Consumer complaint received 2017-06-21
Product: Mortgage — Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (NY)

Although I 've categorized this complaint regarding my home equity product I also have major issues with how Wells Fargo handled my 1st mortgage as well. Let me summarize the details : in XX/XX/XXXX I XXXX XXXX purchased a home with my former husband ( XXXX XXXX ) through XXXX XXXX. The property address is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, NY XXXX. At the time we had very little to put down and quite a bit of debt under our name but needed to buy a home due to my being pregnant with my second child and needing more space. XXXX made it seem as if they were helping us obtain our dreams but little did we know the unscrupulous actions they took. We took out two loans to make the purchase first for {$340000.00} at 6.125 % for 360 months loan # XXXX and the 2nd was for {$110000.00} at 8.95 % loan # XXXX maturing XX/XX/XXXX ( just recently found out this was a balloon note and explained what this meant ). At some point my mortgage was assumed by Wells Fargo and I would have to dig through my paperwork to identify when but it was prior to XX/XX/XXXX. Late in XX/XX/XXXX I  became XXXX again with my XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) and due to XXXX was forced to XXXX XXXX which caused financial constraints. I pleaded with Wells Fargo for assistance since I was already behind on payments on my 1st mortgage and they agreed to a modification during a period which from what i 'm told the government was already bailing banks out with financial assistance. They modified my 1st mortgage on XX/XX/XXXX to a 5.0 % rate and changed it to a 480 month payment plan at a new principal balance of {$380000.00}. I found out that this supposed financial assistance in the long run would have earned Wells Fargo more interest in the long run due to something called amortization during a period where the government was supposedly bailing banks out and at no point did they offer to assist me with my 2nd mortgage knowing full well that with this balloon payment that would be due in XX/XX/XXXX I would face issues again. Still at this point I was under the impression that I was being helped and still had no idea the ramifications of my second mortgage and it 's deceptive nature and use back in the mid XX/XX/XXXX 's. In the summer of XX/XX/XXXX I received communications from Wells Fargo about refinancing my 1st mortgage which I took advantage of on XX/XX/XXXX to refi at 4.125 % for 360 months loan # XXXX. When I asked for help with my 2nd mortgage I was told once again that nothing could be done since my home value was under water. It was than that not knowing I visited a trusted banker at XXXX to ask if they could assist with my 2nd mortgage and he told me to bring in my documents so he can look at my terms and see what could be done. It was than in late XX/XX/XXXX that he informed me that my 2nd mortgage originated in XX/XX/XXXX was what 's called a balloon note. He showed me the paperwork showing how in XX/XX/XXXX my last payment on the 2nd was {$90000.00}. Let me add that I was looking at all these attempts to save because I recently became divorced and assumed control of the home for the sake of my children. Once he showed me the terms, showed me the last payment, I cried uncontrollably. At no point during the countless conversations with representatives from Wells Fargo did any of the representatives point out this impending issue. Wells Fargo knew my debt situation, they knew I was in a divorce proceeding and not one representative took the necessary actions to try and help. The banker also pointed out how Wells modification back in XX/XX/XXXX would actually earn them more in interest totaling an extra {$100000.00} when looking at what he called he amortization tables due to the stretching out of time and their tacking on huge penalties. So here I am left wondering what to do, I 've been told to hire a lawyer since they may be able to get my 2nd mortgage forgiven but as I said I am divorced and barely making ends meet now. I feel as if even when the system uncovered all the ugliness created by the banks I was still taken advantage of back in XX/XX/XXXX with my modification and the refusal to acknowledge the danger of my 2nd mortgage. I have attached copies of various documents to substantiate my claims and hopefully someone can assist and see that this could have been handled differently. I feel as if I had the money to hire a lawyer back in XX/XX/XXXX that this would n't have happened but since I was uneducated when it came to finances I was cheated.