Consumer complaint received 2016-11-21
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Non-federal student loan
Issue: Dealing with my lender or servicer
Sub-issue: Trouble with how payments are handled

Complaint:
Within the first year of my Wells Fargo student loan payment ( XXXX ), I was struggling to pay the monthly amount and had gotten behind. The first month I was unable to make the payment I called before the payment was due to see if they would be able to work with me. I was told I was not eligible to adjust payment based on income and consolidating would make made the monthly payments even greater than I what I was currently paying. I explained my situation, I had just began working after XXXX school and I had over {$600.00} in student loan payments ( including government loans ) a month to cover on top of rent and other bills. I simply could not afford the high payments and would not be able to pay the full amount. The customer service rep told me there was nothing else that could be done and that I should ask family members or friends to help me out with the payments. This was not an option for me. I was told if I only paid a portion, I 'd accure late fees and credit reporting would still occur. Unfortunately my hands were tied at the time and I missed this payment. I made the next month but I was still a payment behind so I accrued more late fees and eventually became several months behind because now instead of owing the monthly amount, I also owed 2 months of payments and late fees. I tried to catch myself up and called several times to see what the best way to manage this was. Eventually a rep was able to help me figure out a payment plan he was able to get my past due balance reabsorbed into the loan so everything pretty much reset. This was almost 9 months later and so my late fees were over {$800.00} and my credit was badly damaged. I continued to have issues with Wells Fargo though I was able to make my payments. Over the last year I 've had a few months where when I paid what the monthly payment as stated online I started receiving notices that my I had past due payments and called right away. The customer service rep said the variable interest rates had change the monthly payment and that the monthly payment reflected online was incorrect. I paid the past due amount but they stated it would be reported on my credit, and they " graciously '' waived a late fee. This happened another month and when I called again and asked how I could resolve this I was told I needed to either enroll in automatic payments or go online, look up each individual loan ( there are XXXX total ) and calculate the monthly amounts all together myself. When I stated that this seemed complicated and unnecessary I was told that 's the only way. Most recently, I received a letter in the mail on XXXX XXXX stating I had a past due balance from my XXXX bill, I had paid my bill XXXX XXXX ( two days late because the payment was due on a sat and they were n't open, it would n't let me pay the monthly amount online just the total due with late fees so I paid first thing monday XXXX ). When I called they told me XXXX of my loans was complete and I had a past due balance because of late fees. The grace period on the loan was never brought to my attention and I did not realize it was ending ( I was told this information was in my promissary letter, they do n't inform you of this when the grace period is ending ). I had {$200.00} of late payments on this specific loan ( this was my lowest of the XXXX loans, but highest amt of late fees ) .I was confused I was told I could wait to pay off the $ XXXX in late fees after I had paid my full loan off because I would n't accrue more late fees on them and they wouldnt be considered past due until the loan was paid in full. I was never told that late fees were different amounts for different loans and that once a specific loan is finished I 'd need to pay that specific late fee. All the late fees have shown up as XXXX amount, {$110.00} for the total loan amount. I feel like I 'm being scammed somewhere and I ca n't get clear answers. Help please!

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