Consumer complaint received 2017-01-19
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card
Issue: False statements or representation
Sub-issue: Attempted to collect wrong amount

Complaint:
This complaint is against XXXX , XXXX, dba XXXX XXXX XXXX & Wells Fargo Bank. Funds were levied from an account to which I have no financial interest & which contained the direct deposit proceeds of my mother 's social security benefit payments. The funds taken exceeded the maximum as stated. Funds were not posted or forwarded as I was told had been done and were held for a period of two years after seizure. Both organizations failed to respond in a timely manners with accurate information to my requests or to the requests made to each other resulting in an erroneous accrual of interest and continued damage to my credit rating. As a result of errors a second account was erroneously levied and an additional amount seized from a savings account which contained the proceeds of my husband 's Veteran 's Administration XXXX Benefits. To this date I have received false information and have yet to get resolution to this matter. I am seeking your assistance. The particulars follow. 
Due to an unexpected job loss and {$80000.00} per annum in income coupled with a sudden increase in expenses my husband and I found ourselves in a difficult and very emotionally painful situation of having to renegotiate our credit card debt. We were unable to come to a resolution with XXXX and the balance continued to rise exponentially even though we were making payments. In lieu of this we decided to focus our efforts elsewhere and unfortunately the account went into default. The account was purchased by XXXX XXXX. A judgment was ordered by XXXX XXXX Superior Court and a default judgment entered on XX/XX/XXXX. I did not fight the judgment because I did in fact owe the money. I did not agree with the amount but felt that there was little I could do. 
On XXXX/XXXX/XXXX just before the XXXX XXXX when banks and businesses are closed, a levy was sent to Wells Fargo Bank in XXXX, AZ and funds in the amount of {$4800.00} were withdrawn. No notice was given and it was only discovered when my mother went to access her account. This account was my Mother 's Social Security direct deposit account. I was listed, along with my sister, as joint in the event that my mother needed emergency funds and was unable to access them for any reason. After multiple phone calls back and forth between myself, Wells Fargo, and XXXX as I attempted to have the illegally seized funds returned to my mother without success I made an agreement with my mother to pay her back. At this point I considered the matter closed and made restitution to my mother. Over one year later, in XX/XX/XXXX I received a notice from XXXX stating that the amount was still outstanding. I immediately called them and after being transferred around several times talked with XXXX XXXX who assured me that the matter would be resolved and that the funds were with the XXXX County Sheriff 's Office. She would not give me a phone number or contact that I could follow up with stating that the matter was between them and the Sheriff 's Office. XX/XX/XXXX I received a letter from XXXX stating that they were willing to renegotiate the amount owed and wipe out up to XXXX % of the debt. As the XXXX season was approaching and I was dealing with a multitude of family issues I decided to contact them after the holiday the following week. Imagine my surprise when I went to access our savings account at XXXX only to discover that no funds were available because a lien had been served by XXXX and {$5100.00} had been seized. This now brings the total taken from accounts to {$10000.00} which is {$4500.00} more than the original amount ordered. As of this date I have received a check for {$4400.00} from Wells Fargo returning some of the funds taken in error. I have been unable to cash this check due to the way it is written.

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