Consumer complaint received 2021-06-29
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: VA mortgage
Issue: Closing on a mortgage

Complaint:
Wells Fargo and in particular, our Mortgage Broker, XXXX XXXX XXXX, NMLSR ID XXXX, perpetrated coerced mortgage fraud on me and my family during the closing of a purchase of the above address on XX/XX/XXXX. Under threat of being homeless during a difficult closing day, XXXX XXXX, threatened to hang up on me multiple times when I pointed out that the closing package had a significant error related to the documented home insurance provider and in the end advised me and my wife to sign fraudulent loan documents, or else. In order to gain funding authorization after a 7 hour closing process at the title company, with our XXXX young children present snd our dog, in XXXX ranch area of XXXX. 

Upon notification via email sent to the Wells Fargo closer / underwriting team that the insurance information need to be corrected, Wells Fargo took no action. We simply wanted to do the right thing and ensure the the VA loan documents we were about to sign were 100 % correct and that we had legitimate insurance tied to the loan, as required. Due to inaction by Wells Fargo my wife and I were threatened, coerced, intimidated and therefore forced to sign a document they they had been informed by their client and our title company was patently incorrect and perhaps even fraudulent, or else we would have 100 % been homeless at XXXX ET on XX/XX/XXXX. This was something we could not allow to happen to our innocent children, due to errors and inaction during a crisis by 3rd largest and most # 1 most fraudulent bank in the United States. 

Upon our notification of the error, multiple attempts by my wife and I to find someone on the Wells Fargo loan team to listen to us and correct their mistake, several hours went by with no correction to the paperwork by the Wells Fargo. 

We made contact with any party at Wells Fargo that might be about help correct this mistake and not a single person took action for hours. 

The insurance information Wells had signed off on during their underwriting process and which had made it into the closing package was not our insurance company and there was no legit policy tied to that information. In fact, there was no escrow binder between us and that insurance company ( cypress ). However, we did have a legitimate binder with XXXX XXXX. I had informed our broker XXXX XXXX and his assistant XXXX of the final insurance carrier on XX/XX/XXXX via email and requested they update our file. This email was not acted upon by Wells Fargo. Further to this, XXXX and their broker XXXX anXXXX XXXX XXXX out of XXXX, FL did not do their duty and properly make contact with & officially invoice Wells Fargo following our signing of the escrow binder on XX/XX/XXXX. Had they done this as required, we wouldnt have been in this situation to begin with. It is the insurance companies responsibility to take this action not the consumer of the product, yet I took the additional step to inform Wells Fargo via email as previously stated on XX/XX/XXXX. I can provide evidence. 

Due to the binding terms our our purchase contract, and extremely difficult sellers, we had no choice but to close the deal on XX/XX/XXXX by no later than XXXX ET when all wire transactions to interested parties needed to be initiated by the title company. Absent that, we would be in default, forgot $ XXXX in escrow money to the sellers without recourse and have no home. As you can imagine this scenario is precisely what the VA loan process and controls are designed to prevent, yet clearly Wells Fargo is not up to the task in all cases. 

At approximately XXXX ET the title companys closer emailed the Wells Fargo team to inform them of the issue that we had caught in the closing package. At precisely XXXX XXXX  when no action had been taken by Wells Fargo team in the response to the title companies notification, I reached out via text to XXXX XXXX who was our broker for this loan. I stated that There is a problem and I need to speak to someone ASAP. Not sure who but maybe you can help. The insurance info is not correct. I sent correct info but it never got put on the file. 

Approximately 10 mins later XXXX called my cell phone from his cell phone ( work issued I assume ) and proceeded to : 1. Inform me that the XXXX from title company sent and email to Wells Fargo that was messing this deal up and putting our closing in jeopardy and he doesnt understand why my wife and I would allow her to do that to us on closing day. 
2. XXXX told me that I needed stop being upset with him about this error because we caused this and if I didnt listen to him very clearly he would hang up on me and not help. 
3. That all we needed to to was the following and I quote from memory : The title companys closer XXXX, needs to reply to the email she sent and retract her statement. She needs to say that she made a mistake and the purchasers are not changing insurance companies at the last minute and that the paperwork as originally packaged was 100 % correct. If i did not get XXXX to send this email XXXX XXXX underwriting team would not be able to correct the paperwork in time and that have created this mess, raised significant red fraudulent red flags and that there was no way the underwriting team would sign off on this last minute change. If this email is not sent we would not be able to close as necessary today. Further to this you need you need to shut your mouth, say nothing more and accept and sign the documents as is. When you sign them you need to hope that this delay caused by you and your title company didnt XXXX this deal by sending the first email. There may no longer be enough time for the funding team to review the documents and authorize the funds to be wired even is she sends the email i have worded for you. If you do not do this then I cant help you and you will be out $ XXXX earnest money and your family will be homeless at XXXX. 

