Consumer complaint received 2019-02-08
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MA
Product: Credit reporting, credit repair services, or other personal consumer reports
Sub-product: Credit reporting
Issue: Incorrect information on your report
Sub-issue: Account status incorrect

Complaint:
XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Washington, DC Re : Citibank NA Checking Account {$.00} Error Causing FICO Havoc To Whom It May Concern : This issue involves my Citibank account. I had a perfect payment record with my Citibank account, both the credit card and Checking Plus. In XX/XX/XXXX, I refinanced my mortgage and paid off all credit card debt in full. Citibank mysteriously left an error of {$.00} in the Checking Plus account. I didnt know about it, considered the account inactive, until I checked my FICO and saw a huge drop of 155+ points in XX/XX/XXXX, with a Charge Off, effective until XXXX! What this means is that my FICO, now low, will result in higher lending rates for me going forward, costing me thousands of dollars. Not to mention that it is deceptive and bad banking practice. 

A charge-off is a debt that a creditor has given up trying to collect on after youve missed payments for several months. ( I did NOT miss payments, ever ). 
These can include balances from a credit card, mortgage or other debt you take on. As a last resort, the creditor can decide that the debt is a loss for the company and designate it as charged off. ( Citibank experiences no such loss. ) At no time did I receive a phone call, a letter, an email or any kind of notice that Citibank intended to wreak havoc on my FICO and life. So, Citibank did NOT do its due diligence, and even after being alerted, refused to reverse their mistake. In the letter I told them to close my account, which they did not do. Not only arrogant but inept. 

Please understand that I called Citibank Customer Service, spoke to seven different reps, none of whom could help, would not transfer to a manager, and the last of whom said at the end of the conversation, You should pay your bills. 

So I assembled all the relevant documents and wrote a letter to Citibank Credit Bureau Disputes on XX/XX/XXXX. And I enclosed the check for {$.00}, which the bank cashed. Over a month later I heard from the Disputes division telling me that they would not reverse the banks unconscionable actions. 

The final weirdness to all of this is that after cashing the check of {$.00} against the {$.00} remaining, my balance is now - {$.00}! It concerns me as to how I was scammed by this bank for years. Their banking system cant do simple math, subtracting {$.00} from {$.00}! 

One last note : I tried to find a Citibank branch within a reasonable distance. After calling the few branches that exist in the NY-CT area, and being hung up on by the system with the message Calls are not accepted by this branch. Goodbye I gave up on that idea. 

I am writing to achieve full reversal of their deceptive and irresponsible business practices. 

TIMELINE : XX/XX/XXXX Mortgage refinance, all credit card paid in full. 
XX/XX/XXXX I find my FICO dropped over 150 points XX/XX/XXXX I notify Citibank Credit Bureau Disputes in writing, supplying all paperwork as needed XX/XX/XXXX Citibank refuses to correct the error, does not close account. 

I hope contacting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will resolve this. 

Please let me know if you need any further documentation or information. 

Thank you. 

Sincerely, XXXX XXXX

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