Consumer complaint received 2026-02-24 00:00:00
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process — Escrow, taxes, or insurance
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: FL

Complaint narrative:
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage acknowledged me as the Successor in Interest to a loan on my Virginia property at XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, VA XXXX in XX/XX/year>, which had been issued under the name of my late father. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage accepted mortgage payments from me for the loan on my property after acknowledging me as Successor in Interest. After the sale of my property, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage issued a check for the escrow balance in the name of my late father, making it impossible for me to recover these funds. I contacted Wells Fargo Home Mortgage asking them to reissue the check in my name. They said they would do so but first required additional documentation. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage changed what constituted additional documentation twice before changing it again a third time. I provided the documentation that was asked for the first two times. The third time Wells Fargo Home Mortgage changed what constituted required documentation for reissuing a check, they asked me for estate documents such as papers testamentary or Small Estate Affidavit. This happened after nearly two years of back and forth between me and Wells Fargos Life Events team. Never once before had they mentioned the need for letters testamentary or estate affidavits of any kind. Under CFPB RESPA Rules and Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.30 ( d ) A confirmed successor in interest must be considered a borrower for purposes of this subpart and 1024.17, regardless of whether the successor in interest assumes the mortgage loan obligation under state law. It happens that 12 CFR 1024.17 deals specifically with Escrow Accounts and the servicing of Escrow accounts by lenders. Under 12 CFR 1024.30 ( d ) and 1024.36 ( i ) ( CFPB successor in interest rules ), once a servicer confirms a successor in interest, the successor is treated as a borrower for purposes of servicing, which includes Escrow Administration. CFPB commentary explicitly states that a confirmed successor in interest is considered a borrower for purposes of subpart C ( servicing ), including escrow accounts. With this in mind, I ask that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage consider the following 4 items and to directly and succinctly answer the question put to them in Item 4 below : Item 1 : Wells Fargo Home Mortgage acknowledged me as Successor in Interest in XX/XX/year>, before the sale of my property which resulted in the escrow balance owed. Item 2 : CFPB RESPA Rules and Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.30 ( d ) clearly stipulate that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is to treat Successors in Interest effectively as the Borrower with regard to escrow administration and the servicing of escrow accounts, which includes the issuance of any escrow balance check. Item 3 : Wells Fargo Home Mortgage would never ask a Borrower for estate papers in issuing the Borrower a check for escrow balance owed- but is obligated to remunerate the Borrower for any escrow balance without delay. Item 4 : Given that my status as Successor in Interest effectively gives me the status of Borrower under Regulation X with regard to escrow administration, on what basis then is Wells Fargo Home Mortgage asking me for additional documentation of any kind ( including estate documents ) given that they have already acknowledged my status as Successor in Interest. WHAT I AM ASKING OF WELLS FARGO IN ITS RESPONSE : Wells Fargo Home Mortgage needs to directly address the question I am putting to them in Item 4. Any avoidance of directly answering these points or prevarication will only underscore the bad faith Wells Fargo has shown up to this point. Furthermore, I submit that any avoidance of directly addressing Item 4 above is a sign that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage is systematically doing this to Successors in Interest, which warrants immediate investigation by CFPB. I want to make it clear that I have already brought this to the attention of the members of the United States Senates Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection subcommittee. So long as Wells Fargo Home Mortgage refuses or avoids directly addressing these XXXX points, I will continue to refile my CFPB complaints.

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