Consumer complaint received 2016-10-21
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY (IL)

Wells Fargo contacted me about a possible refinance into a shorter term loan. This made a lot of sense financially so we proceeded with getting the process started. We scheduled the appraisal and paid Wells Fargo for it. The appraiser showed up late, was very unprofessional, did not ask any questions and would not speak to me while they were here. They turned lights on and did n't turn them off. I received an email after they left through their servicing agency XXXX asking me to rate the appraiser. This appraisal was done in the morning so I was not able to get to the review until later that day. Once I attempted to leave a review the link in the email was broken. I contacted XXXX in the attempt to leave a review with an agent so they were aware of their unprofessionalism and was told that due to regulations a review can not be left after the completed appraisal has been submitted. I was told that the appraisal was submitted 5 hours from the time the appraiser left my house. In shock as to how quick they were able to complete this appraisal I looked up the appraiser 's office to find they were located XXXX miles away from my house. It is clear that the majority of the appraisal had to have been completed before this appraiser had even stepped foot in my house. The appraisal came back lower than what we had purchased our house for 16 months earlier. At that time our purchasing neighborhood had multiple foreclosed homes and only a couple homes were built in the new construction part of our subdivision. The neighborhood over the last 12 months has seen XXXX foreclosures and more than XXXX new homes have been built, all smaller than mine and most with values higher than my original purchase price. This should be a clear indication that the local subdivision is in an uptrend. The comps used by the appraiser were selected to bring my home value down along with other inaccuracies as simple as not counting my garage spaces accurately. When confronting Wells Fargo about this inaccurate appraisal I was told that the only option would be for me to either accept it or I would have to do the leg work to contest the appraiser 's comps. I was also yelled at by the mortgage consultant when questioning how they had no problem justifying my purchase price when this neighborhood was doing poorly. And now that I am refinancing we received an appraised value based on 9+ month old comps that did not reflect the true value of my house. I also questioned, why during my purchase they brought in a local appraiser vs bringing in an appraiser that is located XXXX miles away. There is no way a non-local appraiser can have any idea of the true value of my house and the market trends of my subdivision. Because of the low appraisal Wells Fargo now can charge me a higher payment due to my LTV. I told the mortgage consultant that I would not be doing business with Wells Fargo if this is the way they do things and still continued to get harassing emails as if my request to cancel was unheard. I believe that Wells Fargo manipulates their appraisers to provide values that are in Wells Fargo 's interest and not the consumers. I am out {$500.00} for the appraisal and now have a credit inquiry reporting because of this. I also have a fear that this unprofessional institution whom has all my personal information will do something criminal with it. I feel that if this is looked into across Wells Fargo 's appraisals you will find this happens often. Please make sure that other homeowners trying to refinance are not manipulated or taken advantage of like was.