Consumer complaint received 2024-02-08 00:00:00
Product: Checking or savings account — Other banking product or service
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account — Transaction was not authorized
Company: WELLS FARGO & COMPANY
State: CA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX I found that Wells Fargo had withdrawn {$400.00} from our savings account ( joint account held by my spouse XXXX XXXX and myself ). When I contacted the bank, they stated that this was an issue with a levy due to a Wells Fargo credit card I had 9 years ago. When complaining about why there was no warning given or documentation of this, they told me that they did not have to provide that information legally. RIDICULOUS! 

When I spoke with my spouse we discussed the circumstances with the credit card in question and were able to jump to our own conclusions as an explanation of this mess. This is the context : In XXXX I was in the hospital due to a XXXX XXXX from XXXX and subsequent cardiac arrests I underwent in XXXX, XXXX because of a flu virus that I contracted. I was in a coma for a month 's time and have been recovering since that time and I am legally XXXX while receiving Social Security XXXX because of my inability to work due to chronic pulmonary and cardiac conditions. At the time of my hospitalization, my spouse was supposed to start a new job which he put off for a month 's time until I was out of my coma and slowly on the road to recovery. He did his best but without the duo-income we were used to, we found ourselves in financial difficulty over the next several years. Once he started his new job and was promoted in short time, he was able to resume making payments on those debts we had incurred. Two of these were from credit cards with Wells Fargo one solely in my spouse 's name and one solely in my own name. Ultimately, we made a deal with Wells Fargo and their legal recovery department which outlined a conditional agreement where we paid a certain amount towards the debt and Wells Fargo agreed to forgive the remainder. This was a struggle to come up with the large amounts to pay our part for this agreement to take place but we were finally able to do so successfully. This was around XXXX of XXXX, we believe but are not certain of the exact timeframe due to the numerous years that have gone by. Nor do we remember the amounts or the specifics of the agreement with Wells Fargo, but nothing was ever presented again around this scenario from that time forward. Since then, we have worked very hard to build our credit and now enjoy a XXXX rating each in the high XXXX XXXX range, with no reference to anything outstanding owed or levied, etc. on either of our credit reports. We are now fortunate enough to be looking to purchase a home in the next couple of years. There is nothing on our credit reports relating to this subject of money owed to Wells Fargo and in fact, our credit scores at Wells Fargo are equally in the high XXXX XXXX range for XXXX so how can this be? 

Flash forward to the present and when talking with the legal department at Wells Fargo asking why they would just take money out of our savings account without any kind of notification, they tell us that they are not legally required to provide that information. When we asked for a current statement or something even related to this situation in terms of documentation, they have told us the same, they will not provide us any written information around this but we received verbal confirmation that we allegedly owe them {$7700.00} as of right now, according to their records ( which they refuse to share with us ). This is absolutely preposterous with a banking institution saying they have the actual right to do this to long standing customers and to put us in this kind of situation. This naturally is affecting our household and my health as the worry around this scenario is causing sleepless nights and extreme anxiety with no one willing to help us. When initially speaking to Wells Fargo, they did not even have our correct and current address on file and had an address from over 5 years ago listed as our residence even though I can see in my account online that the correct address is listed .... this is shady in and of itself and is concerning if they don't even have the address listed in their internal files where we have lived and banked with them for the past two years. 

We have searched, but have moved several times in the past 9 years and likely shredded what we thought were documents that were no longer relevant or necessary, including, we assume the information around the agreement we had with the payoff of these aforementioned credit cards. We have additionally spent hours looking through statements, calling to ask for help from ANYONE at Wells Fargo to find this information or the original agreement itself but we are told that the company purges all statements greater than 7 years old. We were able to file a complaint finally with the executive offices at Wells Fargo but they told us they would contact us within two business days early the week prior ( XX/XX/XXXX ) and we have yet to hear from anyone. On XX/XX/XXXX my spouse called and spoke to a representative in the XXXX department who smugly stated, " this is money you owe, is it not? What aren't you getting about this? ", we hung up on him as we will not be condescended to. My spouse called again just today ( XXXX/XXXX/XXXX ) and filed a complaint with a customer service representative, asking to escalate but our hope of even the slightest help from this horrible company is fading quickly. Please help us. 

We are happy to pay what we owe but this is an agreement that has been violated by the institution that arranged for it to begin with and we are feeling bullied, and neglected and are frankly tired of the apathetic buck passing that we are experiencing as we try to navigate these frustrating and insulting circumstances in an attempt to find a resolve. They won't even provide us the information pertaining to these circumstances and there is no way this is legal and is extremely unethical in the approach being taken by this supposedly illustrious organization. We are going to move our banking to another institution but it will take time and a great deal of work with direct deposits, notifying companies where we have automatic payments, etc. Again, any and all help or assistance in any way that you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration, apologies for the lengthy complaint.

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