Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Loss Mitigation Department at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Deceptive practices and unable to ever reach someone to help Internet

In 2009 I also went through the loan modifcation process with Wells Fargo. Similar to the horror stories shared here, I was consistently told one thing by a person at one call center and when I would call back I would be told something completely different. I've included my complete letter sent in 2009; it was sent to the Wells Fargo Complaint Department twice and I never received any response.

I'm filing this report now because I've been trying to go back and get explanations to the $15,385.83 that was added to my principal with no details of what that included and my first attempt to find someone to provide that breakdown, I was transferred 5 times, hung up on twice, and been told that there is no way to get documentation on what that amount was.

August 7, 2009
RE: Loan # XXXXXXX , Property Address XXXXXXXX MT XXXXX
LauraXXXXXXX
XXXXX, MT XXXXX
XXXXX
 
To Whom It May Concern:
 
I am writing this letter to submit a complaint and request that remedies be immediately addressed. My home is currently in foreclosure and I feel that Wells Fargo Home Mortgage did intentionally, and with malice, mislead me and even directly lie to me in order to move forward with foreclosure even as I was actively pursuing a workout solution. As you will see from the details included in this letter, I have spent over seven months doing exactly as the loan servicer on this account has requested and I have ended up in foreclosure. I think it is important for our government to understand that the solutions and options they are providing are being misused in an attempt to hurt borrowers so I will be forwarding this to my state representatives in Congress as well.
 
In July of 2008, along with many other members of this county, I lost my job as the manager of a real estate company. I was able to find employment at another company, but with much reduced pay. My partner,XXXXXXX, who lives with me was working in Real Estate sales and was forced to leave the company as well. The crash of the housing market meant that XXXXX was not making any commission income so our income was reduced from about $100,000 per year to $36,000 per year.
 
Within two months we had drained our savings trying to keep up on our bills. In the middle of November, XXXXX was able to secure a position with the State of XXXXXXX and although we were now earning enough to cover our regular monthly bills, we had nothing extra to catch up on past due accounts or pay down other debt. By the 1st of December, we were one month behind on our payments and owed $3,664.58 in order to get current. I contacted Wells Fargo and informed that, because of our job loss in 2008, we were behind and I needed assistance in figuring out a way to repay the past due amount.
 
On January 2nd, I received a letter thanking me for taking the time to speak with them. They noted that they had several options that may help you keep your home and asked me to submit financial information.
 
On January 5th, I received a letter (attached) stating that at Wells Fargo, our goal is simple. We want to ensure that you have every opportunity to retain your home. It continues on to state that a decision would be made shortly in relation to the Fannie Mae HomeSaver Advance program and that all pertinent information would be mailed to me along with the terms of the program shortly. Please note, this letter is dated January 5th. It also states that, Foreclosure action will not be placed on hold until until you have returned the signed agreement and the required initial payment, which led me to believe that if I was returning agreements and following through on things on my end that foreclosure action WOULD be placed on hold.
 
On January 5th I faxed over the initial hardship letter that was requested.
 
I received a letter dated January 6th noting that they had received my inquiry regarding my loan and they would advise me of the status within 30 days.  I faxed in an updated hardship letter, statement of finances as well as proof of income on January 27th as requested.
 
The next letter I received from Wells Fargo was dated February 4th, 2009. This letter laid out the terms of a forbearance program where I was to make $1,000 payments on, or before, the 1st of each month for March, April, and May. That would leave a balloon payment of $10,285.49 and the letter reads, The final delinquent balloon payment will be added back into the loan balance if approved for the loan modification.
 
I continued to receive notices of the past due amount and when I called Borrower Counseling Services they told me every time that this was from a different department and to disregard the notices because, they have a job to do also, but you are in the review process and the past due will be cleared up with the workout solution. 
 
On May 6th, I faxed in updated information and called to see if they had started the review process and to confirm that it would be finalized prior to the balloon payment June 1st. I was instructed to wait and that information would come in the mail. At this point, Wells Fargo Borrow Services seemed to genuinely want to help me and I felt I could trust them. I was not making notes of my conversations, but I was calling and checking in at least every other week.
 
On June 22nd I sent in another batch of updated financial information as requested.  I continued to call every week and ask for updates. I was told that I could expect a decision within 4-6 weeks from June 1st when the review process started. By the end of 6 weeks I started to get notices that Wells Fargo would only accept the full amount past due to satisfy outstanding payments as shown in the letter dated July 22nd, 2009. This letter concerned me greatly as I was told on three separate occasions to NOT send in payment while the loan was in review.
 
By this point, I was starting to receive a lot of mixed messages. I was told to not make payments while in review because a repayment plan would be established and later I was told that was not the case. I was told my loan would not go into foreclosure while loss mitigation had my file in review and it did do to foreclosure. I was told a date for Sheriffs Sale would not be set while in review and it was set (received notice at my house on August 10th). I was told the review process would not take more than 6 weeks; at the end of 6 weeks I was told it would not take more than 90 days. Most recently I was told there were absolutely no guarantees that it would get out of the review process prior to the Sheriffs Sale in December. Following is my records of the phone conversations I have had since I began to realize that I was being misled and that no at Loss Mitigation or Customer Care seems to have any idea what is going on.
 
