Consumer complaint received 2015-09-24
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Credit decision / Underwriting — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (NC)

I started applying for a Mortgage loan at Wells Fargo in XXXX 2015. Over the course of the next two months, I provided many documents as requested by my mortgage consultant and worked patiently with her through this process and XXXX 's of emails back and forth. We were purchasing the home from a family member and was told there were different guidelines for buying from family. We provided many additional documents related to that as well. The appraisal ( which cost {$560.00} - paid to Wells Fargo ) was performed per request of Wells Fargo and we then adjusted the sales price to reflect the lower appraisal amount. We also were told to go ahead and purchase the Foundation Certificate ( Cost {$420.00} paid directly to Foundation company ) since they would need that for closing. We had originally set the closing date for XXXX XXXX, then it was moved to XXXX XXXX, then last moved to XXXX XXXX due to more info requested. The day before closing, I get a call from my mortgage consultant saying underwriting came back with an issue in regards to the seller 's mortgage payment history ( My mom ) and would need to get reviewed by the National underwriting. Apparently, when buying from family they can not have any late payments over the last 12 months or it is considered a bail out situation. This is the first I had heard or was told of this guideline. This was never mentioned or asked by the mortgage person. The day of closing, XXXX XXXX, I was given a denial on the loan application and was told we had to wait 12 months for her to have on time payments. At this point, I called to make sure this was a definite answer since this was a unique situation. 1 ) the property is not in my mom 's name, it is in the estate of my dad. After he passed, my mom became the executor of his estate. Her name was n't on the title, but we had some title issues in the beginning and her name was added during this 2 month period with Wells Fargo. We have also been living in/renting this home for 6 years and this was not a bailout. These factors should have been considered, but were not. I was told that this requirement is a hard and fast rule and there is no way around it but for the mortgage to show a 12 month on-time payment history. I then tried to get a refund on the appraisal since it should have never been ordered in the first place. This mortgage was going to be denied from day one and here we are two months later with {$1000.00} paid for the appraisal and foundation certificate combined and two months of time wasted. I was told I could not get a refund since this fee is nonrefundable. This appraisal was ordered by Wells Fargo and there was never any concerns raised over our possibility for approval of this loan. No matter what our finances looked like, credit history, etc. we were never going to get this loan approved due to the sellers late payments and we find this out after all fees are paid and on the day we were scheduled to close two months later. Wells Fargo will not refund the appraisal fee, but I feel should be refunded due to negligence on their part through this loan process. I called other banks to see if they have the same requirement, and yes they do ( all major financial institutions do ), but they said the question is raised in the very beginning, since it is a requirement for non-arms length transactions. I should have never made it through 2 mo. of the mortgage process and up to closing date. I am not requesting for the foundation certificate to be refunded, but I should get refunded for the appraisal ( which is way over-priced anyway- the avg cost of appraisal is {$300.00}, I paid {$560.00} ). I even called the top-level complaints dept. They would only let me talk to the one person who started the complaint. She did n't try to resolve anything, just made excuses for Wells Fargo and saying my mom should have paid on time. No blame was ever accepted on their part for the neglect.