Consumer complaint received 2018-07-30
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: NC
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
In XX/XX/XXXX I subdivided a property and obtained 2 separate loans with XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, one for {$260000.00} and the other, {$760000.00}. The loans were transferred to Wells Fargo. Six months later it was discovered that the the loan documents had incorrect legal descriptions in that the large parcel description incorrectly included the entire parcel, and the small parcel description did not adequately describe the property. The loans were corrected by the Title Company and recorded. A month after the loans were originated the houses were again severely impacted with flooding from Hurricane Isabel. It
soon became apparent there was severe foundation settling with subsequent extensive interior and exterior damage and loss of value.

My husband divorced me in XX/XX/XXXX and at our Equitable Distribution Hearing the Judge stated he could not divide these 2 parcels as the recorded legal documents still had them as a combined parcel.

After my divorce I was unable to make the payments due to my drastic loss of income, and Wells started foreclosure proceedings. I arranged to do a short sale, but the buyer was unable to proceed because the Title Search showed a total of 5 mortgages against the 2 properties, 4 Wells Fargo loans and an SBA loan that I had taken out to repair my other rental properties. Finally, Wells Fargo canceled out 2 of the loans but were unable to cancel out the original incorrect loan on the large parcel because of the SBA loan that was in second position.

They continued to pursue foreclosure but I fought this, stating that, if the foreclosure sale took place I would lose my smaller property which was covered by another mortgage.

I continued to work with many departments at Wells Fargo to resolve the issue. For years I consulted with their Lands Transactions Department, Legal Department etc. at the same time attempting to reach a settlement. Finally an attorney at the bank did an Exception to the legal description, excepting out the smaller parcel from the larger parcel description on the incorrect first loan document.

In the meantime, with the bank 's persistent foreclosure efforts, I had had to seek bankruptcy protection. Because of the very high back interest and penalties they had accessed against the mortgage, ( over {$1.00} million ), I had to file for the very expensive Chapter XXXX, instead of Chapter XXXX   Bankruptcy. My bankruptcy was confirmed in XX/XX/XXXX.

In my bankruptcy, the bank agreed that the house was valued at only {$300000.00} but they absolutely refused to allow me any work-out solution. They demanded that I pay back the {$1.00} million or auction the house at a public sale.

I reached out to the Wells Fargo Executive Office and made arrangements to use my rental income to renovate another of my Wells Fargo properties and sell it to pay off that note and then sell off other of my properties to pay out my 2 remaining mortgages. I did renovations but the property did not sell as our real estate market remained depressed.

In XX/XX/XXXX Wells again started foreclosure action and instead of allowing me to resume my monthly loan payments, they demanded I pay all my back owed payments in a lump sum, which was impossible for me to do.

My Chapter XXXX Bankruptcy was dismissed in XX/XX/XXXX of this year and Wells continued the foreclosure on all three properties. I was able to get an loan modification approved on my smaller parcel but because of the boundary issues with the larger parcel it is not complete. The legal Dept. representative states she put in a request for the foreclosure attorney to postpone the sale of the larger parcel ; however the foreclosure attorney office states they have had no such request.

I attempted a loan modification on the larger parcel but the bank will not do it as they continue to base the property value on a very incorrect drive-by appraisal. I also attempted a short sale but I have been unable to get an investor to offer any where near the high value the bank places on the property. The bank refused to do an interior appraisal until I had an offer. I did get a low offer, but the bank then states I am less than 37 days away from the foreclosure sale date.

With my foreclosure sale scheduled 3 days away I am left in a terrible position. If the sale takes place, I am left with no place to live as my credit is totally destroyed due to my bankruptcy and I am unable to get a loan from another lender to purchase another home.

I have devoted the last 10 years of my life fighting this issue. The countless work hours, and the emotional stress I have experienced have drastically affected my quality of life.

It is not my fault that I am left with this situation ; if errors had not been made, the problem would have been resolved years ago. Now I am left owing over {$140000.00} to my bankruptcy attorney even after paying him thousands of dollars. And even worse I will lose my home where I have lived for 33 years.

So I am reaching out for help to solve this terrible situation.

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