Consumer complaint received 2021-08-26
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (VA)

Our mortgage company, Wells Fargo ( " WF '' ), failed to pay our real estate taxes out of our escrow account for the period XX/XX/XXXX. We did not know about this failure until they provided an inaccurate escrow review statement to us on or about XX/XX/XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, after spending hours reviewing WF and the City of XXXX documents, we sent a letter to WF notifying them of their error in not paying our taxes in XX/XX/XXXX ; thus, incurring substantial penalties and interest and huge real estate tax invoices, which WF paid out of our account in XX/XX/XXXX. This put our escrow account in a negative balance situation. 

In addition, we informed WF that they grossly overstated what our future escrow payments would be because they thought our real estate taxes had gone up by a grossly inaccurate amount ( based on their paying back taxes, penalties and interest, late real estate tax bills, as well as current real estate taxes owed as of XX/XX/XXXX ). 

In response to our request for a new escrow analysis, which they provided on or about XX/XX/XXXX, we realized that WF had again miscalculated what was due, what should be in our escrow balance and spent more time and effort trying to figure out what our true escrow balance should be. In addition, we paid out of our personal account one payment that we saw was late to the City of XXXX. XXXX still includes in the escrow balance the penalties and interest they paid to the City of XXXX as a result of their failure to pay our real estate taxes in a timely manner. 

We have no idea if we have been reported to a reporting bureau for late real estate tax payments or have any other derogatory information on our credit reports because of WF 's failures as escrow agent.

We contacted WF by phone and put all of the information we gathered in a letter to WF dated XX/XX/XXXX. In response to our call ( see XX/XX/XXXX correspondence ) a WF supervisor XXXX told us we owed WF the penalties and interest ( that are still showing in our escrow balance as due ) and that they had paid us back part of them " as a courtesy '', sent " canned letters '' that did not address our concern and had a representative call us named XXXX XXXX phone number can be provided ), who stated he would have to refer this " complicated '' matter to someone else. Someone else from WF did contact my husband recently by phone to say he was working on the matter, but we have not heard anything more. 

Our XX/XX/XXXX mortgage is due and we are guesttimating what we should pay as a new escrow amount. WF has had over a month and a half to resolve this matter. We have not been paid back all of the penalties and late fees they paid to the City when they failed to make appropriate timely escrow payments. We do not have a proper escrow analysis.

We have paid all mortgage payments and escrow payments on time to WF and they misapplied that money, failed to pay it out in a timely fashion and continue to misstate what is owed because of their negligence. They are including the late penalties and interest in our current escrow analysis. 

We are sure that we are not the only mortgagor who WF has failed to make timely escrow payments and then paid late fees and penalties out of the mortgagor 's escrow account without informing the mortgagor as WF did to us. We are sure WF has violated numerous laws and regulations regarding our account.