Consumer complaint received 2023-06-24
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill
Sub-issue: Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX RE : COLLECTIONS Wells Fargo Bank, NA ( WFB ), Acct XXXX XXXX, ( CFPB ) Cases, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX To whom this may concern, XX/XX/XXXX, the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and effected millions across the nation, which eventually created massive job losses, delayed unemployment benefits, delayed stimulus payments, delayed federal extensions, paused government and financial institutions to no fault of the consumer what so ever. XX/XX/XXXX, my federal extension was cut off without good reason by The State of Californias Employment Development Department ( EDD ). By doing so, it resulted in delinquent payments and destroyed my credit to no fault of mine. I have produced my past credit and current credit history, see ( EXHIBIT A, Pgs. 1-3 ). These exhibits clearly show previous years of good standing credit prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, then plummets drastically because of the delays mentioned above, which was beyond my control. 
Recently, after one year and nine months, questioning ( EDDs ) unforeseen adverse actions, XX/XX/XXXX, ( EDD ) miraculously released the missing federal extension payments, see ( EXHIBIT B, Pgs. 1-2 ). If ( EDD ) processed the extension timely, it would have prevented the delinquent payments. Now, I am faced with a bankruptcy for the first time at a cost to me, which is unacceptable, disturbing, and concerning for a matter I did not create. 
I also reached out to The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation ( DFPI ), Office of the Comptroller of Currency ( OCC ). I argued the same mentioned above, however, neither agency would engage. In my view, there are no laws or safeguards that would protect a consumer from an event that has never taken place before. Because of the pause, it created a massive financial disruption that nobody has ever encountered before. I strongly feel, I am one of thousands, perhaps millions of consumers that was dealt a brutal blow because of the circumstances mentioned above. 
Furthermore, I find it very disturbing, as of lately there is a record number of bankruptcies being reported by consumers and businesses of all kinds. Consumers were given stimulus checks and federal extensions as well as businesses and now the majority are failing because of the pause, which is disturbing and concerning. I strongly feel all financial institutions do understand what has taken place. In my view, these financial institutions are Steam Rolling consumers for financial gain by taking advantage of millions of consumers who have delinquent and defaulted loans, which was created by the unforeseen historic Covid-19 outbreak. 
These circumstances were way beyond the control of the consumer. ( WFB ) has failed to recognize the impact this matter has created and simply do not want to. I have found out through my time spent with this matter, all lenders I have had accounts with acted in the same manner and hid behind their terms and conditions, which are dated and do not apply to this unique circumstance. There is nothing in writing within ( WFB ) terms and conditions that would describe how ( WFB ) would operate during a complete government and financial institution shutdown, because that event has never happened before in history. 
Again, in my view, there are no laws or safe guards that would protect a consumer regarding this never seen before catastrophe. So, how is a consumer supposed to protect oneself with no laws or safe guards set in place? I strongly feel, the banking institutions are fully aware of what they are doing and nobody is talking about this. So, where does that leave the consumer against these financial giants with zero resources to protect oneself against their relentless pursuit to obtain payment? Most of the nation, including myself are now being heavily impacted three years later, as its all falling apart right in front of the nations eyes with still no solution or recourse, why not? 
Additionally, the fault and blame lead back to the unforeseen Covid-19 outbreak and ( EDD ) for their inexcusable adverse actions. ( EDD ) did the right thing by issuing the past due amount. ( WFB ) must and should do the same by absorbing the past due balance to extinguish this matter due to their inexcusable patterns of unethical business practices, which has gone unnoticed. 
Finally, I received a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, from XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX, informing me of the acceleration to collect the past due amount, see ( EXHIBIT C ). I reached out to the firm and spoke with XXXX and was provided XXXX XXXX XXXX contact information. I will be forwarding XXXX XXXX this same information, so this matter can be expedited for closure. 
Lastly, I respectfully request the ( CFPB ) to re-investigate ( WFB ) for their adverse actions and patterns of unethical business practices, as I have only noted the obvious throughout my complaints. If this matter is not under the jurisdiction of the ( CFPB ), please provide the appropriate agency or agencies that may be of assistance. 
CONCLUSION I respectfully request ( WFB ) to absorb the outstanding debt and reverse any negative credit reporting. 
Respectfully, XXXX XXXX

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