Consumer complaint received 2024-11-12 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Check cashing service
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
I applied for a construction loan with XXXXXXXX XXXX  XXXX around XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX of the requirements to be approved was to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, therefore I hired XXXX XXXX and XXXX. The construction of the house began in XX/XX/XXXX. Throughout the process oXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX submitted to XXXX XXXX  requesting funds to be released to finance the project. Draw requests were forms that were to be signed by both XXXX XXXX and XXXX and I, in order for XXXX XXXX  to disburse the funds. In XX/XX/XXXX, after putting information in chronological order due to the breach of contract and thinking of seeking legal matters against XXXX XXXX and XXXX, I realized that XXXX out of the XXXX draw requests that were approved from the bank had a forged signature, and that XXXX that were sent to me by the XXXX to sign, only XXXX had been submitted. I immediately contacted XXXX XXXX  to notify them of my findings, and they advised me to seek legal advice. Thereafter, a police report was made ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 

Due to the negligence and breach of contract from RXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXhe lack and unavailability of finishing the XXXX, I was forced to seek remedy and hire a competent General XXXX ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ). XXXX XXXX  also made it a requirement to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX able to disburse the remanding funds left in the construction loan. A couple months went by, and the XXXX  was complete ( XX/XX/XXXX ). XXXX XXXX XXXX and I submitted the last draw request to XXXX XXXX, and XXXX Disbursed the remaining funds of {$74000.00} in XX/XX/XXXX from the construction loan. I attempted to cash the check at XXXX XXXX  XXXX, with both XXXX XXXX XXXX signature and my own ; however, XXXX XXXX  refused to cash the check and educated me on what avenues I had to take to cash a joint check with proper endorsement. Thanks to the education that XXXX Bank provided me on cashing a joint check, I went back to my records to review the form of payments that were disbursed and realized that XXXX XXXX and XXXX received the disbursement via XXXX joint checks. I reached out to XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, to make them aware of the forgery and asked for a copy of the back of the cashed checks. On XXXX XXXX I received the copy of the back of these checks and found that these checks were cashed with a forged endorsement and/or missing endorsement. 

On XXXX XXXX a notarized forgery affidavit of check fraud was completed at a XXXX XXXX  location. On XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX check fraud claim analyst reached out to me to begin the investigation. It was found that Well Fargo Bank was the bank that cashed these checks and neglected their due diligence when cashing XXXX joint checks. Per the back-and-forth conversation XXXX Bank was going XXXX XXXX Well Fargo liable for the checks. On XX/XX/XXXX, my attorney and I received a letter that was sent to the owner of Reliable Construction and Design that funds were going to be withdraw from his account because XXXX XXXX  XXXX requested reimbursement because Forged Endorsement, however I never received any funds. As of XX/XX/XXXX, I, have not received payment from Wells Fargo bank. Per California law, a check that is payable to XXXX parties with an and in between the payees ' names that is cashed without proper and verifiable endorsement, finds that the depository bank is liable to reimburse for this negligence. 

Because of the banks failure to comply with the California law, my family and I experienced loss of earnings, economical, emotional and mental distress. 


The following are the dates and amounts of the checks that were cashed with a forged and/or missing endorsement. 

XX/XX/XXXX for {$20000.00} cashed with a forged endorsement XX/XX/XXXX for {$25000.00} cashed with a forged endorsement XX/XX/XXXX for {$17000.00} cashed with a forged endorsement XX/XX/XXXX for {$26000.00} cashed with a missing endorsement. 

XX/XX/XXXX for {$34000.00} cashed with missing endorsement. 

Total amount : {$120000.00} See ; - Forgery, California XXXX XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX Wells Fargo Bank XXXX XXXX their due diligence, examination and analysis on proper joint check endorsement prior to cashing XXXX checks on XXXX different occasions.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation