Consumer complaint received 2018-06-20
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Student loan
Sub-product: Private student loan
Issue: Struggling to repay your loan
Sub-issue: Can't temporarily delay making payments

Complaint:
Today is XX/XX/XXXX. I am submitting this because I have been trying to work with XXXX XXXX/Citibank in regards to my student loans. At the beginning of the month/end of last month I reached out to XXXX in regards to my bill. Details below : I graduated with my Masters in XXXX of XXXX and thought my student loans would not go into repayment until after 6 months of graduation so I was not initially planning on reaching out to this company until the end of XXXX/beginning of XXXX for this reason. 

In XXXX I also got divorced and my ex-husband moved out of our apartment. I got a roommate and my mailman began forwarding my mail along with my husband 's mail. I unfortunately did not catch this issue ( I was receiving some mail intermittently and most bills are electronic ) until XXXX. The mail issue has been corrected and the company does have my correct address. 

Last week I reached out due to an account statement that I received indicating that I was several months past due and that my balance was {$780.00}. I reached out to the company and spoke to a representative. I was told that my loans went into repayment immediately but that I could use my forbearance and I would be receiving forms in the mail or via email that I needed to sign and return. 

I never received any documentation. No voicemails and no emails either. On the night of XX/XX/XXXX my co-signer and I received a certified mail letter indicating that my loans would be sent to collections if they did not receive payment. I called Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX and talked to another representative that said that I needed to catch my account up to be eligible for the forbearance. They indicated that I had 10 months of forbearance left on my account and that I needed to pay {$380.00} to get it within 60 days of being past due. They also indicated that I was not eligible until the payment has been processed which would not happen until 4pmCT that night. I paid the {$380.00}. 

Today I reached out per the instructions of the other representative to apply for the forbearance as the payment was posted, but the representative that I spoke with told me that I did not qualify and that the max that they might be able to do would be 2 months. I explained that that is not what I was told previously and indicated that I was told I had 10 months left. They said that I only qualified for two which would pay for XXXX and XXXX and that I had a balance of {$190.00}. 51 due on XX/XX/XXXX. I explained that I can not do that due to just paying the {$380.00} and that I wouldnt need the full 10 months but just through XXXX-so 7. He again told me I didnt qualify. I asked to speak to a manager. When the manager got on I explained the whole situation again. He again told me I didnt qualify and that if I could not make the payment on XX/XX/XXXX that I could not have the 2 months either because they needed guaranteed payment. I told him that wasnt possible and told him that the company was not ethically practicing due to the representatives not understanding and communicating the terms of forbearance effectively. He then hung up on me. 

I called back and explained that I was just hung up on-the representative said that there was a note in there indicating that the phone was " disconnected '' and that the representative tried to call me back. I have no call and no voicemail to back that up. I asked for a manager. They told me the same thing and indicated that they will give the other representatives " additional training '' but that I still didnt qualify for the forbearance. I asked if they were owned by Citi or if my account was sold and they said that it was not. I asked if they had a number for Citi and they said no-that they are contracted to handle my account. 

I tried to find a number for Citi to discuss my loan directly with my lender but was unable to find a phone number. I did come across the article where they were fined for illegal student loan servicing practices and came across the information for submitting a complaint. 

I have tried to handle this and feel that I was intentionally lied to initially. I am trying to pay back my loans and can-just not immediately. I had to re-work my finances in order to make the initial {$380.00} payment and am not immediately able to make an additional {$190.00} on XX/XX/XXXX. I have other private lenders who are working with me so I do not understand what the issue is.

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