In 2005 my wife and I approached WFHM for a residentialconstruction loan. We went through arigorous application process, met their criteria and were approved for aConstruction to Permanent loan. Asadvertised, the Construction to Permanent Advantage loan is a loan that wouldinitially finance the home construction, which after completion would then beconverted into a permanent long termloan product that is chosen prior to the mortgage closing. We closed on the Construction to Perm loanin February. Construction begansoon after. During the course of development problems arose between usand the home builder, as a result construction was halted. We explored our options and called uponoutside parties to mediate the situation. Wells Fargos Account Resolutions, (the departmentoverseeing short term loan financing, construction draws and which is comprisedof people who have the ability to extend the terms of short term loansby 6 or 12 months), appeared completelyuninterested in our tribulations with the builder. The Account Resolutions department wasexpressly concerned with our maintaining of interest payments, offering noadvice. We explained to our Account Resolutions representative andhis supervisor, in detail, the issues hampering the construction process. Among others, these issues involved hiddencost, product inefficiency, delayed permit approvals and design errors. The costs associated with these issues weresignificant. We exhausted our lifesavings on legal fees, rent, storage fees, loss of time at work, penalties andother unexpected costs associated with the home construction.in addition to the monies allocated in theconstruction fund, on average our expenditures were in the thousands per draw (or phase). Since the loan had alreadyclosed (02/29/05), these bills, however unexpected, had to be satisfied beforeconstruction could commence. After Account Resolutions received our report, they informedus that due to the prolonged construction period, our short term constructionloan would mature and that we would need an extension to continue. We were told that a $500 fee would accompanyeach extension. We were overwhelmed withthe mounting fees but had no problem complying since we had already invested somuch time and effort into the completion of our home. We resolved all issues with the home builder andconstruction resumed in. Our homewas finally completed 2 years later in June of wherein we received acertificate of occupancy and the keys to our new home. The dilemma surfaced during this last phaseof construction where WFHM was to transition our short term construction loaninto the permanent 30 year mortgage we had originally qualified and supplied asubstantial down payment towards. Weeks before thecompletion of our home, we were informed by our loan officer, that the loan program we originally applied for wasno longer available. This wasextremely shocking news, however, he told us that he would begin examiningother loan programs and see what could be done. He requested that we supply updated personal and financial informationsuch as, bank statement, employer information, retirement funds, etc. Before long credit checks were beingperformed again and it appeared as if we were restarting the whole applicationprocess. Then came the denialletters. Each time we were denied, wewould apply for another loan under separate less appealing conditions. Time continued to pass and more frequently weexperienced instances where we could not get in touch with our loan officer orhis staff, our personal documentation was lost or misplaced and had to beresubmitted (multiple times) and underwriting times were broadened. The excuses were numerous. New loan officers and supposed underwriterswere brought into the mix, requesting additional income, monies at closing, surplus savings, etc. The requests wereincreasingly ridiculous, especially considering that, nothing had changed sinceour original application.in fact ourfinancial situation had improved in our savings, credit scores and assets. It appeared as though Well Fargo was deliberatelyfabricating these absurd requests, as if to discourage us. One such instance, during a phoneconversation with our loan officers Supervisor, I was told to be honest, werenot going to get you into a loan unless you show a $40k increase in combinedannual income. To which I replied, ifthats what it will take then I will make it happen. His rebuttal was that of sarcasm and theconversation ended there. Two weekslater I returned with payroll and bank statements showing a drastic increase inincome surpassing his request. I wasthen called into an in person conference between my loan officer and hisSupervisor and informed that I would need to have more money at closing. During that same conference, I arrangedelectronically, the availability of additional funds via my retirementaccount. I was then told that due to the (LTV) loan to value of the home in conjunction with the conforming lendingrates for this county (Monroe), that we still would not qualify for any loansthat would satisfy the principal loan amount. My next plan was to decrease the loan amount, which at that time hadincluded the last remaining bill from the Home Builder. A month later I returned to my loan officer and hisSupervisor, again showing evidence where I met their stringent requirements, reducing the loan amount by $22k, only to be told that there is nothing theycould do for us. We were left without amortgage, only locked into WFHMs short term construction loan. We attempted in vain to secure a mortgagefrom other mortgage lenders, however, to date nothing has materialized. Since 2008 we have paid to WFHM stiff penalties and an exaggerated interest rate on the principal amount, to extend our short termconstruction loan while we search for a mortgage. Regardless of our financial standing, andwork history and the fact that we are current with respect to loan payments, Wells Fargo has accelerated our loan and called the note. Wells Fargo has been informed of the CMAstatistics for this particular development and know that the 2 homes that havebeen placed on the market have sat dormant for 3 years because no one canafford the prices that accompany homes of this quality. Wells Fargo is also aware of the conforminglending limits for Monroe County and they know the median householdincome. All facts show that we areviable customers yet they still choose to foreclose on our home, threateningour life savings which we poured into its construction. We have appealed to WFHM time and timeagain, however the company appears focused on acquiring our new home. It is obvious that Wells Fargo has manipulated us into thissituation. Even more unscrupulous isthat they have taken advantage of us by imposing absurd fees and interest underthe guise of preparing for a permanent mortgage, when they had no intent ofgiving us the mortgage from the beginning. We have been taken advantage of by this giant in the mortgageindustry. They lured us into this dealand waited for our point of vulnerability (the closing) then they shamelesslyplayed a cat and mouse game while robbing us of thousands of dollars, pretending they would secure a mortgage for us. Now they are threatening this unethical act of stealing our home fromus. Had WFHM not gotten caught with the sub-prime lending scam, I believe they would have forced us into an extremely high adjustable ratemortgage. Since their scam was exposed, they had no choice but to drag us along and get as much money as they couldfrom us along the way. I cannot put into words the immense stress this has placedon my family. The entire homeconstruction project was extremely trying. It took a lot of energy, not to mention the thousands of unexpectedout-of-pocket expenses we had to invest. To finally have our home completed just to find out that we are victimsof a much larger scam by one of the giants in the financial industry. We have spent countless hours communicating back and forthwith WFHM. We have spent hoursdocumenting our communications. We havespent hours searching for mortgages. Wehave volumes of paperwork chronicling our attempts to get WFHM to honor ouroriginal agreement. I encourage anyone having been placed in similar hardshipby Wells Fargo to make your experience known, contact your local, state andfederal representatives. It isunconscionable that WFHM can literally rob people without penalty orconsequence. Sincerely, JV Stroudsburg, PA
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