Wells Fargo Run Around

[Joel Fraser]

I bought my home back in 2006 for approx. $460k. Shortly thereafter, my husband was laid off and things became a bit tight. I became 30 days late on my payment and called Wells Fargo to see if there was anything I could do. I was placed on a payment plan. I have an 80/20 mortgage with them- the 1st mtge is interest only at 6.375% and the 2nd is fixed for 30 years at 11.75%. We figured that a year into the mortgage we would be able to refinance and roll everything into one. But with my husband's unemployment that became a pipe dream. I broke the payment plan the first time due to the timing of my paycheck. I was placed on a forebearance plan and told that after making my 3rd payment, the outstanding balance would be capitalized into my loan. I submitted all required paperwork in October and was told that I could not make a payment until I received info about the modification. I called everyday to check in with them, with little information being provided. Then in December, I received Notice of Foreclosure papers from an attorney and I was floored! When I called Wells Fargo, I was told that my modification request was not approved because I did not have enough income. Wells wasted no time getting an attorney involved. They could have called and left a message and I would have called them back to see what could have been done. My husband started back to work at the end of October, so I was able to provide his income and was "pre-qualified" for a modification after making 3 payments. In February I made the final payment on my 1st mortgage and submitted my paperwork. In March I made the final payment on my 2nd mortgage and received word that my modification request was approved on my 2nd mortgage (mind you I did not submit the paperwork on this loan). Nothing, except the principal balance changed on my second mortagage and my payments on that one increased my about $50. I was told that papers were forthcoming on the 1st, but that never happened. I was given one negotiator (whom I spoke with and explained what was happening with the 1st) and then my loan was transferred to someone else. I spoke with the new negotiator who told me they were waiting for approval from the investor on the 2nd mortgage to subordinate the new first mortgage since the outstanding balance had increased exponentially! She also stated that my payments could not decrease as I already had a low interest rate. For 3 months I called and called and was told that they were waiting for investor approval. Finally one day I received a call from the negotiator saying that she was putting me back on a forebearance plan until they received investor approval. Her reason was that she did not want me to get further behind in my payments. I could not see why it would take more than 90 days to receive an approval. Well as of today, I have not had any of my calls to the negotiator returned and I am on another forebearance plan, after completing 2 previous plans successfully and my delinquent amounts keep going up. I am trying really hard to remain calm about this process but it is extremely frustrating to think that Wells Fargo does not want to help homeowners who WANT to keep their homes. Currently I am paying over $2700 on this forebearance plan even though my monthly payment should be $1959. My second mortagage is back on track. Anyone have any suggestions on how I could escalate things? I am about to fly to Wells Fargo headquarters and storm the CEO's office!!!!!