Consumer complaint received 2020-08-30
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: WA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Unexpected or other fees

Complaint:
On XX/XX/2020, after closing on a land sale, my title company wired the proceeds of my sale in the amount of {$140000.00} to Wells Fargo to be applied to my mortgage account. This amount would leave a loan balance on my mortgage of approximately {$1000.00}. Unfortunately, the title company made an error when wiring the funds. In the position that was meant for Wells Fargos account number, the title company account manager entered my loan number in its place. However, rather than Wells Fargo acknowledging the error and rejecting the transaction, they accepted the wire transfer and subsequently placed the funds into a different clients account stating that client had the same account number within a different department of Wells Fargo banking outside of the mortgage department. 
Realizing the funds had not been deposited into my account within the first 24 hours, I contacted Wells Fargo Customer Service and was told it could take up to 48 hours to post. After 48 hours had passed and without any credit to my account, I contacted customer service once again and was told I needed to contact the bank that wired the funds XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX. It was at this point, XXXX XXXX XXXX  realized an error had been made by the title company when they initiated the wire transfer. XXXX XXXX XXXX   immediately requested thru the FED that Wells Fargo return the funds. Wells Fargo then admitted they had placed the funds into the wrong account and they needed ten days to correct the error. Unsatisfied with their response, I filed a case with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in an attempt to retrieve the funds.

I was soon contacted by a Wells Fargo representative stating he was going to be handling the CFPB case, and that he would keep me well informed and remain very transparent during the process. A week later, he passed the case over to another representative stating he was leaving on vacation. As I waited for Wells Fargo to retrieve the funds while enduring many sleepless nights and stressful days, I paid down the remaining balance of my mortgage account leaving a balance in the exact amount of the missing $ XXXX. This was my only recourse at the time, as Wells Fargo seemed in no hurry to assist me or keep me informed of their progress. 
In the end, it took Wells Fargo until XX/XX/XXXX to return the funds to XXXX XXXX XXXX  who in turn returned the funds to the title company. Nearly an entire month had gone by. I received a check for the $ XXXX and deposited the check into my Wells Fargo savings account with the intention of performing an ACH transfer to my mortgage account once the check cleared. The bank manager from the XXXX, WA branch offered to perform the exchange for me. However, having zero faith or trust in Wells Fargo following the wire transfer issue, I declined her assistance and performed the ACH transfer myself sending Wells Fargo Mortgage {$140000.00} leaving a mortgage balance of approximately {$47.00}. Once the funds were applied, I would then move forward with the Payoff process. Within 48 hours of the {$140000.00} being transferred, my statement showed that Wells Fargo only applied {$48.00}, XXXX to my mortgage account and placed {$99000.00} into a Funds Not Applied account. I immediately contacted Customer Service regarding the transfer and was told I had sent more than the payoff amount causing the transfer to be split and not fully applied due to an improper payoff attempt. It took Wells Fargo another week to apply the full amount to my mortgage account and they finally explained the funds were not applied because there was a {$100.00}, XXXX limit on ACH transfers, even though the Bank Manager offered to make the transfer of $ XXXX for me. 
From my initial attempt to wire money to my mortgage account on XX/XX/2020 until the funds were finally applied to my mortgage account on XX/XX/2020 was 42 days. During this time, I made a full payment on XX/XX/XXXX resulting in an interest payment of nearly {$500.00}. Interest on the account continued to accrue. When Wells Fargo finally applied the funds to my mortgage account on XX/XX/XXXX, there was a shortage due to fees and interest, and they depleted my Escrow account to make up the difference. As well, they stated I was still an additional {$180.00} short of the payoff amount that they went ahead and paid for me. They demanded I pay the {$180.00} back to them, and against my better judgement, I mailed the payment to prevent them from tying up the deed to my property. 
A Wells Fargo agent contacted me on XX/XX/XXXX to discuss XXXX XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau response. He told me they were not accepting any responsibility for the incidents. I told him I never did believe there was ever another Wells Fargo client with the same exact account number as mine, and he admitted the account number the $ XXXX was wired into was not the same as mine, but only similar. I explained to him that I did not agree with Wells Fargos decision. 
On XX/XX/2020, Wells Fargo responded in writing to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaint and accepted zero responsibility for the incident. They accepted zero responsibility for my money being placed into another customers account. They did not admit a complete lack of oversight during the wiring process, and that the funds were not matched to any account by name as required by Federal law. They accepted zero responsibility for it taking 42 days for the funds to be applied to my mortgage. They continued to charge me interest and fees during the 42 days stating the situation was solely due to the title companys error. They were not transparent during the process, regularly refused to accept or return my calls and messages, and made several different excuses as to why the money was missing, deposited improperly, not immediately returned, and placed into a Funds not Applied account following the ACH transfer. I asked them for a comprehensive review of all fees and charges from XX/XX/XXXX until the present time, and they have not provided me with one. 
Despite the initial error by the title company, I am demanding Wells Fargo accept responsibility for their egregious errors while accepting the erroneous wire transfer, placing my money into the account of another client, and then taking 42 days to correct the problem all while continuing to charge me fees and interest. As well, their customer support during the process was absolutely terrible. I should be reimbursed any and all fees and/or charges related to the account from the date of XX/XX/2020 until the account was paid in full on XX/XX/2020.

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