People are losing their home due to theft of money

Very sad. You would think considering the circumstances, that Wells Fargo would be a little bit more lenient. Wells Fargo received this money through a corporate account that NOBODY else could access. Personally I would send someone money through Western Union if that is what THEY wanted, however, I would NEVER direct anyone to send money to me through this venue for this specific reason.
http://theparisnews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=5f53de13821288a2

>>>>snip
When their mortgage company, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, told them they must pay $3,500 they were behind, they scraped up all the money they could, $2,000, and sent it to the company, which refused to accept it because it did not cover the entire amount.

The company informed the couple by letter that the money would be wired back by Western Union and told them they must pay the full amount or face foreclosure on the home by May 23.

The Browns scraped up the remaining $1,500 to make the payments, then went to Western Union to pick up the $2,000 wired back to them.

The mortgage company had told them they must present their receipt, a photo identification and the letter that was mailed to them to pick up the $2,000.

When they went to pick up the money at Western Union, they got the shock of their lives.

Someone else already had picked up the money in New Orleans.

Just God DAMN the bastards.

eBay sellers have found out the hard way; it's easy to be scammed through their "services". :grr:

I'm just curious....(this story stinks to high heaven).

Why did this couple have to use Western Union? Why couldn't they just use a wire transfer, or a cashier's check (even safer) . OR just walk in to any branch of the local Wells Fargo Bank and make the payment.
So there would be a paper trail.

Ok... at this point, I wonder what can they do? Is there a way to trace the payment through W U.
Sad...just sad.

the nearest Wells Fargo Bank is 2-3 hours away.
My guess is that the money had to be there by a deadline and most companies have wire accounts...
They are in the boonies with limited avenues open to them.
I don't think the story stinks at all. This is a local paper and if it was bogus I guarantee someone would know.:shrug:

When exactly did these people file their claims with Wells Fargo? There are laws that protect consumers, but if they do not file their claims within a reasonable amount of time as specified by federal law there is not much that can be done to recoup their losses.

I always get a little pissed off at these "banks are screwing their customers" stories. They could not remain in business if they routinely cheated their customers. So many DU'ers take an automatic knee jerk reaction and assume the customer is always right and banks are the bad guys. Without dates, without knowing when this persons claims were filed, without knowing if the customer submitting proper documentation within federally mandated time frames, without all the facts = this story is pure B.S.

You might check the laws HERE before you decide that the story is false.
By the way..it is NOT.

Banking laws are the same nation-wide.

Sorry to inform you of that little piece of information.

First of all they were in Detroit. How the money got wired to NO is not clear. IF the bank wired it in error to NO, they would probably take responsibility for the mistake, but there is not enough info in the article to know for sure. However, back to the foreclosure issue, these folks were behind for some time to owe $3,500 and be facing the start of foreclosure. If the bank accepted their $2,000 payment, in all likelihood they would still be behind a payment or two. Once you get to that point the clock is ticking and you really have to get current to stop it.

Contrary to popular belief, banks do NOT want to own property. They lose money on a REO, and they would much rather work something out with a borrower and keep them in the house. It sounds like these folks just waited too long.

Population 700 or so.

I'm not very familiar with rural Texas geography. However, I still stand by the other points in my previous post.