Consumer complaint received 2017-11-14
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Other features, terms, or problems
Sub-issue: Other problem

Complaint:
I opened two credit cards in order to pay an attorney for services. The attorney was adamant that legal fees would be reimbursed either through court proceedings or upon insistence in a settlement because I was so wronged, that the legal process could remedy the problem. 
I started with the attorney XX/XX/XXXX and every week she would tell me " We will be filing on Monday. '' And Mondays came and went. Late XX/XX/XXXX I finally said, " All the time and money that is being wasted could have gone into the court case to finally settle this matter. '' ONLY then was I told the case is a " black hole of money '' and " give us another {$10000.00} in three days or we will withdraw. '' She fleeced me for {$5000.00} I certainly was n't going to throw away another {$10000.00}. 
Because I was misled and misguided about the reimbursement of attorney fees and due to the attorney 's failure to act as well as her breach of confidentiality, I believe she was not entitled to the money. So, I submitted a dispute of {$1800.00} for XXXX XXXX and {$2000.00} to XXXX XXXX. The balance of money the attorney demanded was paid by family. 

Citi Bank stated they had to have a " like merchant '' state where the original merchant was wrong. That may work with some businesses concerning merchandise, or travel tickets, etc, but to have an attorney say something that might be construed against another attorney yields the following : 1 ) You will have to pay me a {$500.00} retainer 2 ) I will have to take approximately 2 weeks to investigate this ( at approx $ XXXX/hour ) 3 ) I 'm not going to stab another attorney in the back 4 ) I do n't spit in the eye of an attorney. It is nearly an impossible task which is self defeating and puts an undue burden on the consumer, both financially and time-wise. 

I had finally come across an attorney who listened to my plight and was sympathetic to how I was taken advantage of. He was willing to write to XXXX XXXX on my behalf/ I submitted the required letter to Citi which included his name and contact information. He is a licensed attorney in the state of NY, ( a like merchant by any standard ). He could be verified through any XXXX XXXX directory. He had his contact information readily available to Citi for verification. Yet, Citi closed the dispute stating they did not receive a business card from the attorney. I explained that he is a current attorney with an active license in NY, however, he does XXXX XXXX in Florida. His business card reflects his finance business, which make him no less of an attorney. 

I could have acted as ridiculously as Citi and just created a simplistic business card. That proves nothing. The XXXX XXXX directory is the best source of credentialing or the NY State Bar. To dismiss my dispute is unconscionable. 

Not only did I have property stolen, which is what brought me to the original attorney who misled and misrepresented herself costing me thousands, but Citi has be derelict in any effort to protect it 's client. 

One other thing I could not understand about Citi is when I initially submitted my dispute for the {$1800.00} paid to the attorney, Citi refused to dispute the entire amount. I had been paying the monthly bill from the time I opened the account, plus whatever interest. By the time I realized what the attorney was doing approximately XX/XX/XXXX/XX/XX/XXXX, my balance with Citi was approximately {$1100.00}. And, that was the limited amount Citi would allow me to dispute. The entire way Citi operates is unfair. 

I will also attach the letter from the attorney who wrote the letter to Citi on my behalf.

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 monetary relief