Consumer complaint received 2023-03-03
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NM
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
I recently read an online article on XXXX titled Wells Fargo might owe you money and how to get it. As I read through the short article I realized that it directly involved our mortgage loan with Wells Fargo we had years ago and how we were treated by Wells Fargo through their " Home Preservation XXXX. '' The entire position and title are a complete joke because all this XXXX ever did was deny us 4 times for a requested loan modification due to mounting bills and the loss of a job. 

In XXXX of XXXX I lost a job I had held for 16 years and accounted for 60 % of our household income. As soon I was able to get unemployment benefits I called Wells Fargo to get a loan modification due to loss of income in order to save our house. After sending in all required documents it was determined we still had too much income to qualify for the modification. 

About a year later I applied again for a loan modification once my unemployment benefits ran out and I was turned down again for the modification because this time we didn't have enough income to qualify. 

Our financial situation continued to deteriorate due to the inability to pay all of our bills. I soon cashed out my XXXX approximately {$35000.00} after taxes to replace the roof on the house. The roof on the house was in poor condition and we had several leaks throughout the house. The stucco on the house was in bad condition as well so we went ahead and used some more of the money to replace the stucco. We used what was leftover to continue making our mortgage payments while I was looking for employment. 

The job market at the time was not good and the only way I had to make was as a food delivery driver. The extra money was running out and it was only a matter of time until we were unable to make a full payment on the mortgage. For a third time I call and explain our situation and apply again for a loan modification explaining that we were in imminent danger of default. For a third time we were denied a loan modification because we didn't have enough income. 

We continue to struggle a while longer and it seems as though a miracle XXXX help us save our house. For years we were part of a XXXX action lawsuit against Wells Fargo for their pick-a-payment loan. Our loan originated with XXXX and Wells Fargo bought out XXXX and assumed their liabilities which included this law suit. Wells Fargo settled the law suit and part of the settlement agreement was to give these borrowers a loan modification to get out of the pick-a-payment loans they were still in. 

I call my Home Preservation XXXX and explain to her that we were part of the class action law suit and per the settlement agreement would like to begin our loan modification as promised. I was told that that made no difference and we still did not qualify for any loan modification or loan forgiveness. I exclaimed, " you can't be serious ... my wife and I are owed a loan modification as stated in the settlement agreement. '' I was told, I am sorry sir, there is nothing I can do for you. 

From that point we couldn't pay our bills any longer and we went to see a Bankruptcy lawyer. XXXX of her first questions was do you want to save your home? I said after the way we had been treated by Wells Fargo, I didn't ever want to do any business with them ever again. She stated then don't make another payment and let the Bankruptcy process take its course. This was the summer of XXXX. 

We went through the Bankruptcy and towards the end of the process we were contacted about signing over the house in a Deed in lieu of Foreclosure instead of going through the arduous task of going through an actual Foreclosure. We agreed to this agreement, settled our timeline to be out of the house and began packing. 

The property address was XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NM XXXX The loan number can be found on attached documents.

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