result, I called one of the Wells Fargo XXXX numbers. I reached a customer representative, indicated I wanted to make a paymentand like every other representative who heard my money was sitting in a Wells Fargo Preferred checking account, he said, oh that should be easy, and only take a couple minutes. Famous last words. 
He was unable to process the payment, and forwarded my call to the XXXX XXXX, a member of the executive response team. XXXX indicated repeatedly that we are unable to process your payment at this time. He failed to provide satisfactory reasoning as to whyonly saying that there was some kind of stop on my account, and acted like it was my fault they were unable to process my payment. So to summarizeI have a Wells Fargo mortgage that is late, Im getting calls from their collectors, I have money sitting in a preferred checking account at Wells Fargo, and I have requested repeatedly that Wells Fargo use that money from my Wells Fargo checking account to pay my Wells Fargo mortgage but they were unable to process my payment for the mortgage ; and they acted like that was somehow my fault. He further suggested I go get a money order or cashiers checkwhy would I do that if the money was already sitting at Wells Fargo? And how would I do that if Wells Fargo is limiting access to my {$3500.00}? Should I have to ask off work every month to complete this during business hours when I have a mortgage payment due? I felt like he was saying I would have to come up with another {$3500.00}. As a result, I demanded repeatedly that my call be escalated beyond XXXX. 
XXXX very reluctantly escalated my call, I was probably on the phone with him for 30 minutes or more before he agreed to do so. All in, the call was approximately 45 minutes. XXXX escalated my call to XXXX XXXX, his supervisor ; and said that she would call me back. I reluctantly accepted that response, since no one had taken accountability for helping me thus far. 
XXXX XXXX did call me back on XX/XX/XXXX. We discussed the matter and all she seemed to be willing to say was that she was going to research the issue. I asked her when she expected to have a response to the issue, and she indicated XX/XX/XXXX!!! TWO FULL WEEKS. To that I said that she clearly wasnt taking my mortgage as seriously as I was. And by that time, I would need to make another mortgage payment, and thus go through this same difficult process again. That is unacceptable. 

Preferred Resolution : Unfortunately, this is not the first issue I have encountered with my mortgage at Wells Fargo. I also dealt with the executive response team when my mortgage was originated, due to the fact that one of their loan processors was fraudulently misrepresenting the status of my mortgage application. I felt like that issue was treated with the appropriate level of urgency once it got to the executive response team, but only because the mortgage program ( hosted by Wells Fargo ) was through my employer, the largest public accounting firm in the world ( XXXX ). Today, I represent only one small mortgage loan on their XXXX dollar balance sheet ; and as a result, they are indifferent. 
I would appreciate the opportunity to refinance with another lender ; and given Wells Fargos demonstrated inability to properly service my loan ; I would appreciate their  payment of all required origination costs to perform that transaction with another institution. 

Thank you for taking the time to review my complaint. I hope your actions are able to make my life and lives of others ( others unfortunate enough to be banking with Wells Fargo ) a  little more palatable. Im sure there are many others Wells Fargo is treating is similarly unfair fashion. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX Enclosures : Cc : ATTN : Audit Committee chair Wells Fargo & Company XXXX. XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, CA XXXX

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