Consumer complaint received 2020-08-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA
Product: Checking or savings account
Sub-product: Checking account
Issue: Closing an account
Sub-issue: Funds not received from closed account

Complaint:
Citibank closed my checking account without notice ; I have YET to be contacted by anyone from Citibank - no phone call, no letter, absolutely no communication from Citibank at anytime- and the only communications I have had with Citibank personnel is during one of  the 17 phone calls I've made to them since this began to try to find out exactly what is going on with my checking account, where my funds are at since I have no access whatsoever to any of my funds, or to get a status update of where we are in the process so I can know when to expect the remaining funds from my accounts there. I have literally BEGGED for a return phone call from someone at Citibank who could just tell me what is going on since I haven't received any written notice from the bank at all pertaining to my account, yet no one ever returns my call despite me being promised that someone will return my call in 2-4 hours, or within one hour, or within one business day - yet I still have not received a return call and I have literally BEGGED for one. At one point, during one of the conversations I was having when I called in to see what was going on with my account and when I'd have access to my funds again, I was told by the customer service representative that the Fraud Prevention Department was reviewing my account and that my account was being closed by the bank. He stated to me that I'd receive a check for the remianing funds within 30 days. This phone conversation was on XX/XX/2020 and 6 weeks later, I still have not received those funds yet. My family is literally suffering because that was every XXXX that I have to my name and I now have no access to it. My rent is past due and my angry landlord is threatening to put our belongings by the curb and forcibly evict me if I do not pay my delinquent and current month rent in full. My electricity is past due and after Thursday of this week, my electricity will be disconnected for non-payment. I have fed my XXXX children from my church 's food pantry for the last 4 days because I have no money to buy them food to eat. I have 1 child that needs to go to the doctor, but I have no money to even pay the co-pay for her doctor visit. I have called Citibank again today begging for help because my life is literally falling apart moreso everyday and all of it is being caused by Citibank 's decision to restrict my access to my funds and perform some mysterious 'investigation '', which no one can tell me anything about - I have offered to provide them with documentation of every single deposit into that account and every disbursement out of my accounts, yet I'm told they do not need any additional information from me. So, I'm not sure what type of 'investigation '' they could possibly be conducting, but since 100 % of every XXXX in my accounts is well documented and legitimate, as are expenditures, it certainly could not be taking this excessive amount of time because there is any indication to the contrary because none exists. Further, I have not been contacted by any investigator or anyone else from the bank, so I seriously question what type of investigation they're performing that allows them to not so much as attempt to speak with the account owner. I was told today that the investigation was completed and that my account was in the account closure process and that it would take 30-60 days for a check to be issued and mailed to me for the funds remaining in my accounts. I have been very patient throughout this entire past 6 weeks as they done whatever review they chose to do, simply because I know with certainty that every XXXX is legitimate, in no way whatsoever involved in any type of fraud, and rightfully belongs to me, but this is now a MAJOR that is literally ruining my life and my children 's lives. I have no other assets and have no other means to provide for my children and I am literally at the point of bankruptcy and will have no electricity after this week, so I am now begging for your help in getting me some type of resolution to this matter so that I can get the money remaining in my accounts and provide for my family because if I can't get access to these funds quickly, it will be our demise. I've tried multiple times to contact Citibank about this, but their very cold representatives have made it quite clear that they can not expedite the processing of my check any quicker than 30-60 days  and that my family 's survival is of no concern to them. As a last resort, I am now coming to you begging for your help and hoping that you can intervene and do something to help me get access to my money because in three days I will have no electricity at my house, I could be thrown out on the streets with no where to go with my XXXX kids due to non-payment of my rent, and do not have XXXX XXXX to purchase food or medical care for my children so I am beyond desperate and beg for any assistance you could provide. 


