Consumer complaint received 2017-07-21
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I would like to begin this complaint by stating that I am aware that my recounting of events is not reliable as a source in any way, it is merely context to the fact presented in the documents attached.
On XXXX XXXX, 2017, the City of XXXX issued an erroneous 'delinquent water tax ' bill to me for a property completely unrelated to both myself and Wells Fargo XXXX After a single call, the city assured me that they corrected the very clearly incorrect bill. On XXXX XXXX, 2017, Wells Fargo paid the City of XXXX {$1700.00} from my escrow account to clear the balance of the erroneous bill. They then subsequently raised my mortgage payments ( as of the month of XX/XX/XXXX ) roughly 20 % to compensate for their error. I received communication of this in XX/XX/XXXX( attached letter dated XXXX XXXX, 2017 ). Upon calling Wells Fargo ( in XX/XX/XXXX ), I asked why they paid the bill. Their response was " in order to prevent a lien on the property. '' I then asked if they were aware that the property did not belong to me. They responded that " they simply paid the bill to prevent any possible lien on the property they had financed. '' I then asked on what authority Wells Fargo issued a payment from the escrow account of one property, owned by myself, to a completely different property, not owned by myself. They declined to answer and simply assured me that the problem would be resolved timely. On XXXX XXXX, 2017, I received a notice that they had researched the issue of my real estate tax payments, and that they had adjusted their records. Of course, the real estate taxes remained unchanged, as they were never an issue, so therefore my payment would remain 20 % higher in order to cover the escrow deficiency left by the delinquent water bill. A copy of this letter is attached. I once again opened communications with Wells Fargo ( in XX/XX/XXXX ). They promised that they would correct the issue as soon as possible, but informed me that I would have to pay any increased payments that were due before Wells Fargo could resolve the issue. I received another letter from Wells Fargo dated XXXX XXXX, 2017 ( attached ). Upon further communications, Wells Fargo informed me that the City of XXXX would issue a refund by the end of the year ( 2017 ), and that I would have to pay the higher payments until that time. After speaking with several levels of employees, I arrived at what they assured me was the team that was ultimately responsible for correcting their error. I informed the Wells Fargo employee that since the deficit in the escrow was due to their negligence, that they should correct the balance immediately and lower the monthly payment back to what it had originally been before the increase. I was told that they would " research the issue and come to a conclusion in two weeks.
On XXXX XXXX, 2017 I was informed by Wells Fargo that they determined they acted correctly in paying the erroneous water tax bill for a property I do not own with funds from a different property 's escrow account, and that I would simply have to make the higher payments until they received the refund, which, according to the Wells Fargo employee with whom I was speaking, would arrive at some indeterminate time in the future. Additionally, I would like to add that the property I live in is a condo, and that all water bills are paid by the condo association, not myself. Attached are a poor quality photo of the original water bill and a statement from Wells Fargo that reads " We do n't normally pay this type of bill through escrow '', as well as the details of their payment. I apologize for not being able to find my physical copy of the water bill as of the time of writing this complaint ( though I will continue to search ), but I assume Wells Fargo will be able to provide their copy. Nonetheless, since I am aware it is difficult to read, the account number is XXXX and the Block and lot numbers are XXXX and XXXX respectively. Note that the neither the account number on the bill, nor the block and lot number correspond to the property I own. This can be easily checked through any number of means ( City records, XXXX XXXX  billing system, etc ).

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