Consumer complaint received 2016-10-05
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: OH
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: FHA mortgage
Issue: Settlement process and costs

Complaint:
This correspondence is being provided to support the belief that Wells Fargo Bank did not follow the requirements of the innovative " First Look '' program that XXXX implemented to promote homeownership and contribute to neighborhood stabilization by allowing homebuyers to negotiate and purchase foreclosed properties before they are made available to investors. 
The basic particulars being documented to support this allegation are as follows : ( a ) The condominium that I made an offer on to be used as a primary residence for me and my daughter is located at : XXXX 
XXXX, Ohio XXXX ( b ) The first day that this property was made available for offers was XXXX XXXX, XXXX for those who wanted to use it for their primary residence. This was the day that my offer was submitted and was received as evidenced by the following confirmation number : XXXX XXXX XXXX. My offer was for {$100000.00} given that the unit needed carpet, painting and other miscellaneous things to bring it up to basic market condition. The right for potential home buyers to make an offer ended on XXXX XXXX. I had been preapproved for a loan so that preapproval letter from my lender was submitted with my offer. My Realtor and I thought that this was a very fair offer based on the condition and the previous sales on very good condition units. However, we never received any response from my offer. 
( c ) Recently, we found out that the investor 's offer was received on XXXX XXXX, XXXX which was during the period that was reserved for home buyers only, and it was accepted on XXXX XXXX, XXXX which was the very first day it was to have been opened up to investors for their bidding. An attachment is being provided to document these dates and timeframe as being correct. 
( d ) It is now obvious that the investor submitted their offer during an invalid period for their offer and it was considered and essentially accepted because it was posted the very first day that investors could bid. Why would they not wait a few days to see if other investors would bid rather than post that Wells Fargo had a pending acceptance early on the very first day. 
This First Look program was designed to prevent this very thing from happening in that banks were taking cash offers from investors over that of home buyers that had to use financing even though their financing had been approved. Many homebuyers just simply gave up on buying a home during the dramatic down turn of the housing market in XXXX - XXXX and possibly XXXX. 
Recent news stories on Wells Fargo have shown a pattern of doing practices that were not beneficial to the consumer. Specifically, I am referencing the opening of unauthorized accounts by Wells Fargo and more recently the unfair treatment of Veterans. 
2. 
This particular unit would have afforded me the opportunity to have a home for me and my young daughter since it was livable as it was. I had planned on doing much of the items it needed to eliminate the effects of deferred maintenance while we lived there. This opportunity quite simply seems to have been negated due to improper bidding by an investor and obvious consideration of a higher offer by an investor over homebuyer offers. 
I believe that if a regulatory agency checked into this specific case they will find that the First Look program was not followed and if that is the case then it very well could have happened to other potential home buyers too. 
My request is a very simple one. I would ask that you review the documents provided to see that all things stated are factual. Then, I would ask that contact be made with Wells Fargo to see if in fact that an improper action was done on their part and that some steps are made to rectify their handling of this property.

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