Consumer complaint received 2018-09-27
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem while selling or giving up the vehicle

Complaint:
PLEASE FORWARD TO YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT. I HAVE TRIED CONTACTING VIA PHONE AND MAIL AND YOUR OFFICE KEEPS SENDING ME BACK TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND WILL NOT GIVE ANY LEGAL ADDRESS. 
I DO NOT WANT A RESPONSE FROM ANYONE BESIDES YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT! 

This complaint is in response to all of the prior complaints I have filed along with new complaints regarding the information you provided in your last response with regards to the credit application and the retail sales contract being in force. 

In your last response, XX/XX/XXXX, you sent me in a copy of the credit application you had on file, a copy of the retail sales contract, and a copy of an amendment that was made to the contract. Please note that this is the first time I have ever seen this credit application and the amendment. 

I have attached copies for your review and in order to fully explain my response I will be referencing your amendment, Amendment of Contract, dated XX/XX/XXXX between Wells Fargo Dealer Services and the dealer also referred to as the Seller. 

As you are already aware, I have been trying to resolve the other issues with this vehicle with you since XX/XX/XXXX! During this process I have now obtained the documents listed above and will show you that this financing which you refer to as a loan is not valid and both Wells Fargo Dealer Services and the Dealer are liable for. 

I am referencing the numbers in your amendment out of order due to the most important information being listed first.

II. Assignment, paragraph 2, # ( 3 ) and # ( 7 ) The credit application you have on file is not the original credit application that I filled out by hand at the dealers office on XX/XX/XXXX! The form I filled out was a long form, handed to me by the sales person and I filled out the form in my own hand writing. The original form was filled out by both my girlfriend and myself. The vehicle was for her so we filled out the credit applications with her as the Applicant and me as the Co-applicant. After pulling both of our credit reports the dealer said my credit was better and they were just going to use my credit only. I have never seen this credit application until I received a copy from your office in XX/XX/XXXX. After reviewing this document I noticed it was not the form I filled out so my girlfriend personally went to the dealer on XX/XX/XXXX. I had emailed and called them several times asking for a copy of the credit application and they would not respond. My girlfriend spoke with XXXX XXXX who was the original manager we  dealt with from the beginning and who signed all of the paperwork for this contract. She asked for all the original copies and/or documents for this transaction. She was told that the dealer no longer uses the original long form we filled out and the paperwork not being used was trashed. All of the documents that the dealer needed were scanned into their system and were emailed to your office. When she asked for the original credit application XXXX said he did not have it. He then showed her how he electronically input my credit application into the form on the computer and sent it via email. When she asked for a copy of that credit application he printed out a copy of another credit application form that is attached. As you will see they are not the exact same forms. The credit application that was sent to Wells Fargo has been filled out by someone else via the computer program the dealer uses. My signature has been forged and/or copied and pasted onto the CO-APPLICANT signature line! Note that every other dealer document I signed was signed on the APPLICANT signature line, has been highlighted and/or has been marked with an X next to my signature. I would have not signed this form on the CO-APPLICANT signature line, nor would the dealer accept my signature on the co-applicant signature line because XXXX XXXX was highlighting and having me sign right in front of him as we went through the paperwork. You can clearly see where there is some type of marking before my the signature placed on the credit app that shows it has been copied and pasted! It looks like they copied my signature from the original application I filled out. I did not fill out this form, nor did I sign this form! Also note that for some reason XXXX XXXX name is showing XXXX XXXX on the credit application from XX/XX/XXXX and is showing XXXX XXXX on the XX/XX/XXXX that was given to my girlfriend. This fact alone is fraud and is immediate reason for this contract to be voided and now makes the dealer responsible for the financing. The dealer knowingly submitted a fraudulent credit application and knowingly submitted a fraudulent document that does not have a genuine signature!

