Consumer complaint received 2018-05-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Vehicle loan or lease
Sub-product: Loan
Issue: Problems at the end of the loan or lease
Sub-issue: Problem with paying off the loan

Complaint:
My wife was co-signer to a loan with her previous boyfriend ( signed while dating ). In XX/XX/XXXX, the vehicle owner crashed the car and stopped making payments to Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo never attempted to reach out to my wife to inform her of the late or non-payments. Eventually, we noticed her credit score took hits and we contacted Wells Fargo. They informed us of the situation and we spoke to the vehicle owner to get what info we could. It was clear that the person who was in charge of the account wasn't going to be able to pay.

My wife and I made arrangements on XX/XX/XXXX with Wells Fargo to settle, in which they told us the settlement offer would be valid for 30 days. Prior to settling the account, we inquired around XX/XX/XXXX if there were any other ways to close out the account, other than paying in full and settlement. We knew settling would have an impact on her credit rating. Wells Fargo said they would look into it and get back to us within 24-48 hours. 

I attempted to reach the agent handling our case, XXXX XXXX in the " Office of the President '' on  XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX and 3 times on XX/XX/XXXX with no return call. Asking someone at their main desk would forward me only to her voicemail indicating that she was in and would return my call right away. 

We did not hear back till the evening of XX/XX/XXXX. Told that best to either settle or make payments/pay in full. So I called the number given to just pay off the settlement and was told that it was sent to " Charge off '' on XX/XX/XXXX and may have additionally been in " Collections '' since prior to us even contacting Wells Fargo. 

My wife 's Credit Score is attached to this account and Wells Fargo made no attempt to reach us to inform her of the situation possibly before being sent to collections. The agent assigned to my case had to ask me even after on XX/XX/XXXX what my call was about to begin with. We were prevented or delayed in able to resolve a situation before it even needed to get to that point. 

I have reported my concern to the New York Consumer Protection Agency as of XX/XX/XXXX and have not yet been informed of a case number or any other information.

Wells Fargo has indicated the reason they did not contact the co-signer is because they had possibly been speaking with or making arrangements with the account holder / person who was in possession of the vehicle ( Prior to the accident ). I do not know if Wells Fargo benefits for having an account go into collections or charge off such as a Tax write-off for losses. My wife and I still paid the settle amount and are awaiting clarification from Wells Fargo if it will be on my wife 's credit report as a settlement or if " Charge-Off ''. We feel that a co-signer should be alerted if a payment is late or missed, even if they speak with the primary person on the account. Because of what we consider negligence on their part, my wife 's credit rating may be impacted and could take years to repair.

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 non-monetary relief