Wells Fargo Bank Car Loan, Thieves, High Interest, Simple Interest, Always Past Due Internet

You can also stay at this website and type in- I HAVE DONE ALL OF THE ABOVE, and that will take you to Ripoff Report #453956.

I'm going to have to agree with the general consensus here. This is the nature of the beast. Loans are designed to earn the bank money and if they had it their way, everyone would be behind so they could charge outrageous fees. It's hard to stay on top of a loan unless you made a big down payment and pay as much as you can each month- not the minimum payments.

Keep working on it, keep working with the bank. You will make it through. This isn't the fault of Wells Fargo, so your report is a little slanderous.

"Originally, 21,000 has gone down to about 12,000"

The full amount to be paid on the loan was $31608 ($439X72).

If the first payment was due in November 2007 you should have made your 48th payment in September 2011. $439X48=$21072. $31608-21072=$10536. The other $1500 is probably late fees and penalties.

Robert - 

Thanks for your input and here's my feedback.

"...relying on several cases of "recollection" and not much hard proof.   You seem to claim that the only "missing" payments are the ones that were made in cash by your wife where you happen to no longer have the receipts. ... The strange thing about this is that with all of your problems why were you not keeping EVERY single receipt?"

Well, mostly my fault on that one.. Hindsight is always 20/20 in this case. By the time that I came back and started to figure out that there was a serious problem with the loan, receipts were the last thing on my mind. I started documenting the minute that I found out about it but it was like locking the door after the horse has been stolen. I've been fighting for 2 years now to get it corrected and more or less I'm sick of the shtick from Wells Fargo. I've paid for statements from my bank that they had to pull from the archives and requested that they send me full documentation of my loan but, I might just not be going about correcting the issue in the right way?

"...with all of the money you are claiming you paid it seems impossible that you would owe more almost 4 years later of a 6 year loan.  So they have either totally screwed up your account or you are not posting the entire story."

Very true, however, overall the loan HAS gone down, just not in the amount that it should have gone down. Originally, 21,000 has gone down to about 12,000 so we're close but there's been a constant 200 / mo. late fee and additional interest added to the account based on the revolving 30-60 day late payment. So, most of the major payments I've paid into the account have been eaten by the late fees and interest.

"Since you are military have you checked if there is any legal aid available to you?  It may take a letter or two from a lawyer for them to get you a full accounting of your payments."

Checking into it and we do have the Staff Judge Advocate (JAG) office that will give legal advice, however they cannot represent you in a civil matter. They can prepare paperwork and make wills.. etc. However, in the prospect of someone to represent me in a lawsuit would be on my dime. 

The problem is that you seem to be relying on several cases of "recollection" and not much hard proof.   You seem to claim that the only "missing" payments are the ones that were made in cash by your wife where you happen to no longer have the receipts.  Unfortunately there are people that would try and use that claim even though they never made the payment.  So it is not the first time they would have heard this, and even though you may be 100% honest there are people that are not and they can't really tell which is which.  The strange thing about this is that with all of your problems why were you not keeping EVERY single receipt?

While you don't want to hear this is there ANY way that there is a remote possibility that your wife did not make some of the payments?

I will say even with additional late fees and interest, with all of the money you are claiming you paid it seems impossible that you would owe more almost 4 years later of a 6 year loan.  So they have either totally screwed up your account or you are not posting the entire story.  Where quite frankly both are very possible cases. 

Since you are military have you checked if there is any legal aid available to you?  It may take a letter or two from a lawyer for them to get you a full accounting of your payments.  Then you need to pull together what ever proof you have of your payments and try to match everything up. 

Susan - 

So 3 years into the loan, How is this the banks fault?  You picked the car you wanted and signed the loan papers agreeing to pay 439 a month.

Yes mother, I understand I signed the paperwork and accept full responsibility. I would have never signed the loan documents had I not understood that $439 a month would have to be put into my budget for a vehicle; therefore, the payments are not a problem. The issue is, I'm frustrated with the company in general due to my aforementioned grievances and their general disdain for participating in resolving my issue with a magical missed payment that they have been presented information proving that the payments were never missed. General dismissal and finger pointing fail to further the conversation. My simple hope is that someone would read this and understand how Wells Fargo can lead you astray and to possibly get ideas for my almost four year struggle.

Sorry hun, (sic) what you meant to say is that you owe more than the car is worth. That was true the second you drove it off the lot in 2007.

While I value your opinion again, I stated fairly accurately what I intended to say with that statement. You assume that I bought a new car from the lot and imply that the depreciation factor is what I'm upset with.. Untrue, so the car's depreciation value was already applied and I just dealt with wear and tear because I bought a used car.