II. Assignment, paragraph 2, # ( 5 ) The dealer knew my credit was not good and was made aware of my financial situation from before we arrived at the dealer. I clearly informed them I worked for myself and made cash. I was told it was no problem and they could get me financed through their own bank. After the dealer said they had a bank for me to get financed with on XX/XX/XXXX I signed the first retails sales installment contract. I was told it was going to be through Wells Fargo. I signed the paperwork and though the contract was good an that was it. After a couple of weeks I started getting denial letters from other lenders in the mail. I contacted the dealer and asked what was going on. I was told they were having problems getting the financing to go through. I told them I was not happy and I was going to file a complaint because the dealer was not honoring the contract and they were refusing to answer my calls. A complaint was filed with the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau and the XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX regarding the issues we were having with the dealer and the financing. A copy of the complaint is attached. In addition to filing a complaint and contacting the dealer directly, the dealer was well aware that due to my credit they were having issues getting the vehicle financed. On XX/XX/XXXX I had to return to the dealer to sign a new contract because the dealer said he couldnt get the financing to go through Wells Fargo and was now using his bank XXXX XXXX. He then changed the price of the vehicle, loan terms, and took out the gap insurance to make the numbers work for the new contract. He also added an additional {$1000.00} to the down payment. It was a month from the first contract dated XX/XX/XXXX until the new contract on XX/XX/XXXX until the financing was approved. This was more than enough time from day one to know my credit situation. The dealer did not make this contract under good faith and it was not bona fide because the credit app was fraudulent. I have attached a few documents showing the contract was supposed to be with XXXX XXXX, not Wells Fargo Dealer Services and clearly shows the date of XX/XX/XXXX. I had no knowledge the financing was going through Wells Fargo until I received a letter saying they had taken over the contract and to submit the payments to Wells Fargo. When I contacted the dealer after receiving the letter, I was told there was nothing I could do except to pay the car for 6 months and then ask for a refi. The dealer had lied from the start about who was financing the vehicle and continued to lie during the entire time in order to obtain financing with out my knowledge. This is not good faith. I signed the second contract under false promises from the dealer and again under fraudulent terms since the paperwork says XXXX XXXX, not Wells Fargo Dealer Services.

II. Assignment, paragraph 2, # ( 6 ) The down payment was made by my girlfriend by her debit card and cash. The initial down payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX by part cash in the amount of {$1500.00} and {$1500.00} by her debit card for a total of {$3000.00}. A second payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX by her debit card in the amount of {$500.00} for a total of {$3500.00}. The receipts are attached. The dealer admitted they had lied about the financing and my credit and due to having to sign a second contract they deferred the additional {$1000.00} down payment until XX/XX/XXXX. The dealer knew the money was not coming from myself but a third party who is not on the contract. The dealer also advised that we could borrow the rest of the {$1000.00} because we had told him we did not have an additional {$1000.00} to put down. This is also another reason why he deferred the last payment. In addition to my girlfriend paying the down payment she has also made payments to Wells Fargo by check and cash for this vehicle financing. The total amount she has paid in checks or by debit card is {$7600.00} and does not include the cash amount she paid at the Wells Fargo Branches located in XXXX XXXXXXXX, Id where she paid them for me when she was out of town. There is a list of checks with the dates and amounts that were paid to Wells Fargo for this vehicle over a period of 3 years. Both the dealer and Wells Fargo accepted payments from a third party knowing she is not on the retail sales installment contract. The dealer knew from the beginning the money was coming from a third party. The personal bank receipts are not attached due to privacy issues however, I do have all of the records for these payments. The dealer receipts are attached.

II. Assignment, paragraph 2, # ( 8 ) The dealer and Wells Fargo were fully aware that I was a financial risk due to the fact that the dealer was having issues getting the vehicle financed. From the first day the dealer ran my credit they were made aware of my credit situation and score. Wells Fargo and the other lenders were also made aware after my credit was then ran again to obtain financing. The dealer sending my information to several different lenders and making me sign 2 contracts shows the financial risk. Wells Fargo was also very aware of this risk because the initial financing was supposed to be through Wells Fargo. The loan was denied on that date and this is why the dealer continued to run my credit though different lenders. In addition to Wells Fargo and the dealer knowing on XXXX, you were both made aware during the following month when the other lenders were sending denial letters. In fact, I received a denial letter from Wells Fargo dated XX/XX/XXXX saying you denied by initial application due to EXCESSIVE DELINQUENT PAST OR PRESENT CREDIT EXPERIENCE, NUMBER OF REVOLVING TRADES, EXCESSIVE INQUIRIES IN CREDIT FILE, but were approving a new contract under your new terms in which I did not agree to. Both the dealer and Wells Fargo pushed this financing through both knowing I was a financial risk and this loan should have never been completed. Wells Fargo had denied the application from the start and continued to deny the application even after I had signed the first contract! The denial letters are attached. I have also attached my credit report showing Wells Fargo ran my credit twice along with the other lenders.

II. Assignment, paragraph 2, # ( 9 ) and ( 11 ) On XX/XX/XXXX at the dealer before completing a credit application, I made it very clear my credit was not good and I did not want my credit ran more than 1 time. The dealer promised they would just run it once and they would use that information. They ran it while I was at the dealer and said they did not need to run it anymore because they had financing through Wells Fargo ready to go. As I have already mentioned the dealer and several different lenders ran my credit 6 times from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX! The only credit report paperwork I received was the credit score obtained from the dealer and that was it. I never received any copies of my credit report, the credit application I filled out, or any other documents regarding my credit. The dealer knowingly was sending my credit information with out my permission and ruined my credit score. I talked to him about this and he, XXXX XXXX, admitted that he did not need to run my credit so many times and that he should have just attached a credit report to the documents and send one credit report to the lenders. This violates both Federal and State FCRA laws and has not been complied with.

All of the above statements are factual and true as you will see from the paperwork I have submitted. In addition to the paperwork I have my girlfriend who has been present from day one as a witness to these facts along with her documentation as well. Before this information was submitted I have tried to resolve other issues with your office since XX/XX/XXXX which I also have records of. I have exhausted every option available to get this resolved with Wells Fargo and Wells Fargo has refused to help. 

The amendment referenced between Wells Fargo Dealer Services and the Dealer clearly reads, SHOULD ANY OF THE REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES BE FALSE, THE ASSIGNOR AGREES TO PAY THE ASSIGNEE OR HOLDER, UPON DEMAND, THE FULL, UNPAID BALANCE OF THE CONTRACT, WHETHER OR NOT POSSESSION OF THE PROPERTY COVERED HEREBY HAS BEEN TAKEN BY ASSIGNEE OR SUIT HAS BEEN INSTITUTED AGIANST THE BUYER OR THE ASSIGNER OR BOTH. 

With this complaint I have made Wells Fargo aware that the retail sales installment contract is not valid. The credit application submitted is fraudulent, and several Federal and State laws have been violated by both Wells Fargo Dealer Services and the Dealer. 

For the above mentioned facts and reasons I am requesting Wells Fargo to honor its own amendment and hold the dealer and Wells Fargo liable for the entire balance of this financing. The contract should be voided and the dealer is responsible for its actions. I am requesting that Wells Fargo Dealer Services collect the entire amount of the contract of {$14.00}, XXXX, along with the down payment of {$4500.00}, any interest, late fees, attorney fees from the dealer. I am also requesting Wells Fargo to refund that entire amount less Wells Fargo attorney fees against the dealer to me and release the title in my name as the owner. Since both the dealer and Wells Fargo violated several laws and violated their own amendment and committed fraud the contract should have never been enforced. I feel that this is fare enough to resolve this situation. Should Wells Fargo feel that you do not want to comply or resolve this after knowing fraud was committed I will pursue a lawsuit for the above mentioned amounts and will include monetary compensation for fraud, state and federal law violations, and punitive damages. 

I look forward to your prompt attention the to this matter. 

**FILES WERE TOO LARGE TO ATTACH, I WILL BE SENDING DOCUMENTS FOR REVIEW, PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND UNTIL YOU HAVE RECEIVED DOCUMENTS. **

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