Consumer complaint received 2019-08-02
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: MS
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
I have only 7 months to go until my mortgages maturity date with Wells Fargo Bank, which at {$390.00} a month, should only be {$2500.00} in payments. But {$10000.00} in unexplained charges were incorporated into my principal balance for assessment fees which will cause me to unjustly go into foreclosure with just 7 months away! After noticing how high my principal was about 3 years ago, I called and visited the bank to ask why, and for almost two years I was assured that the principal balance included the advanced payments made by the bank for taxes and insurance that an agreement was made to pay back by the maturity date of my loan. But starting last year, the bank executives changed the story and said that the $ 8-9,000 owed for Taxes & Insurance was itemized in its own column on the statement, and after all were NOT a part of the Principal Balance but instead included other unnamed charges. These unexplained charges are listed only throughout the summary sheets as assessment fees. but totaled up and hidden in the principal balance rather than in a column to easily distinguish the charges such as was done for taxes, ins, and late fees. This causes a false default of my contract because based on the maturity date, no new loans or modifications, all legal contracts are designed to pay off on schedule, as mine should by all verifiable accounts. However, while making monthly payments, their newest abrupt assessment of charges gave me only two years to come up with the unexplained {$10000.00} added in my PB, in addition to the undisputed {$9700.00} owed for taxes & Ins- totaling {$25000.00} rather than the true amount of near {$13000.00}. My account was assigned to one executive after another for the past year or so- who all requested 30 days for review, and they all ended up sending out the very same package of summaries with years of normal transactions, a copy of my deeds and explanations about how I did in fact owe {$9700.00} for taxes and insurance for which I stated over and over, even in an email, I did not dispute. As early as yesterday,XX/XX/XXXX, after another 2 month investigation, a Wells Fargo executive called to give her conclusive findings, and it was the same as all the rest ; she stated I do in fact owe for TAXES and INSURANCE to be paid by the maturity date! I said to her, I made it VERY clear that those charges are not in dispute ; you said you would investigate the fees & charges incorporated into my pricipal balance And she said, we have no record of you actually requesting that specific investigation! As if no record for such request would be used for any potential legal claim. I then advised her that the request for my only concern was also put in the email to the Board of Communications on XX/XX/XXXX,  and from that email, my account was assigned to you, and therefore you did know which charges were in dispute and to be investigated. Not once did any of them mention assessment fees in their letters or verbal responses, they disregarded the term altogether as they kept committing to 30 days or more of fake investigations that is quickly leading me to run out of time for coming up with the money for paying the bogus fees. One executive told me that those fees can only come from foreclosures, reappraisals, or modification loans- none of which I have had -and that is likely why the bankers disregard explaining the fees altogether! I also googled Assessement Fees and it states that those are fees that the bank owe, but charge to the customer. I have two other complaints that I wont go as far into details for now : To add insult to injury, WF recently raised my monthly note by almost {$200.00} by starting an untimely estrow by adding the latest ins premium  into it, which breaks the two decade agreement to pay back all Ins premiums by the maturity date. It all seems to be designed to force me into foreclosure after paying for my home! Complaint # 3 : in the past few years, WF switched my loan from a Hone Equity Loan to a Mortage Loan likely depriving me of easier equity benefits for emergencies such as these. Also, my maturity date was moved from XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX without my  signature, knowledge or permission by the previous loan holder before and WF tookover, but WF states that because I had two extensions, each for two payments of {$800.00}, my principal was made higher. But I was told that the two extensions would simply put those payments at the end of the loan, but I found out recently that it was instead handled like a refinancing causing my maturity date to unknowingly change, with an agent at XXXX XXXX, the former account holder, forging my signature, which I saw for the first time in my copy of deeds that WF sent to me. Although the unauthorized changing of the maturity date was designed to accommodate the notes being put on the end of the loan for a total of {$1600.00} ; WF executives still claimed that those notes affected the balance and caused the {$10000.00} in overcharges rather than it being the assessment fees, which based on the high amount and the new maturity date, can not possibly be accurate. The new CEO of Wells Fargo assured its customers that we would no longer be victims of the banks bogus fees and scams, but it has clearly not stopped Thank you for your attention in this matter.

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