Consumer complaint received 2021-10-21
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
I had a Costco Anywhere Visa credit card account and Citibank decided to close the account because of a dispute I had with Citibank regarding a Best Buy Visa credit card account. 

In a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, Citibank stated that I could contact them for a reopen review once the card expired. The card has since expired and I contacted Citibank regarding a reopen review on XX/XX/XXXX and received a reply on XX/XX/XXXX and the issue of a reopen review was not addressed in the XX/XX/XXXX response. 

It seems that Citibank is more interested in providing hasty responses just to say they responded rather than work to resolve the issue. 

I had a Costco Anywhere Visa card that expired in XX/XX/XXXX. 
I was notified that my Costco Anywhere Visa card would not be renewed due to a charge off or bankruptcy on another credit card account issued by Citi. ( Attached to this e-mail as Exhibit A ) The charged off account does not appear on my credit report with any of the three major credit bureaus. 

Below is a true and exact copy of the e-mail that was sent to Citibank regarding a reopen review request. I am also providing a copy of Citibank 's response. 

I was informed on XX/XX/XXXX, that because the Costco Anywhere Visa was active at the time that Citi was unable to review it for reopen at that time and that the account will remain active until the expiration of the card. The letter also stated " should we decide to close the account at that time, you may contact us fro a reopen review. '' ( Attached to this e-mail as Exhibit B ) I would like to know how to go about having the account reviewed for reopened. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, and before the card expired and before I had the opportunity to ask for a reopen review and before a reopen review was conducted, I was informed that my account did not qualify to be reissued because of a bankruptcy or a charge off on another credit card account issued by Citi. For this reason, the account was closed upon the expiration of the card and as explained in your Card Agreement, we may close you account for any reason, or for no reason. ( Attached to this e-mail as Exhibit C ) It appears that the person who wrote the XX/XX/XXXX letter did not pay attention to the expiration date of the card and did not read or even peruse/review the XX/XX/XXXX letter even though the XX/XX/XXXX letter was referenced in the XX/XX/XXXX letter. 

In your letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, you stated that my Costco Anywhere Visa account is expiring soon. Were unable to send you a new card due to a bankruptcy or a charge-off on another credit card account issued by Citi. Once the card expires you will no longer be able to use it. 

The least sophisticated consumer/person would interpret this as Citi is closing the account and not issuing/reissuing a new card. 

I have not filed for bankruptcy and there was no bankruptcy pending at the time of Citis review of my account and when Citi made the decision not to reissue me a new Costco Anywhere Visa credit card.

Is this decision in response to the My Best Buy Visa credit card account case? 
Please specify which Citi credit card account you are referencing or referring to that was charged-off. 

In the Best Buy case you refused to work with me to resolve the case without litigation claiming that a settlement was not available and kept telling me to call back to have the account re-evaluated for a settlement. You also claimed that a representative would assist me in determining if there were available programs that fit my needs and each time I called and asked about a settlement or any programs Citi declined to provide any information about so called programs and that a settlement was not available. At one point your representative XXXX XXXX even claimed that government regulations and or the law prohibited Citi from making or offering to settle the account for less than the full balance. Citi even sent an e-mail stating payment solutions may enable you to, among other things : settle for less than your total balance, payable in up to 3 installments, lower your interest rate, reduce your monthly payments however, you never offered any of those solutions to me. Then you referred the account to a collection agency XXXX XXXX XXXX which eventually referred the account back to you. Then you referred the account to XXXX XXXX a collection law firm based out of Florida with offices in Georgia. XXXX XXXX filed suit on XX/XX/XXXX. The case was settled on XX/XX/XXXX. 

Then complaints were submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) and the XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ). 

Citi responded to the CFPB complaint with a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, which stated as stated in the letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, which you enclosed in your inquiry, our decision was made due to a bankruptcy or a charge-off on another credit card account issued by Citi. Because the above-referenced account is still open and active, we are unable to review it for reopen at this time. The account will remain active until the expiration of your current card. Should we decide to close the account at that time, you may contact us for a reopen review. 

