Consumer complaint received 2023-06-05
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CO
Product: Debt collection
Sub-product: Credit card debt
Issue: Written notification about debt
Sub-issue: Didn't receive notice of right to dispute

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX, Colorado, allegedly purchased my credit card debt from Citibankn in XXXX. I defaulted in XXXX. I received one letter from an attorney representing XXXX XXXX XXXX  then a month later a suit was filed against me in XXXX. I never received any documentation showing proof of the debt purchase. Out of fear, I didn't attend the hearing. A default judgement was issued and the judge awarded 27.24 % interest based on a sample credit card agreement presented by the Plantiff. It was not my credit card agreement. I wasn't informed of the decision to award 27.24 % instead of the statutory rate of 8 % for Colorado. Shortly thereafter the case was assigned to another attorney. That attorney firm, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, called me at work and harassed me attempting to scare me with the amount increasing rapidly. Despite my calls to XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX attempting to settle the debt when it was XXXX XXXX they refused every offer I made and never gave me a counter offer. They made no real attempts to settle for anything but less than the full amount. ( the default was XXXX XXXX ). Then they stopped contacting me all together. I didn't hear anything again from them since XXXX. In XXXX they revived the judgement at XXXX XXXXXXXX but still made no attempts to settle. In XXXX, my case was assigned to yet another attorney. This current attorney also asked me if I could make payments or an offer. I did and he didn't accept it. I didn't hear anything from him until a year later when he requested the judgement be revived. The judge awarded the revival to the Plantiff and now the debt is XXXX XXXX. This attorney has vowed to continue to revive and pursue judgement for as long as it takes. My major complaint is that I believe with collection efforts being minimal and refusing to accept any offers, they were intentionally building interest as they knew that at that rate, this debt could escalate to a significant amount of money, and it has. I believe this was a strategy and intentional hoping that they could capitalize on any potential assets I may have at a later date. I believe this to be a very abusive practice, not only refusing every offer I made but no contact for over 10 years. The judge in the revival hearing even mentioned that he believed this is what happened, without my even prompting him. I am now in a position where the debt they're pursuing isn't even realistic and they are continuing all of their collection efforts, including a garnishment of my wages. I can't even believe I'm in this position as I made multiple attempts to resolve this many years ago. The current attorney has vowed to continue collection efforts for as long as it takes. Meanwhile, the interest is accruing as I type this and I am now at a point that reaching an agreement that is within my means is impossible, even 30, 40 or 50 % of what I'm showed owing isn't a realistic goal for me.

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