However, I'll clarify: In speaking with the customer service of Wells Fargo, they stated that they value the car at about 11,500 dollars and I still have 12,000 left on the loan. I would not have this much principle had they resolved my issue with the payment due to the amount of late fees applied to the account. Hence being "up-side down" in my loan and yes, in simple terms the balance of the account is more than the car is worth at this point. Congratulations, we are both correct in our statements.

Voice - 

Thanks for the great feedback and I never abuse the vet card unless I can get a 10% discount at IHOP. :D

All that time you were deployed, your wife had to be getting the monthly bill.

Unfortunately no, the paper statements that we should have been receiving were not sent to my wife. They were sent to my address from before we were married and subsequently sent to me at an APO address while overseas. Often times, I never even got these statements. Wells Fargo did not even want to deal with my wife initially because her name is not on the loan, I had given her a power of attorney to take care of things like this while I was away. I actually had to call her at a specific time to speak with a local representative to give my permission to speak with and give information to my wife. This was even after I let Wells Fargo know of my impending deployment and them assuring me that my wife would be able to take care of any issues without needing my intervention.

Do you have proof of the payment they claim was missed? Canceled check, etc?

My Achilles Heel of this argument. Most of the payments that my wife made were paid in cash at the local bank branch and didn't keep the receipts after the car was set up on allotment and "caught up" again...and after we sent them copies of those receipts to prove those payments were made. So although we do not have copies, Wells Fargo did at one point in time. I do have copies of the EFT's that were made on my account when my wife made payments over the phone. Incidentally, those payments show up in their systems.
 
Are there any programs that help vets who encounter such bureaucratic nightmares, get them resolved?

None that I'm aware of at this time, there's several programs to help with financial issues and counseling but, as far as going to bat with Wells Fargo - I'm at a loss. Also, at times I'm leery of some programs.. we all know how the VA health care is.

There was the option of requesting the Soldier's and Sailor's Act while I was deployed. When I sent my request to Wells Fargo, they declined the option to uphold the Act. Apparently, it is up to each company to determine whether or not they will abide by this Act for active duty service-members. It was introduced for Reservists and National Guard service-members who were called up for active duty. So, as unfortunate as it sounds, I really do not know of any services to help vets that encounter this kind of situation. 

Wells Fargo is discombobulated from top to bottom, and my own experience going that route was pretty frustrating...

Any tips that you could give me about contacting the corporate office or a higher level staff? I'm usually pawned off to the military liaison and that person has since been fired twice by our mutually hated company. Not to mention that it took my wife over a year to get the necessary information to put my car on allotment (because no one knew what an allotment was!) even when she spoke with the military liaison representative.

Lastly, all the months you were away, that payment history shows no other missed payments, other than the carry forward of the first one they claim you didn't make, and the resultant late fees added to it? 

From January 2009 forward the car was on allotment from my check so there's no missed payments aside from an oscillation from the beginning of our payment schedule. I have shown Wells Fargo copies of the first check payment that my bank has on file and yet they still refuse to remove the "late payment" from my history. Even with my payments being made by allotment through my check, which comes out and pays to them directly, Wells Fargo has claimed that we missed a payment. When asked how this could have happened and being presented with a copy of my military pay stub showing the payment, of course, they still refuse to remove the "missed payment" from my account. 

Even with the extra payments that my wife made, (her recollection is over $3,500.00,) a missed payment or two should have been taken care of by this amount and that would have included any and all late fees associated with it. She made a lump sum over-payment of $2,200.00 and then several double payments to try and get us ahead of this mess and to avoid it happening again altogether. So, after Wells Fargo got well over $3,500 from me, they are still stating that I am behind anywhere from one to three payments and I am still dumping extra payments of $439 to them like I did earlier this year to play "catch up" yet again. So, that's just it. No matter how many times I "catch my account up" and get it back in good standing, a couple months down the road I am behind again and I have to give them whatever amount they claim I am behind to fix it. It almost feels like I have proven myself to be a cash cow to them and they are taking full advantage; yet because I signed the loan documents, I have no rights.

All that time you were deployed, your wife had to be getting the monthly bill, as I get. That bill had to show the payment status and amount owed. Clearly something was missed in the first couple of months, and when a payment is counted as missed, subsequent payments are first applied to the payment missed before them, so unless the missed payment is doubled up with a subsequent payment, plus all accumulated late fees, you can never be caught up to date.
You state that some payments made WERE more than the actual monthly payment, but that notwithstanding, it may be that even that excess, which you intended for going towrds principal, was inadequate to cover the missing payment amount carried over from the beginning.
Do you have proof of the payment they claim was missed? Canceled check, etc?
Are there any programs that help vets who encounter such bureaucratic nightmares, get them resolved? I'm assuming you're fully capable of making whatever payments are demanded, so long as the bank satisfactorily resolves the payment history issues.
If you can't straighten the mess out with normal customer service, call the corporate CEO's office. A higher placed staffer there ought to do something, but mark my word. Wells Fargo is discombobulated from top to bottom, and my own experience going that route was pretty frustrating, where normally going to the top works for me. Hence they make it onto my hated company list. But maybe it will work for you. I'm not in favor of many posters here who resort to playing the vet card in order to bolster otherwise weak complaints, but in your case, I wouldn't blame you for laying that on them too, if it provides any help in motivating them to fix this.
Lastly, all the months you were away, that payment history shows no other missed payments, other than the carry forward of the first one they claim you didn't make, and the resultant late fees added to it?

