Is this a typical "bait 'n switch" from our friends at Wells Fargo?

[WAH!!]

Hi all...

We are back in foreclosure, for the 8th time.

Yes, that was the number eight.

We have been inordinately lucky, one might say, as we are still in our house of more than a decade.

But I am having some long standing troubles with a 2nd from Wells Fargo.

I took out this loan as a fixed 15 year amortized second. That was in 2000. Simple enough, right?

At least those were the docs **I** signed.

The loan officer called us the next day with "technicalities" - and I had to come down and sign new docs. Seems that we needed too much, or some other vague excuse. So the 38K was cut into three loans.

I have paid on this loan for 11 years. One of the three loans has been paid off in its entirety, but still we owe more than 40K now, although the bulk of the "main" loan is more than half way paid off - as should be the entire loan.

But they slipped a "Mickey" to us with their "technicality", and forced us into a HELOC, **completely against my wishes**, to which they claim "too bad, ****er, we tricked you into signing new docs, so you have no one but yourself to blame"...

Then I read of these massive quantities of Bait and Switches from Wells Fargo...

Are there other cases like this out there? It seems that Wells Fargo does this regularly, and gets away with it.

Who else is in this situation?

WAH!!

[SurfwhenUcan]

Hi Wah! and welcome to the forum!

Was the loan officer working out of Wells Fargo branch or a an independent broker?

Bait and switches were common and most people just went ahead and signed. However, I can't tell what the structure of your debt is from your post. It would be more helpful if you detailed what the existing situation is. You don't say why you are in foreclosure or what the hardship is. From your post I'm gathering you have equity in the house?

What is your goal? Payment reduction on a $40K loan is going to be tough.

[WAH!!]

We suffer from monetary "gap-o-sis". No control of when we see income, with great yawning chasms between fundings.

So the multiple instances of FC aren't to be/can't be overcome just yet.

I do not see a significant improvement by way of loan modification - as a matter of fact, I have heard so many entrenched horror stories that I am dis-inclined to "trust" anything they might offer.

Their trickery caused most of my payment for the past eleven years to be spent on interest I specifically dis-allowed when we negotiated this loan, so I see it as a bookkeeping issue - involving fraud on their part since day one. Very, very intentional fraud and mis-representation, and part and parcel of their "business model".

My sentiments: Re-compute this whole affair, and "correct" the fraud of the HELOC that "made" them all their profit - and our misery.

Re-compute, or we sue - with huge, bad, and nasty PR at a time when all eyes are on them - not us poor schmucks.

Well, compared with the proverbial hell-bound snowball, how do we fare?

WAH!!

[SurfwhenUcan]

LOL, I just recently made a snowball reference just like that myself. Good luck with that plan. I sympathize with your frustration, but unless there is clearly documented constructive fraud on their part, the courts are simply going to tell you to read the mortgage contract more carefully before you sign next time. The result you seek is not going to happen.

"Negotiated" isn't really applicable to the origination of your loan. More like "offer" and "acceptance". They offered, you accepted. Your remedy to the last minute switch was not to sign. Frankly I can't understand why they did that, there is no benefit to the broker or the investor to break up a single loan, especially not for the broker - nobody paid any commission on seconds back then - the goal was to make the 1st as big as possible, this scenario goes against that.

There is no fraud here. Sorry. If you're determined to press forward, knock yourself out, but I can tell you, absent of fraud and a very expensive and lengthy lawsuit (the success of which will be dubious at best), you can either pay as agreed or sell - since it seems you have equity. Your past payments are not going to be reapplied to principal. But if you have the time and enjoy the aggravation, you might have some fun going after them.