I would like to point out, that throughout these 7 months I have kept in contact, fulfilled every request and suggestion, and followed every rule in an effort to save my home. By doing EXACTLY what Wells Fargo has suggested it appears my home if going to go into foreclosure sale even though I have:
1.       Increased earnings
2.       Paid down debt
3.       Equity in my home that could be used to role past due into current mortgage
 
These are all things that the vast majority of people facing foreclosure do NOT have. I have reviewed all the government programs online and taken their screening quizzes and all of them say that I should qualify for a workout solution. I do not know why this is not happening, but because Wells Fargo has taken 7 months to review my options, my credit is ruined; not just my credit score buy also my professional reputation in a small community where the sheriffs sale has been posted in the local paper. I have lost so much of my hair from stress that I frequently wear hats and I have lost a significant amount of weight from the stress. I am struggling to balance my job performance while spending an hour a day on the phone with Wells Fargo trying to get answers. There is absolutely no reason for a company that says they want to help people stay in their homes and a government that is filling the media with articles about program availability to leave me in this state of unrest for this period of time.
 

July 30th, received letter dated July 24th stating that my loan has been referred to an attorney with instructions to begin foreclosure proceedings. I was told that my loan would not move forward in foreclosure as long as it was in review. What follows is my documentation of trying to get answers as to why it went to foreclosure and why I have never received a reply to my review request that started the end of May.
Monday, July 27th

Summer- I called to check on update where am I in the review process. Why havent I heard from anyone? She said that my loan is going into foreclosure and I should get a letter soon. She couldnt understand why I hadnt heard anything yet. Told me to call back later in the week.
Friday, July 31st 2009, 11:21 AM

Brittany- Said she would send an e-mail to the loss mitigation department to determine what the hold-up has been. She acknowledged that my account is showing as in active review since February of this year. She suggested that I call back Monday or Tuesday and request to see if anyone in loss mitigation or negotiation has responded to her e-mail. She assured me that a date would NOT be set for a sheriffs sale as long as the file is in review.
Tuesday, August 4th, 12:30 PM
Giselle- Verified that all information is accurate and that they have all information that they need. Assured me that she is a manager and not a regular agent and that she can assist me. Said she will attempt to locate the negotiator for my account. E-mailed request to negotiator to request that he/she contact me. While on the phone with me, Giselle received reply to her e-mail stating that the negotiator for my file was no longer with Wells Fargo and that my file was transferred to Arneise Whitely, a manager in the loss mitigation department. Giselle told me to call back in 24 to 48 hours to see in anyone has replied to e-mail she sent.
Wednesday, August 5th, 4:30 PM
Troy- Noted that my account is showing up as active in loss mitigation and that I could send in payment by certified funds but they may return the payments to me. Sent e-mail request that a negotiator be assigned to my account. He said that a negotiator has to be assigned to my account before they can ask for an update on the file. He said that there was no reply to Brittanys e-mail or Giselles e-mail and that I should call back in 24 to 48 hours to find out if a new negotiator has been assigned to my account.
Friday, August 7th, 10:40 AM
1st person I spoke did not identify themselves, but told me that the amount needed to bring my account into good standing is $14,521.12 and then transferred me to loss mitigation.
Gregg 10:55 requested that he transfer me to a supervisor as he was very combative and did not seem to know anything about my file. He did not think it was even active in loss mitigation. Put me on hold until 11:01 and then came back on the phone to apologize for having me on hold for so long. He explained that he was attempting to brief his supervisor Ken on my situation before transferring. Told me he was transferring my call to Ken and Penny answered in some other area. She suggested she was in a different state as there were no supervisors in her department named Ken. She asked me to go through the whole explanation again and I asked to be transferred to a supervisor. Penny transferred me to Karen. Ran through all verification information again and Karen put me on hold at 11:20. Karen  (ID #9T6) spoke to her supervisor, Tracey and promised either she or Tracey will call me by the middle of next week. She said that negotiation department has my file so they cannot review it right now, but they felt they should be able to get someone to answer questions by the middle of next week. She said that if I do not hear from her, I can call back to loss mitigation and ask for whoever answers to send an e-mail to her ID# requesting that she call me.  Karen also suggested that I send a complaint to the written correspondence department at 866-278-1179.
 
August 10, 2009
Received notice of Sheriffs Sale date set for December 7th of this year. Called Wells Fargo at 3:30 PM and the woman did not identify herself but she told me I signed a legal document agreeing to pay my loan and it didnt matter what anyone told me, they would move forward with foreclosure. She also told me that the review process could go on for another 7 months and they may or may not push out the foreclosure sale date if it is still in review. She told me that Wells Fargo has no standards that they have to follow and I have no recourse. When I told her that I had a lot of equity in my home she laughed at me and said, in a very sarcastic tone, I highly doubt that! I explained that I bought my home for $309,000 and I only owe $245,000 so even with declining home values, I obviously do have equity. I also tried to explain to her that I had been told on multiple occasions that a date for sheriffs sale would NOT be set and she basically told me that those other people lied to me. She also said that they lied to me about the review process taking 4-6 weeks, and they lied about it not taking more than 90 days. Again, she pointed out that Wells Fargo has no standards that they have to meet as far as getting things processed and she said that the government is holding my file and that I should contact my representatives in Congress. She told me that it would be a waste of my money to contact an attorney and she threatened to hang up on me multiple times. I told her that the letter dated July 24th said to call. It reads, In the event you are experiencing an involuntary inability to pay and wish to explore and opportunity to reinstate. . . please contact our offices . . .  and ask to speak to one of our Borrower Counseling Representatives. She informed me that that only meant that I pay the full amount (which she said is over $16,000 and can vary from day to day) and that I had no other options.

I will continue to update this on-going record daily as I follow up with additional calls. For now, I hope you will take the time to do what is right and use your offices power to attempt to help bring some resolution to this matter.
 
Sincerely,