When the recession began to affect his business in August 2009, Elewski began asking Wells Fargo for a reduction in his monthly payments but never asked how much of a payment he wanted reduced in specific terms.

Elewski said Wells Fargo phone representatives told him Wells Fargo only processes loan modifications when loans are delinquent at least a number of days between 16 and 90. Elewski stopped making his mortgage payments and ended up in foreclosure.

A judge ordered mediation between Wells Fargo and Elewski. After filling out massive amounts of paperwork and spending thousands of dollars for an attorney, Elewski said the bank offered him a $2 reduction in his mortgage payments Friday without indicating why or how much income they were able to validate.

The Ohio attorney general's consumer protection unit has received close to 450 complaints involving mortgages since Jan. 1, 2011. According to documents obtained by newsnet5.com, most customer complaints involve mortgage servicers and lenders.

Wells Fargo has yet to answer anyone's questions about Elewski's modification. A spokesperson did send newsnet5 this statement: "Modifications are complex and it is difficult to validate what was truly said and heard in the many conversations it takes to find a viable option for a customer. That said, we would never advise customers to deliberately miss payments. Regarding Mr. Elewski’s situation, we are continuing to work with him to identify potential options that would allow him to retain homeownership."

Newsnet5 investigator Sarah Buduson is working to get more specific answers from Wells Fargo about  mortgage modification practices.
Parts of this article are Copyright 2011 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved.