Consumer complaint received 2020-10-07
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CO
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Dealing with your lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Received bad information about your loan

Complaint:
This is extortion, plan and simple. I was attending college part time, pay cash while working XXXX XXXX. Then government regulations took me out of my job stating I needed to achieve higher education in order to return to work. I was a XXXX XXXX  as a XXXX XXXX  and I needed to become a XXXX  XXXX, or assistant. The other option was XXXX XXXX, or assistant. So, I had to go to college XXXX XXXX.I was unable to get student loans the first year. I was unable to scholarships and grants due to my age and work history with income. XXXX XXXX was the only bank that would provide funds to go to college. I took a {$19000.00} student loan and they told me I would have a $ XXXX/month payment and they would attach a {$5000.00} service fee. They also give me a {$1300.00} advanced for a computer. I took this loan out for my self without a credit assistant or a co-signer. My credit was pretty good at the time. While I was receiving the " congrats on your loan '' conversation with the bank, I was told over the phone if I added my moms name, I would have a better interest rate. You can see the loan document states this loan does not contract to a co-signer. The loan has an independent clause clearly stating the loan does not bind a co-signer. 

This was Summer XXXX. It was the only loan that took. 

Before school started the XXXX XXXX XXXX, owned by XXXX XXXX was closed by the feds and sold due to banking fraud. It was sold and sold and sold and sold over and over again. Before I graduated, a company claiming to own the loan pretend to be a grad school to get contact information from me. This company continues to claim they owe my loan and have tried to sue. They keep claiming they own the loan, but they cant provide any records.At this point, Wells Fargo was the only company that has provided a copy of my loan. 

First, I would like to point out that Wells Fargo has been extremely difficult to work with. When I was in my XXXX  program they reported me as missing payments. This was eventually corrected. But during this time they contacted my mom, lied to my mom, told my mom I was in a lot of trouble due to how much I owe in student loans and then disclosed private finical information to my mom about my other student load debts. My mother was pressured into making payments. Despite my contract clearly stating I was a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and I did not have to pay. I was unaware that Wells Fargo had collected money from my mom until my sister and brother asked me about my mom paying my debts. Since I was in XXXX XXXX XXXX, I did not have to pay the loan. 

This is a habitual behavior from Wells Fargo. Before finishing my XXXX XXXX, they did the same exact thing. They never honored my grace period and expected me to pay them before I ever graduated. I was also in a cat 5 hurricane and my school completion was delayed and I had to extend my college completion due to not having electric for weeks at the school or home. But none of this  mattered. Wells Fargo reported my loan late. Contacted my mom and made a deal with my mom. If my mom paid, they would remove the late fees and not report the loan late. My mom took money from her 401 to make the payments. Wells Fargo never removed the late fees nor did they remove the credit report. 

Wells Fargo also engaged in reporting behaviors that blocked my mother from purchasing a home. Due to my student loans, I will never be able to qualify for housing. My mom did qualify. There was only one hang up. The one late fee. Because Wells Fargo manipulated my mom to make the payment and failed to uphold their end of the deal, I disputed the late report on the credit reports. In order to get the house, I had to remove the comment in dispute, not the actual dispute. Wells Fargo refused to remove the comment. We had to get several agencies involved and watch the reports in order to time the credit pull so my mom could get a loan. It took three agencies to time the pull. Wells Fargo kept adding the comment back to the file even after several conversations with them, the agencies, and mortgage bankers, and another over seeing agency the bankers turned to for help. 

Another stunt pulled by Wells Fargo is the refusal to let me pay each pay check. If I pay every time I make a paycheck, I can pay my loan off faster. But, Wells Fargo refused. Wells Fargo stated I need to make another extra payment because they applied my payment to a different month. So, I can not get ahead in my payments. Wells Fargo also refused to accept electronic transfers and my bank was forced to send them a paper check. 

It seems that Wells Fargo makes extraordinary efforts to stop me from paying off my loan. Another lie that involved my mom came up in XXXX this year. I was told if I paid my bill for 2 years my mom would be removed. They have refused to remove my mom despite the loan clearly stating she is not a co-signer/owner on the loan. I have not only paid on time, but I make extra payments. 

Wells Fargo has also refused to make payment plans that I can afford. When my income was lower and I could not afford to pay rent, Wells Fargo refused to help me come up with a solution without sending them all of my moms tax information and work history. When I was going homeless, Wells Fargo refused again. 

The newest lie Wells Fargo has made is the Covid-19 deferment loan. First, I have been out of work since XXXX and I continued to make my payments until XXXX when I ran out of unemployment. I knew that the CARE act or the HERO act, assured people out of work due to Covid-19 would be able to defer their student loans. I took advantage. I was told I would not have to pay until XXXX. However, I sent an extra {$400.00} payment in XXXX. That was only two missed months, not three.

You think they would be happy. 
You think they would be thrilled that I pay over the amount I need to pay. 
I pay on time. 
I pay extra. 
No. 

I feel like I have been, once again, tricked and lied to.I got a payment statement today and to my horror, the extra payment of {$400.00} did not go towards principle. Even though I did not have to make a payment. Instead, the {$400.00} was applied only to interest. It seems I made over {$1100.00} in interest with two months deferment. Now, they demand I pay the interest BEFORE they accept any principle payments. This WAS NOT DISCLOSED. 

Here is the break down I took a {$19000.00} loan with a {$5000.00} fee. 
I have paid {$12000.00} to which only {$3000.00} has gone to principle since payments started in XXXX. 

Please note, I make extra payments every month. 
If I had not made extra payments, I would have less then {$1000.00} per year with payments close to {$350.00} per month. 

I am expected to pay nearly {$90000.00} for a {$19000.00} student loan. Wells Fargo now states my current payment is {$310.00}, but no payment will be made towards principle until after I pay off the accruing interest from the past two months of deferment. That means, after the {$400.00} interest only payment, I still owe another {$400.00} + {$310.00} before I can start making extra payments to principle. If I dont make a {$710.00} payment ( total {$1100.00} ), then each month I will continue to gain interest and not be able to pay principle.There is no way any of this can be legal, ethical, or acceptable. 

A student forced out of their job because of government regulations should not die in debt paying a life time of {$400.00} a month payments just to try and get some money into principle. If I had known the facts of this loan, I would never have taken this loan. I would have a better quality of life working in XXXX without education then becoming a XXXX   that works in rural America with an underserved population.

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