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I recently applied for a home improvement/HVAC financing offer through an HVAC contractor. The offer was 60 months at 0% APR, which would have been a great option since we just bought our house and need to replace part of the HVAC system.

The financing was through Wells Fargo. I’m a green card holder, originally from Iran. My credit score is around 760, and our household income is about $300K. I’ve never had issues with Chase or other banks before.

Wells Fargo said they were unable to provide the loan, but they would not give me a reason over the phone. They said I need to wait for the official letter, which could take up to 30 days. I called the number they provided, but the representative said they couldn’t give me any information until the letter arrives.

Has anyone else experienced something like this with Wells Fargo or contractor financing?

A few questions:
- Is this usually a standard denial process where they only explain the reason in writing?
- Could this be related to nationality/citizenship/OFAC/compliance screening even though I’m a green card holder?
- Is there any way to escalate this before the letter arrives?
- Once I get the letter, is this usually resolvable if it was a compliance or verification issue?
- Are there alternative lenders that offer similar 60-month 0% APR home improvement financing, or is that usually specific to the contractor/bank program?

The frustrating part is that the 60-month 0% APR offer was the main reason I considered doing the full HVAC replacement now. Without that, I may need to delay the project or use a temporary cooling option.

Any advice or similar experiences would be appreciated.

We bought our house about 4 months ago, and there’s a 700 sq ft addition/lodge area with its own separate HVAC system. The main house HVAC is working perfectly fine — this issue is ONLY for the addition.
The current system is around 17–18 years old. The AC stopped working, and I was told there’s likely a refrigerant leak somewhere. The furnace still worked fine this past winter and is still heating okay, although there is visible rust on the furnace.
I attached the specs below for the AC, furnace, and evaporator coil replacement quote. The quote came out to about $12,340 for a full Carrier replacement system.
Now I’m debating whether it even makes sense to spend that much money immediately after buying the house.

My thought was:

Buy a portable AC for this summer instead

Maybe get a 14,000–16,000 BTU unit for the 700 sq ft addition

Try to get one more winter out of the current furnace

Postpone the HVAC replacement for another year or two

I’m also wondering:
Is it worth trying to find an HVAC tech who can repair the refrigerant leak instead of replacing the whole system?

Or at 17–18 years old, is that usually throwing money away?

If you were in my position, would you delay the project?

Another factor is financing. I was planning to do 0% financing, but I got denied through Wells Fargo and am currently waiting on the letter/explanation. Since we just bought the house, I really don’t want to burn a huge amount of savings or credit right away unless it’s absolutely necessary.

What would you guys do here?

Portable AC + delay?

Fix the leak temporarily?

Or just bite the bullet and replace the whole thing now?

Wells Fargo denied 60-month 0% HVAC financing — green card holder, 760 credit score, good income. Has anyone dealt with this?

17-18 year old AC unit for house addition failed — replace now for $12.3k or survive with portable AC for a year?