You said "I opened the loan with Wells Fargo in Oct 2007, for the amount of 21,000. 6 Year loan, and roughly 439 per month. "

So 3 years into the loan, How is this the banks fault?  You picked the car you wanted and signed the loan papers agreeing to pay 439 a month.

You also said " I've moved to the point that I'm now upside-down in the loan because they value my car at more than it is actually worth. "

Sorry hun, what you meant to say is that you owe more than the car is worth. That was true the second you drove it off the lot in 2007.

You're correct; there's more to the story and some of that I can help shed some light on.. I was a bit upset and should have waited before posting to ensure I was more clear.

"Sorry but you are not telling the entire story.  If you truly did have a 730 Credit Score you would NOT have had an 18% interest rate, unless that 730 Credit Score was based on a very limited credit history where you haven't truly shown you can handle credit."

- I opened the loan with Wells Fargo in Oct 2007, for the amount of 21,000. 6 Year loan, and roughly 439 per month. My 730 score was limited as I established it around 2003. I believe that 18% came from the limited credit history and I didn't fully understand the implications of an 18% loan. Otherwise, I would have turned it down and done some shopping for a better rate. I initially traded in my old car and made about a 700 dollar down payment, not much at all.

"You won't have to "catch up" if you weren't late.  If you are late you are going to be charged Additional Interest and late fees."

- True, however Wells Fargo hasn't shown where I've made the late payment. I requested full documentation of payment history from them and they mailed me a document that started on January of 2008 and went forward to the current date. They claimed that I had initially missed the first payment that we went into the local branch and paid. From December 2007 to February 2009 I was deployed, and was blissfully unaware that they were charging me late fees and additional interest fees until my return in Feb of 2009 when I started to untangle this mess. For those two years the car payments were made in the local branch by my wife. During this period we also made several thousand dollars, exact number eludes me, of payments toward the principle. However, the balance never changed on the principle and they continued to say that I owed an additional two payments that are rolling forward each month. My car has been on an automatic allotment since January of 2009 and we were still told that we have been between one to three payments behind after our large payments to catch up. So I want to know where my payments went and where they get the idea that I'm payments behind, hence late-fees and additional interest. 

- Second part, they are unwilling to defer any of my payments since they claim that for over two years I have been behind 30-90 days. And, since they've reported for over two years to my credit between 60-90 days late no one is willing to refinance me.


- I think I answered voiceofreason's rebuttal in this clarification as well. Aside from the grace periods - from my experience, this hasn't really fallen within their 10 day grace period since my "missed payments" are rolling from 30-90 days behind when my automatic payments hit every month. 

Nah ah, this story ain't flying baby! I also have a Wells Fargo car loan, at 6 something percent. I've paid late twice, once almost 10 days past, and neither time did I get a late fee.

Wells Fargo, to its credit, has a terrific grace period, at least on car loans.  I've never been behind, save for forgetting to do the payment online those 2 times.  Something is missing from the puzzle you made.  You must have actually MISSED payments, then tried catching up after falling behind.  Simply being a few days late once in a blue moon would not cause such grief.

And 18%??????

I don't see how you could have such a high rate these days with even a poor credit score, let alone 730. When did you take the loan out? How many late or missed payments did you have?

Has to be something you ain't telling us.

Jim's Ripoff Report. (It's Ripoff Report #453956.)

Good luck to you!

***MORTGAGE ALERT: Don't forget to type in 481508 at this site and read St. Clair's Ripoff Report for valuable information if you have a mortgage in the USA.

Sorry but you are not telling the entire story.  If you truly did have a 730 Credit Score you would NOT have had an 18% interest rate, unless that 730 Credit Score was based on a very limited credit history where you haven't truly shown you can handle credit. 

I've moved to the point that I'm now upside-down in the loan because they value my car at more than it is actually worth.
- Guess what, unless you put down a significant down payment you are always going to be upside down for a majority of the loan. 

I continually catch my balance up only to find out that they say that I'm another payment behind.
- You won't have to "catch up" if you weren't late.  If you are late you are going to be charged Additional Interest and late fees.

I'd be curious about the details such as how much were your monthly payments, the original loan amount and the length of the loan.  It would also be interesting as to why you had to "catch up" on your loan and didn't expect to pay additional fees or interest.