Consumer complaint received 2017-05-10
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (KY)

On  XXXX   XXXX ,  2017  our house was damaged in a storm. The insurance company was quick to issue the first check so that we could start repairing our house and other structures. The first check was for {$9800.00} and the main part of that check was for the roof replacement on our house. When I received the check it h ad Wells Fargo also listed on the check because they are the mortgage holder on the house. I called Wells Fargo main Property Loss Dept to find out what to do and they told me that I would have to endorse the check and then send it to them so they could endorse it and then they would put the funds into an escrow acct to be used for the repairs. I explained to them that part of that check was also for personal items that were not part of the dwelling. They told me to overnight the check to them and then include a letter of what items were personal items and that they would overnight a check back to me for those items. I did exactly as they asked. About a week went by and I did not hear anything from Wells Fargo, nor did I receive any check. I calle d them to see what was going on and they proceeded to tell me that they were n't going to send the money for the personal items right back to me because they did n't feel as though they were personal items. I explained to them that these items plus some of the structures that were listed on the insurance report were items that if I left this property they would go with me and that they were n't permit structures on the property. They still refused to send me the money for my items. A couple days later a rep fro m Wells Fargo called me and told me that she was assigned my case because they had heard that I was n't happy with them. I explained to her what was going on and  she actually sided with me and said she would check into it. She told me that she had 30 days to investigate this and try to get it resolved. I never did hear back from her but I did receive a check for those items in a bout 2 weeks  after talking to her.   Now the next issue that I had was when I hired a roofer to replace our roof. I got all the paperwork filled out from the roofer and sent it to them via fax. This was around  XXXX   XXXX . Original estimate that we sent in for the roofer was {$6600.00}. According to  Wells Fargo 's polic ies that they sent me they were supposed to release a check as soon as the insurance check cleared so that I could start repairs, that did n't happen. Also according to their policy they are suppose to release at least 25 % of the agreed estimate for th e contractor be fore the job starts to help pay for materials. This did n't happen either. The roof was done in  one day. The  total cost of the roof was {$7000.00}. The reason for the difference is because the roofer noticed that the house did not have a roof vent originally installed. The roofer ask me if I wanted  one  installed so I called the insurance company to see if they would cover it. The insurance company agreed to cover the extra {$450.00} because it was a code upgrade for the house. That money was sent in th e 2nd c heck that they issued. When the roof was completed I cal led Wells Fargo to setup an inspection of the roof so that the roofer could get paid. They said it would take 2-5 busin ess days to get it inspected. The inspector came out 3 days later and took pics of the roof and some of the other damaged items. I told him the roof was done and that t he contractor  needed paid. He said he would show the total claim being 50 % done. Several weeks went by and a check was not received. I ca lled Wells Fargo several times to inquire about the check and each time they had a different excuse for the check not being issued. I finally talked to a girl that agreed that she would at least get the original {$6600.00} sent to me so that I could at least pay the roofer that. A week later I received a check for {$3400.00}. I called Wells Fargo as soon as I got that check to find out what was going on and why the check was n't for  {$6600.00}. That person went on to tell me that the girl was wrong and the amount of {$6600.00} could not be released to pay  the contractor becau se the whole claim was only 50 % completed. After many days of arguing with different people I had a guy named  XXXX   XXXX  get the other {$3200.00} of the original {$6600.00} released to me. By then I had received the rest of the insurance claim money in the sum of {$19000.00}. I explained to  XXXX  that the {$450.00} for the code upgrade was included in that insurance check. I asked him if I could go ahead and pay the roofer the {$6600.00} that they already sent, plus me pay the roofer out of my own pocket the {$450.00} to have the roofer paid off in full. By this time the roofer had not been paid in  4 week s.  XXXX  agreed that I could pay the roofer and that all I needed to do was get a receipt from the roofer showing that the {$450.00} had been paid by me in full and then fax it t o Wells Fargo and  I would be reimbursed as soon as the second insurance check cleared. I went ahead and paid the roofer and sent the receipt in showing that I paid the {$450.00}. That was on  XXXX   XXXX . On  XXXX   XXXX  I received a call from  XXXX  and he told me that my request to be reimbursed for the {$450.00} was denied by some department. I asked him to transfer me to that department so that I could find out why and he told me that department had no way to be contacted. I informed  XXXX  that this was not right that I was out of pocket any funds at all considering the insurance company had sent the funds to cover the damages already and  that Wells Fargo  had these funds available to pay these bills. He responded by saying that I would have to have another inspection and get a bigger percentage of the repairs done and then they could release more funds. I explained to him that the policy they have does not makes sense because the homeowner, which pays the insurance, should not be out of pocket for any of the repairs that were covered by the insurance checks. He just kept quoting their policy and stating that he could n't do anything else. He was supposed to call me back that same day with either some more info on getting me paid or a phone number of someone higher level so that I could further discuss this matter and try to get it resolved. He never called back. So now I am out {$450.00} and that money was available to be paid to me, but they refuse to pay me until more work is completed.  One of t he other big things that I have to rebuild is a detached garage that will probably total around $  XXXX  to build. So according to their policy I will need to get this built before I can recoup anymore money. The problem is that the garag e contractor is going to require at least half of the money upfront to cover the material of the build. According to their policy they can not release the funds in that amount because it does n't fit into their percentage charts. So basically they are expecting me, the homeowner, to pay whatever gap is left between what they agree to pay and what the contractor actually needs to be paid to start. The problem is that I do n't have that kind of money to pay the contractor. So how am I suppose to get my garage fixed if I ca n't get the funds to start it? I ca n't, plus I ca n't get my {$450.00} back that I have already spent. If I was able to pay the contractor to start on the garage the contractor has already told me that it would take at least 3-4 weeks to get the garage started because of their scheduled builds already. So I would have to go at least a month or m onth and a half of being out of pocket that money that I had to chip in. This is not right. The funds are in the escrow account to cover all of this.