Consumer complaint received 2022-01-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MD
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I submitted my home mortgage refinancing application to CITI Mortgage and on XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX, CITI Mortgage Representative collected a deposit of {$700.00} from me ( please see attached ) for property appraisal fee ( {$500.00} ) and other charges ( {$200.00} ). On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX sent me an email ( please see attached ) informing that he requested and waived my appraisal fee ( {$500.00} ). Per XXXX instructions, I started submitting all the required documents for loan processing and eventually my refinancing loan was approved. 
However, months went by and despite repeated requests/enquiries, there was no sign of a closing date. Finally, in XX/XX/XXXX, exactly one year after the submission of my refinancing application, CITI Mortgage sent me a draft closing disclosure for my review. Upon reviewing the closing disclosure, I found some errors such as escrow account issue. CITI mortgage was trying to collect more money for escrow payment than it was required. Per RESPA requirement, lenders can not collect more than XXXX of the total annual payment as a cushion. Section 10 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ( RESPA ) provides protections for borrowers with escrow accounts. Specifically, it limits the amount of money that a lender may require the borrower to hold in an escrow account for paying taxes, hazard insurance and other charges related to the property. In addition to that, there was another issue identified with XXXX XXXX. Replying to an email enquiry, XXXX XXXX informed me that XXXX XXXX, a partner of CITI Mortgage, will service my loan on behalf of CITI Mortgage. At first, I told him that I had no issue with a third party servicing my loan. However, after some extensive research, I discovered some serious problems/complaints against XXXX XXXX and brought it to XXXX and other team members attention immediately XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX 
In XX/XX/XXXX, CITI Mortgage sent me the final closing disclosure and asked me to prepare for closing. I informed XXXX and the team that I was not ready to close my refinancing loan in XXXX and requested a closing date in XX/XX/XXXX and asked them to address my concerns ( i.e. Celnar issue ) properly. I waited more than a year and expected them to wait at least one more month for my closing so that my concerns would be resolved and addressed. Unfortunately, XXXX and the team ignored my request and withdrew my refinancing loan application file completely. 
Citi Mortgage promised me at the time of the application that the closing would be completed in 90 days and charged me a deposit worth {$700.00}. I submitted a lot of documents ( at least 7 times ). I have had many opportunities to refinance with other banks with a lower interest rate that CITI mortgage offered me. Since I paid the deposit money to CITI Mortgage, I had no option but to stay with them. Since the approval of my refinancing loan application ( XX/XX/XXXX ), I have been losing a lot of money and I need to be compensated by CITI Mortgage for my financial loss.

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