Your response to the XX/XX/XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) is different from your response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ). 

In your response to the XX/XX/XXXX you make no mention of a reopen review instead, you state that as part of our reissue process, we review accounts prior to the expiration date. Your account did not qualify to be reissued because of a bankruptcy or charge-off on another credit card account issued by Citi. For this reason, the account was closed upon the expiration of your card. 
Your response also stated that as explained in your Card Agreement, we may close your account for any reason, or for no reason. We may do this at any time, without notifying you, as allowed by law. In other words the Card Agreement allows you to close the account for any reason or no reason and that you have decided to exercise this right under the Card Agreement. 

Your responses to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the XX/XX/XXXX are confusing. Please clarify the following : In your XX/XX/XXXX, response to the CFPB complaint you state the account will remain active until the expiration of your current card. Should we decide to close the account at that time, you may contact us for a reopen review. In your response to the XX/XX/XXXX, you state that my account did not qualify to be reissued because of a bankruptcy or a charge-off on another credit card account issued by Citi and for this reason the account was closed upon the expiration of the card. Please clarify the differences in your responses. 
When the Costco Anywhere Visa card expires will the Costco Anywhere Visa account close? 

If the Costco Anywhere Visa account does not close upon the expiration of the card and after Citi made the decision not renew or reissue the card, please explain why the account will not close and remain open. 

When will you notify me of your decision to close the account? 

If I contact you for a reopen review will you actually conduct a reopen review or just tell me that after your reopen review you are unable to reopen the account just like you did in the Best Buy case regarding a settlement? 

Will you take a reopen request by me seriously and actually consider reopening the account and or reissuing the Costco Anywhere Visa credit card or just send me a letter ( including a form letter ) stating that after a review and careful consideration we are unable to reopen the account or reissue you a Costco Anywhere Visa Credit card account citing some policy, the Card Agreement, a generic statement claiming government regulations and or the law, or citing information obtained from a credit bureau? 

How is a reopen review conducted? 

What information is required or needed and what information do you look at when conducting a reopen review? 

Will you ask me for additional information? If not, why? 

What will a reopen review accomplish? 

If you decide to reopen the Costco Anywhere Visa account, will a new card be issued to me? If so, when will the new card be issued?

If a reopen review is conducted an you decide not to renew that account or reissue me a new Costco Anywhere Visa credit card, will you provide a detailed explanation of how you conducted a reopen review ( including steps taken and information used ) and how you made the decision not to reopen the account/reissue a new Costco Anywhere Visa credit card and not just provide me with a cursory form letter or a letter stating that due to a bankruptcy or charge-off on another credit card account issued by Citi, stating that government regulations and or the law ( without identifying with specificity any and all government regulations and laws you are referring to or relying upon, citing a credit report and score obtained from a credit bureau, and stating that the Card Agreement states and allows us to close your account for any reason or no reason and that we may do this at any time without notifying you as allowed by law? 

Please explain why your response to the CFPB is different from your response to the XX/XX/XXXX 

Please explain why the person who wrote the XX/XX/XXXX letter makes reference to the XX/XX/XXXX letter that he/she did not read/review and it is obvious that the letter was not read/reviewed by the person who wrote the XX/XX/XXXX letter because at the time the letter was written the XXXX Anywhere Visa credit card had not expired and there is no mention of a reopen review as mentioned in the XX/XX/XXXX letter. The XX/XX/XXXX letter simply states that because the Card Agreement states that we may close your account for any reason or for no reason and that we may do this at any time, without notifying you, as allowed by law. In other words the contract says that we can close your account at any time with or without a reason and that's what we've decided to do. 