At this point concluded the call with XXXX by saying but what if they dig into this and discover what we are signing is incorrect and decide not the fund the loan? XXXX responded that if the email is sent and I keep my mouth shut that will not happen. 

I immediately relayed the content of this conversation to my wife and the title attorney. The attorney, in the interest of making sure my children did not end up homeless, advised us to listen to XXXX XXXX and do what he says. Following this XXXX sent the email and under supervision of the title attorney while My wife and I, under extreme duress signed what we now understand to be fraudulent documents. The title attorney notarized the docs which she also must have know.to be fraudulent and returned the completed docs to the Wells Fargo team as XXXX XXXX had demanded. This occurred at approximately XXXX XXXX  ET. 

Following the submission of the singed papers to Wells Fargo, we anxiously awaited funding authorization. There was zero communication to us by Wells Fargo from XXXX until approximately XXXX XXXX  when after hunting downs anyone who would pay attention we were informed that the Wells Fargo loan closer had left for the day! 

At this point, on the verge of being homeless even after giving into the demands of Wells Fargo, the file was not progressing through underwriting because no one was informed of the situation following the departure of the responsible loan closer at Wells Fargo. The file sat in an email inbox where no one was directly responsible at this point for picking it up and continuing the process. My wife took it upon herself to rattle any cage she could find to get someone to email her back or answer her phone call at Wells. After 30 mins, at approximately XXXX XXXX  ET, my loving wife XXXX XXXX reached a manager tied to the closer that had left and he/she pushed the file to the funding team, where it sat without action. XXXX then hunted down the manager of the funding team and got that manager to push the file forward to the funding authorization stage. From there 15 extremely stressful and anxious minutes, XXXX remained on the phone with the finder to ensure that they took the action needed to allow the title company authorization to meet the wire cutoff time of XXXX ET. The funder without direct knowledge of What had occurred at the demand of XXXX XXXX did his/her job and authorized funding. We received the keys to our new home at approximately XXXX XXXX. 

At this point I dont know what else needs to be said or what actions need to be taken by me. I proactively informed a lead manager in the underwriting team of all these detail over the phone on XX/XX/XXXX when I felt safe that no one could take back the loan and make us homeless due to our part in this sad series of events. As a veteran I know, logically, that I am protected from precisely this type of fraudulent behavior by financial institutions, but emotionally my family and most important my children have been emotionally damaged by what occurred on that day. XXXX and XXXX XXXX were with us at the closing table because we had no other option and they were excited about what should have been painless, fast, perfect transaction that tuned into a living nightmare Right before there eyes. Ive never seen my children as scared as they were sitting in the conference room listening to the things that were occurring. The fear that my wife and I were displaying caused by the people who were unwilling to help us do the morally and legally correct thing was clear to them even though er tried to reassure them everything would be OK, which they intuitively understood to be a lie we had to tell them. 

Those people coerced us to perpetrate fraud on their behalf, or else our hopes and dreams would be shattered that day, should we. It comply. Those same people and their leaders should understand that they caused permanent damage to my familys relationship and ability to trust people in power. What they have inflicted upon a innocent XXXX year old girl and XXXX year old boy, is deplorable, disgusting and down right criminal. The things they bore witness to that day will forever haunt me. There was nothing I could do to prevent it from occurring without putting our family in financial ruin and forcing children to be homeless, so we had to play along with their game. 

I hope that the investigation of this crime will not be pushed under a rug. I hope that we have the opportunity to tell our story and to effect change such that this can never occur to another citizen of the United States. I am ashamed and saddened that this occurred and I believe that I have rights to restitution but Im also truly scared that Wells Fargo and their regulators will sweep this under the rug or attempt to place the blame on me and take away our home.

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