I Received A $500 Check From Wells Fargo And I’m Pissed (Part 1)

Hello Sophisticated Spenders!

You’re supposed to trust your bank, right?

Your bank is supposed to have your best interests at heart, right?

Your bank isn’t supposed to cheat you out of money, RIGHT?

Wells Fargo has failed me as a customer and here’s why:

Back in 2011, I wanted to refinance my duplex in Chicago.

I reached out to Wells Fargo because I had an account with them and seemed like a good idea at the time.

I had the best mortgage banker on Earth.  The customer service was amazing!  I didn’t have ANY complaints in that department.

In April of 2011, I paid $650 for an appraisal because it’s a duplex.

The property appraised for $120,000 and I owed somewhere between $80,000 and $90,000 on the house.

I had 3 mortgages on the property: $58,000 loan (80% of the purchase price); $12,000 balloon payment loan (20% of the purchase price-so I could buy the property with no money down***huge mistake***); and a $22,000 construction loan.

However, in order to refinance an investment property, the loan to value ratio has to be 65%.  Which means since the property appraised for $120,000 I can only owe $78,000 on the property.

So my refinance was denied.

They also threw in a few debt to income ratios so my awesome mortgage broker and I came up with a plan for me to pay off as much debt as possible and try the refinance again.

I worked HARD yall!

I paid off stuff to get that number under $78,000!

Here are a few quotes from a few blog posts that expressed my frustrations:

a chat with a friend: on 4/26/2011

me: I am refinancing it now and it’s gonna cost me $8000

me: it appraised for less than what i needed

him: Why not put in the 8K into the principle and lower the payment? Or the payment will be the same?

me: the payment would be the same

me:  i’m on hold

me: I’m trying to refinance the place in chicago and running into a few snags

Blog post on 6/6/2011

Let’s start this Monday with some financial goals.

5. Make 2nd attempt at refinancing Chicago property.

Chat with a friend on 9/19/2011

me: i paid off a $12,000 mtg and my car

me: i owed $6000 on the car

her: so the house in chicago is paid for?

you didn’t need to do the refinance?

me: no

me: i got rejected again

her: WHAT!

me: it appraised for half of what it appraised for the last time

me: this really sucks

Blog Post 9/26/2011

I had jumped through all of the hoops presented to me and still came up empty.

In September of 2011, I applied for a refinance the second time.  I had to pay $650 for another appraisal.

And this is where I’ll mention the neighborhood the property is in.  It is in a not so great neighborhood on the south side of Chicago.

Here’s a crime map of the area (this is the home I grew up in and couldn’t be any more proud of all of my accomplishments).

This time I was told that the property only appraised for $65,000.

Really Wells Fargo!?!?!

I asked how on EARTH could a property’s value have such a drastic change in a span of a few months and was told that my first appraisal wasn’t an actual appraisal, it was just an estimate.

So I asked for my money back since I paid for an APPRAISAL and and actual APPRAISER went to the property the first time and was met with excuses and silence.

That’s when I saw RED.

The redline.  Here’s a link to redlining and what that means.

I used to be a realtor.  And in normal practice, if a home has been appraised, that appraisal is good for 6 months.  My appraisal should have been good because I was using the same bank and everything.  I made 2 attempts at a refinance and was told my first appraisal was no good.  Which is untrue and disappointing.

Here we are 5 years later and they send me this stupid letter:

This letter brought back all of the pain, anger, frustration and disappointment.

And in my typical writing style, I will express my frustrations with this letter in part 2…tomorrow!

(Click here to read part 2)