Consumer complaint received 2016-03-04
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NY
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Complaint:
The bank, Wells Fargo, pretended to be negotiating a settlement of the loan in question, however, they were denying XXXX XXXX 's settlement offers without providing a reason as to why they were denying the offers. XXXX XXXX has submitted numerous settlement offers in an attempt to come to an agreement on a specific settlement amount, however, all the settlement offers have been denied. All the denial letters list the same reason for decline : " Offer is below settlement guidelines for approval. '' XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, attorney for XXXX XXXX, has contacted Wells Fargo on several occasions, but no one was willing to provide a reason as to why the offers were below settlement guidelines for approval. 
From initial conversations with one of Wells Fargo 's representatives, XXXX XXXX ( email address : XXXXXXXXXXXX ), XXXX XXXX was told, " let me know when you have the {$25000.00} ... that is the number we agreed upon. '' XXXX XXXX provided proofs to the representative that he had the {$25000.00} they agreed upon. Additionally, since the conversation with the Wells Fargo representative, XXXX XXXX has offered several settlement amounts, including {$50000.00} and {$75000.00} settlement offers. All his settlement offers have been denied with the same standard denial message that his offer is " below settlement guidelines for approval. '' Despite Wells Fargo 's unwillingness to enter into negotiations, XXXX XXXX 's latest offer of {$75000.00} still stands as he is willing and ready to settle for this amount. 
Furthermore, XXXX XXXX was told that he needed to be three payments behind in order to qualify for a loan modification. XXXX XXXX relied on this information with the assurance that he would receive the loan modification. Falling three payments behind caused tremendous damage to XXXX XXXX 's credit. XXXX XXXX applied for the loan modification in XXXX ; it was also denied. Low income was the reason given for denying the loan modification. XXXX XXXX has also tried to refinance the loan ; that also was denied. XXXX XXXX has ran out of options as Well Fargo has not shown any willingness to negotiate. 
To provide a form of guideline : In XXXX, a Wells Fargo representative qualified XXXX XXXX as " Low Doc ''. 
In XXXX, the bank representative ( XXXX XXXX ) encouraged XXXX XXXX to borrow more money as they appraised his home at {$590000.00} as a one family home ; this was more than market value. 
In XXXX, XXXX XXXX was told that he was qualified for refinance, but then in XXXX, XXXX and XXXX, he was told that he was not qualified for refinance any longer. There was not any dramatic change in XXXX XXXX 's income from XXXX to XXXX. Therefore, he could not understand how he was qualified for refinance in XXXX and not XXXX. XXXX XXXX was pressured into borrowing more money through the " low Doc '' or " No doc '' programs. 
XXXX XXXX has not only suffered damages to his credit, but he has also lost money, he and his family has been receiving threats of foreclosure even while he was trying to work out a settlement with the bank. 
The last payment that XXXX XXXX made was around on XXXX XXXX. XXXX XXXX was paying {$650.00} for interest on line of credit. He also has another mortgage with Wells Fargo, a XXXX mortgage, which is {$2500.00} per month. He is current with his payments on the mortgage. However, it had been difficult for him to keep up with both mortgages. 
The bank now claims that they will stop working with XXXX XXXX for the settlement because his property is valued more than the loan amount owed. However, the property was always valued at more than the amount owed and they were ( or were pretending to be ) negotiating a settlement during that time as well. It seems that the bank was never willing to negotiate a settlement even though they told XXXX XXXX that they were willing to. XXXX XXXX has suffered tremendous damage

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