Consumer complaint received 2024-12-06 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — FHA mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — Applying for or obtaining a modification, forbearance plan, short sale, or deed-in-lieu
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: AZ

Complaint narrative:
Several times during XXXX  years of my original FHA-Wells Fargo loan , I requested to use my rights to streamline refinance my existing XXXX  FHA loan with Wells Fargo , which were outlined in my original FHA contracted loan. 
Their mortgage department repeatedly denied me these rights, and told me that these rights " no longer existed, and that my " loan had changed, been modified and replaced by them and the Governenment. '' *My FHA contract rights to streamline refinance did NOT require credit checks, appraisal or income verifications, tax records, self-employment records, etc. 

I was denied all 3 times that I asked, and lied to, that my rights to that streamline refinance no longer existed, even though I still have my original FHA/Wells Fargo loan documents and said that I did.

I also verified with FHA several times, that my streamline rights DID STILL EXIST, and that FHA could see my original loan just as I have it on paper. 

Wells Fargo deliberately lying about my rights to streamlime in beneficial ways, put me into financial jeopardy each time as they tried to convince me that I " needed a new loan, needed to go through the full process again, requalify, prove my incomes and taxes, bank accounts '' in a tedious long process for a cash out refinance, and/ or HELOC. 

I STATED PLAINLY, that I had STAYED in my original loan, EXACTLY FOR THE AGREED BENEFITS OF MY RIGHTS TO STREAMLIME AT ANY TIME. 
But they were more interested in finding out if I was foreclosure risk, and in selling me new loans, and asking deeply personal questions about my finances and living situations to see if anything I said could be used against me to trigger a foreclosure status and to move forward on me that way, like a bulldozer ... : - ( Several years later, I was denied my rights to forebearance in conversations, at a time when I really needed help and was already sure that they had erased my rights to streamline refinance options that could have saved myself. 
But again, I was also denied rights to forebearance at a time when I really needed it, and again, putting me into severe financial jeopardy when I had just been XXXX, had a severe XXXX XXXX a XXXX way XXXX, could not XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX or XXXX XXXX, speak well or see, but there was no forebearance available for me apparently, although I had incurred a severe loss of income, family, physucal ability, and status, apparently. 

And of the times when my mortgage monthly payment was late due to my pay check or Social Security being late, they did not even allow me the commonly used " 15 day grace period, '' and were ringing my phone several times per day, and sending text messages, just as if I had no grace period. 
They even had their Escalation Department calling me to see how fast they could throw me into foreclosure status based on personal digging questions : - ( This went on for months, until I filed formal complaints concerning it with a Wells Fargo night time call center employee calling me for payment demands, before my grace period until the 15th of the month was even used up. She made a note of it for me so the nonsense harranging would desist. 

XXXXTo say, that they have caused me financial hardship, financial risk, and jeopardy over almost 3 decades in my original XXXX FHA mortgage, is an understatement.

It got so bad with Wells Fargo mortgage continually denying all my options to maneuver to a safer financial situation for myself, that I had to shop for other loans all over town, and all over the USA, with nearly 20 other banks, plus credit unions, plus brokers, etc, just because Wells Fargo refused to honor my original XXXX  FHA loan agreement that ensured my rights to FHA streamline refinance, if I should ever need it. 
And I finally did need it badly. 

Wells Fargo sent me to the brink of financial disaster every time I tried to negotiate anything, and almost caused my *homelessness a few years ago, except for 5 people in my XXXX stepping up to save me in my financial crisis. And this was before Wells Fargo ever thought to offer me my FHA contracted streamline refinance rights, forbearance, or even a simple HELOC to allow me to maneuver financially. 

And Wells Fargo lied a lot. 
My numerous ongoing calls to multiple FHA offices in California, and here in XXXX, and letters to FHA offices in Washington XXXX, identified that regularly. 
I reached out absolutely everywhere for help just as soon as I thought my personal financial conditions were changing and would necessitate the need to use my rights to maneuver financially. But each time in my initial reaching out for help, my rights were deliberately hidden from me by Wells Fargo mortgage departments, and outrightly denied to me, by way of their outright lies about my original XXXX  FHA mortgage contract, and my contracted rights therein that same original XXXX FHA contract, AND their ongoing lies in insisting that my " original XXXX  FHA contract had been 'replaced by a newer and different contract ' by the GOVERNMENT, AND by Wells Fargo XXXX '' This pile of illegal lies actually came from the Wells Fargo mortgage department employee, who then admitted to me, that he actually " could not see my original contract, '' and " was not aware of what was promised to me in it, '' and that he " did not have access to it or copies, nor did the bank, nor on computer servers, microfische, paper form or otherwise. '' I was asking for copies by that time due to my suspicions in this case, and the serious warnings that the FHA offices gave to me concerning " MANY LEVELS of illegal foreclosures being used against homeowner 's in violation of FHA foreclosure government rules. '' The XXXX FHA office veridied this problem to me substantially! 
I believe this was around the time my emails went out to head FHA offices for their help in keeping Wells Fargo straight and within legal bounderies. 