I have been unemployed since XX/XX/XXXX due to my employer ceasing operations due to Covid 19. I was finally awarded unemployment benefits on XX/XX/2020 and was retroactively awarded payment going all the way back to my claim date of XX/XX/XXXX, On XX/XX/2020, I received a series of deposits into my Citibank checking account from the Georgia Department of Labor,  paying me retroactively for my unemployment benefits from XX/XX/XXXX - XX/XX/2020 ; the Georgia Dept. of Labor approved my claim in late XXXX, but because my claim date was XX/XX/2020, they had to issue me retroactive payments for all weekly benefits I was entitled to from XX/XX/2020 to that date. As such, payments were made to me for all weeks on XX/XX/2020, causing there to be multiple direct deposits for all of the weekly benefits that I was retroactively entitled to. This is the only non-routine activity that occurred, so I can only assume that this is what triggered Citibank 's investigation of what one representative termed " suspicious activity '' in my account. On XX/XX/2020, while attempting to make a purchase at XXXX XXXX, my debit card was declined and when I called Citibank customer service, they asked me to verify some recent transactions and to verify that it was me making those purchases. Because I had been unemployed for some time and had just received the retroactive payment for over 3 months of unemployment benefits, there was several purchases and bills that had to be paid to get them current now that I had access to my unemployment benefit funds. I was told that because a larger number of purchases had been made, they had flagged my account and wanted me to verify the purchases. I verified all purchases via telephone with the customer service representative and all were legitimate and just me making purchases for food and supplies needed for my family, supplies for repairs and maintenance, and to pay bills, such as electricity and telephone. However, the block was not removed off of my debit card even after verifying the transactions. I called Citibank again and was told that another department would need to speak with me but that I could not call them directly ; she stated that she would have someone within that department to call me within the next hour. That call never came and since then, I've had 15 more identical phone calls with Citibank customer service representatives and Fraud Prevention Department personnel and still have not received a return call from anyone there. I have not received any letter whatsoever explaining what is going on, nor do I have access to my online banking account ( I received an email telling me there was a message for me in my secure message center but since my access to my online account had been restricted, I could not log in to read these messages - I reported this to customer service representatives as well but was never given access to my online account again and have never received any documents in the mail despite me requesting that a copy of all correspondence relating to this matter be sent via US mail due to my restricted online access ). Through conversations with various personnel during one of the 17 phone calls that I have initiated, I was told that my account was being  reviewed and that upon their review they had decided to close my account ; I was told that this process of closing out my account would take 30-60 days. Today, XX/XX/2020, I spoke with XXXX in the Fraud department and asked what I could do to expedite this process, as my family was going without necessities and I had a child that needed medical care but that I couldn't afford the co-pay because 100 % of my money is restricted by Citibank and I could not access any of my money ; I offered to send documentation from the Georgia Department of Labor ( a payment advice for each and every deposit every direct deposited to my checking accounts ) and every expenditure paid out of my accounts, as I keep a very thorough set of records ; XXXX told me that the investigation was complete and that no additional information or documentation was needed from me and that they were simply waiting on the check to be issued remitting the remaining funds in my account to me. I pleaded with XXXX to connect me with someone there who I could explain my circumstances to who could expedite the issuance of this check as it clearly did not take in excess of 20 days to issue a check and she told me that there was nothing that could be done to expedite this process and I simply had to wait on the check to be issued and mailed to me. Despite me explaining my current situation - about to be evicted, have no food nor money to buy groceries, a sick child needing to see the doctor but no way to pay the co-pay to take her, electricity about to be disconnected - but she offered no kindness or genuineness in her tone as she curtly told me there was no one I could speak to further about it and that nothing that can be done expedite this process. I have now spoken to almost 2 dozen Citibank representatives during this last month of horror caused by my funds being restricted and this " investigation '' and not one of them - NOT ONE - even remotely acted as if they cared one tiny bit about me or my family 's survival. Since I had literally cried to them explaining my situation to them and begged for their help, I absolutely feel like the biggest fool in the world for doing so because their very curt attitudes and clear lack of any sincere desire to help was so very obvious that it would be obvious to a blind man. Also today, I spoke with XXXX in the Security Department, who was hideously rude to me and offered the same identical " I can't do anything to help you '' attitude and told me that there was no other supervisor that I could speak to. The last several months have been exceptionally difficult with the Covid 19 pandemic causing me to be unemployed for several months, getting behind on all of my bills, and placing a huge financial strain on my family ; however, these last 6 weeks since Citibank made the decision to close my account and has restricted my access to ALL of my funds has been the most horrendous and most awful time of my entire life. It has been absolute torture to watch your children NEED food and medical care and not be able to provide it for them ; that is literally the most painful and heartbreaking experience in my life. I feel like I have been more than patient over the last 6 weeks in light of this situation and offered repetitively to provide whatever documentation and information they may need to expedite their investigation so that my funds could be released ; however, at this point, I can no longer just sit by and hope and pray that Citibank will release my funds anymore ; my family is suffering and literally going without basic necessities of life and that is just absolutely too much to allow myself to sit by idle trying to be patient and hope that my funds will be release ; after all, I am only asking for what is rightfully mine and I do not feel like I should have to beg for what is mine nor should my children EVER spend one minute lacking for anything at Citibank 's hands. I feel like I will never forgive myself if don't exhaust every avenue that I can requesting help in getting a quick resolution to this matter, so please know that I desperately need your assistance with this matter and would sincerely and genuinely appreciate any assistance you can give. I know that there has to be at least one person somewhere in this world that actually cares enough not to give me some blanket response of " 30-60 days '' and who will have mercy on my family and assist me in getting my funds released.

I have documented each phone call and the details of those calls and can provide that information if and when needed. From XX/XX/2020 until today ( XX/XX/2020 ), I have contacted Citibank 17 times regarding this matter and have yet to receive any real information about this " investigation '', what I can expect during this investigation period, or a supervisor 's contact information above the person I was speaking with who could assist me with expediting getting a check issued for my remaining funds in my accounts, or when I will receive my funds back. In fact, I have not received not one return phone call from anyone at Citibank during this period either, and I do not feel that asking for a return phone call is too much to ask for when every XXXX that I own is sitting in my Citibank accounts and Citibank has restricted my access to them. I do not have a local branch that I can just go into to seek assistance because the closest branch is over 3 hours away in XXXX, Florida ; in the past, I never had a need to go into a physical branch because their customer service had been so exceptional for all of my needs prior to this that I didn't have a need to go into a local branch. I will be more than glad to appear at the closest branch and will gladly drive 3 hours away if I could be guaranteed that I'd have access to my funds upon leaving there, but I'll be very honest with you and tell you that I do not have money to purchase gas to get there and back ; ALL of my funds are in my Citibank accounts and my situation is so dire that I can not afford gasoline to put in a vehicle to drive to the closest branch. As pitiful as I feel in saying that, it is true. PLEASE HELP ME!!! I feel so helpless and my family will not survive another 2-3 weeks without the basic necessities we need ; we will be in bankruptcy and lacking the bare necessities of life, so since I have been told that the review is completed and I will be issued a check for my remaining funds, can you please help me see who I can explain my situation to that will help me??? It's clearly obvious that issuing a check does not take 3 weeks, and since I have been patient thus far and have been understanding that Citibank personnel simply has a job to do and have cooperated fully with this situation, and primarily because the completed review indicates absolutely no fraud has occurred and that the funds in my accounts rightfully belong to me, there is no justifiable reason to continue to hold my funds as my children are going without medical care and food in our house. I am literally begging for your help and need it so very desperately to happen quickly. Thank you in advance for your assistance!!

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