Tim’s Blog

When we refinanced our mortgage last we went through Wells Fargo. We got a decent rate and the process was fairly painless. As part of the process we were talked into opening checking and savings accounts. And based on that we qualified for their PMA program, which came with special benefits (which I don’t think we ever used).

In order to maintain the PMA status we needed to have a minimum account value which included a percentage of the mortgage balance, and the savings and checking balance. They also gave us a Wells Fargo Visa card.

So we’re going along fine, and then the economy went south. We were fortunate to continue having jobs while many people lost their jobs and houses.

As part of the so-called financial fix, banks were encouraged to allow their mortgage customers to refinance at better rates. Wells Fargo contacted us and said we could do a no-cost in place refinance at a lower rate. So we did. And they immediately sold it.

So not really an issue there, except we apparently fell below the minimum for the PMA. We received no notification until the Wells Fargo Visa bill came. It had previously had a zero balance for nearly a year. All of the sudden there was a $25 charge. Seems that was for the PMA account. We don’t remember authorizing them to charge it, but it ended up running at 51% interest. We immediately paid off, and closed the Visa card, as well as the Wells Fargo savings and checking accounts.

So be careful of those big banks. They are always thinking of ways to charge you without you knowing.