This is when I knew for certain that I had to proceed with FHA formal complaints to get this bait and switch BREECH OF CONTRACT illegality notated with FHA, and registered with them, because I was likely not the only victim of Wells Fargo mortgage fraud bait and switch, and breech of contract fraud. 
*** And I need to mention here, that during the original FHA loan closing, Wells Fargo Mortgage banker XXXX XXXX, tried to switch my loan papers and loan to a conventional loan at the last minute at our closing XXXX, in order to cheat me out of my FHA loan, and then get paid her much higher commission and closing costs in the process of switching my agreed-upon FHA loan to a conventional loan without even telling me, or asking me!! : - ( XXXX XXXX got mad when I caught her mistake moments before signing, and warned us that not doing as she instructed, " would cost us weeks more in getting the loan done. '' It was a threat. 
But I still refused to sign and I held my ground instead, rather than jump into a new loan that I haven't even reviewed or been told anything about, and then coersion-forced into signing for it, too. 

Then she contacted my husband behind my back, and tried to coerce him into coming into signing her choice of conventional loan, and then having him put pressure on me to abide by her demands. : - ( I still refused to sign, or budge, from wanting my FHA, because I knew that my rights were far greater under FHA loans, and that I no longer trusted anything she professed " would be better or quicker, '' and with last second undisclosed terms. : - ( Wells Fargo apparently does not like FHA loans, because the commission loads on them are controlled by FHA, as are the junk fees, the bank appraisal fees, the bank closing costs, and MY RIGHTS TO A STREAMLINE REFINANCE WITH NO QUESTIONS ASKED, THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE TERM OF THE LOAN!! : - ( Additionally, there were 3 times, in which we attempted to pre-pay our next upcoming monthly mortgage payment, in order to positively ammortize our loan which would serve to decrease the 30 year term of the loan to a shorter time like XXXX  years, while building equity much sooner in the loan so that we could borrow against, and also to build better credit rating for both of us too. 

We were denied this right in person twice, and again on the phone twice, with a reason stated that we would " have to buy a service that Wells Fargo offered that allowed us to do that. '' This statement, I believe to also be highly illegal because it is always your right to pre-pay your loan, and/or, prepay monthly payments toward it, which absolutely triggers the refactoring and recalculation of the loan and can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars on the life of that XXXX  year loan that would positively ammortorize and recalculate to a shortened to XXXX or XXXX  year term on that same loan. 

Had we been allowed to do as we asked, we would have finished the loan in XXXX  years instead of XXXX, and would have nearly doubled our equity on the home sooner, thus increasing our credit scores, making us more desirable clients elsewhere, and would have saved us a minimum of {$100000.00} dollars in monthly payments, in the overall cost to finance the entire XXXX  year term on the loan to XXXX or XXXX  years. 

This denial was not by accident nor was the contract switching to a mystery conventional loan right at closing ; nor were all the denials to me for tapping into my FHA rights to streamline refinance my loan with no questions asked, OR to get a HELOC so I could resituate myself by using my OWN EQUITY, OR to get forbearance when I was in dire straits and really needed it but dealing with Wells Fargo involved monumental risks that I was not healthy enough to risk. 

Therefore, I never bothered to even apply for Covid Forbearance using the Government Cares Act pertaining to XXXX and economic disaster allowances for it. 
My thinking was that with Wells Fargo, the answer was already a " no '' before dialing their number, and that they would somehow find some method of ruining me or my FHA loan, by bulldozing me into foreclosure status, for daring to even try asking for help. : - ( FHA verified that dangerous gamble to me too. 

I did just try to upload a mortgage statement, but the website threw me off and logged me out, then lost my file. 
Contact me if you need them. I have to close out before they delete me again. 
Thank you

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