If a reopen review is requested and conducted by you and you decide not to reopen the account, will you accept a settlement for less than the full balance? 
Please let me know whether you are prepared to accept less than the balance you are claiming is owed. If so, please tell me in writing your offer with the amount you will accept to fully resolve the account and how you calculated and came up with this amount. THIS IS NO WAY IS AND SHALL NOT BE CONSTRUED AS AN ADMISSION OF LIABILITY OR AN ADMISSION OF INDEBTEDNESS TO YOU OR YOUR CLIENT BY ME AND WILL SERVE AS NOTICE TO YOU AND/OR YOUR CLIENT THAT I HAVE STRONG DEFENSES TO ANY LAWSUIT OR LITIGATION FILED BY YOU OR YOUR CLIENT. THIS IS AN ATTEMPT BY ME TO SETTLE AND FULLY RESOLVE THIS MATTER/ACCOUNT SO THAT NO FURTHER ACTION OR LITIGATION IS NECESSARY/REQUIRED. If not, please explain why not? 

In addition, are you prepared to remove this account from my credit report with the three major credit bureaus ( XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX ) in exchange for any payment to fully settle or resolve the account? If so, please state the time period for you to remove the account from my credit report? If not, please explain why? If you are claiming government regulation and/or the law prohibits you from removing the account from my credit report with the three major credit bureaus please state and identify with specificity the government regulation and/or law including the specific code section that you and/or your client are relying upon and/or claiming prohibits you and/or your client from removing this account from my credit report and refrain from generalizations such as including without limitation to under/according to government regulations and federal law. If you are claiming that the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) prohibits you and/or your client from removing my account from my credit report from the three major credit bureaus, please identify the specific section ( s ) of the FCRA that prohibits you and/or your client from removing this account from my credit report with the three major credit bureaus. My copy of the Credit Card Agreement states We may report ( emphasis on we may ) and NOT we are obligated, mandated or required ) information about your account to the credit bureaus. The Credit Card Agreement does not mandate credit reporting and does not prohibit you and/or you client from removing this account from my credit report with the three major credit bureaus. Additionally, the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) 15 U.S.C. 1681 est seq. does not mandate or require a creditor to report information about any consumer to any credit bureau 15 U.S.C 1681i and 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ). According to the Statement of Purpose for the FCRA states The purpose of the FCRA is to require that consumer reporting agencies adopt reasonable procedures for meeting the needs of commerce for consumer credit, personnel, insurance, and other information in a manner which is fair and equitable to the consumer, with regard to the confidentiality, accuracy, relevancy, and proper utilization of such information in accordance with the requirements of this title. While the FCRA offers protections to consumers, offers consumers the right to know what is in their credit file, rules and procedures regarding disclosure and use of a consumers credit report, requires that the information that is reported in a consumers file be accurate, guidance on how to dispute information and what procedures that need to be followed in the event that a consumer disputes any information contained in his/her credit file and civil remedies available to consumers for non-compliance. I know this to be untrue because in the Best Buy case the account was removed from my credit report as described later in this letter. If you are claiming that you can not remove this account from my credit report because of some government regulation or law, please explain how you were able remove the Best Buy account from my credit report with the three major credit bureaus. Your failure to properly address this issue of credit reporting by failing or refusing to respond appropriately and to answer a specific and/or direct question regarding credit reporting and/or providing unhelpful, incomplete, and cursory answers or response will not be accepted and/or tolerated. 

When responding please do not respond with please accept this notice that we are investigating the customers concerns and we will respond directly to the customer, if applicable, via phone, email, or mail within 15 days, with form letters, selectively respond to only portions of the complaint/letter that you want or feel like answering, please do not provide unhelpful, incomplete, or cursory answers or responses, please do not carelessly or mindlessly invoke the usual litany of rote responses such as and including without limitation to we are required by government regulation or federal law without identifying the specific government regulation or law ( including code section and specific section of the law ) you are referring to and or citing the customer agreement for example stating that you can not reissue the card even though the customer agreement states that you can/may reissue a different card

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation