Consumer complaint received 2022-04-06
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
Thank you for your letter dated the XXXX of XXXX, XXXX. While I appreciate your acknowledging that my home value is currently well above the threshold needed for me to request for cancellation of PMI, I respectfully disagree with your conclusion that PMI can not be canceled. Specifically, I have reviewed the documents provided at closing that relate to PMI insurance. Further, I have reviewed the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 ( Act ) and the XX/XX/XXXX amendment ( Amendment ) to the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 ( Act ) and neither the paperwork provided at closing nor the Act nor the Amendment disclose any such requirement that in addition to meeting the 80 % XXXX threshold, that significant improvements are needed to have PMI canceled such as outlined in your letter. 
Wells Fargos website indicates a consumer can request cancellation of PMI by paying {$100.00} fee for a home valuation, which I paid. This home valuation is to be used in lieu of the original amortization schedule provided at closing. The only other stipulation that would prohibit PMI from being canceled relates to payment delinquencies, for which I have had none. I paid the {$100.00} in good faith because I knew my homes value had increased. Therefore, I can only conclude Wells Fargos decision to deny my request for cancellation of PMI to be unfair. 
Wells Fargo enriched itself by collecting the {$100.00} fee and even though my homes value has met the XXXX threshold for canceling PMI, Wells Fargo refuses to do so based on an arbitrary, and completely undisclosed, reason. I wonder how many other Wells Fargo customers have also been denied their rightful cancellation of PMI? 
Section 5 of the FTC Act sets forth the standards for acts that are Unfair and Deceptive ( XXXX  ). The XXXX XXXX XXXX added an Abusive test ( XXXX  ). An act or practices is defined as unfair when : The act or practice must cause or be likely to cause substantial injury to consumers. 
Consumers must not be reasonably able to avoid the injury. 
The injury must not be outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition. 
Wells Fargo refusal to terminate PMI on my loan is unfair because I am required to pay {$37.00} each month until automatic cancellation is reached ( XX/XX/XXXX ), which is based on the amortization schedule provided at closing even though my homes XXXX is significantly above the original value. There is no way for me to avoid paying this monthly insurance premium ( i.e., the injury ) even though my homes value has met the XXXX requirement for cancellation. Wells Fargo is denying my request to cancel based on an arbitrary reason ; therefore, I am unable to avoid the injury. Finally, there are no countervailing benefits to me to outweigh this injury. 

I recognize that home values during the pandemic have increased more than home values have historically increased. However, historically, based on both XXXX and XXXX data, the average annual home value appreciation is between 3 and 5 percent annually. 
My home was valued at {$200000.00} when I purchased it in XX/XX/XXXX. If you apply the low end of the historical home value appreciation ( i.e., 3 % ), the value of my home would be projected to be over {$210000.00} by XX/XX/XXXX. According to your letter, the value only needs to be {$200000.00}. So even based on historical, and not pandemic induced appreciation, I have met the threshold for requesting PMI to be canceled. 
Further, had someone from Wells Fargo reached out to me before making this arbitrary decision to deny my request for cancellation to ask if I had made any significant improvements to my home, I could have informed them of the following improvements : Updates made All walls have been installed with new insulation, landscaped around the house to correct grade for proper water removal from house and surrounding land, remodeled kitchen with a new countertop surface and backsplash, repaired foundations of garage, as well as cracks in the brick along the front of the house, replaced chimney crown I am a reasonable consumer and based on a reasonable consumers knowledge of the Homeowners Protection Act, which stipulate that PMI can be requested by the borrower to be canceled and based on Wells Fargos website which indicates PMI can be canceled if the value has increased ( and not based solely on the initial amortization provided at closing ) after paying the {$100.00} fee, I am filing a complaint directly with Wells Fargo again requesting PMI to be canceled. Further, I am copying Wells Fargos two banking regulators ( the OCC and the CFPB ) on this complaint because, as I indicated above, there is the potential that Wells Fargo applied this same arbitrary and unfair act to deny other consumers request for cancellation of PMI. 
If this practice is not unfair then as a minority female, I can only assume this is a discrimination against my gender and race.

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