Consumer complaint received 2017-11-18
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MN
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
hello. My HELOC came due in XXXX of this year. At the same time, I switched jobs, and I also had a rental tenant in my rental properties quit paying rent, and also did $ XXXX worth of damage to the property. It was a bad deal, I spent every penny I had in savings and subsequently became late on my payments as I was waiting for refinancing paperwork from the mortgage company. It was a total disaster from the start and so far every step of the way. 

My HELOC is with Citibank. I should have known that it was a bad deal because first off, the only way they would let me make payments, was to have a special checking account with them that I later discovered they were charging me {$49.00} a month for, a " maintenance fee '' if you will. Anyways, around the time the HELOC was coming due, I spoke to a lady named XXXX XXXX XXXX. She stated she would help me figure out the best way to address my HELOC, as my payments were escalating from about {$200.00} per month to over {$800.00} per month. She said she would call me the next day so we could go over the options. She never did. I received a fedex letter several months later with a self addressed 2 day air envelope inside, and I sent all of the requested information in. Days, weeks go by. I call in, they tell me that a mortgage specialist will call me back. Still I received no calls, no emails, no communication. Finally in XXXX, I kept calling, and low and behold, who do I get assigned to? XXXX XXXX XXXX. I had to schedule a call back with her, since she refused to return or answer my calls. She eventually calls on XXXX XXXX, late, but we talk and she tells me what I need to send in, and notifies me that they have a pending forclosure set for XXXX XXXX, so time is of the essence. I panic, but she calms me and assures me that she works in a group that deals with HELOC loans specifically and will get this taken care of immediately. She says she will email me a list of specific documents needed, and she does later that day. I respond and send everything in as requested, and I attempt to call her XXXX to verify the receipt of the documents. However, now Citibank/CitiMortgage has changed the phone numbers around and I can not contact her directly, instead I am directed to a different person who explains that I can not talk to her, but he would have to schedule another callback. I do. I then emailed her, and she does n't call back, nor does she respond to any emails. I email her everyday, over the next XXXX business days. No response, no call. I then get an email on XXXX XXXX, that my account is being taken over by XXXX XXXX XXXX I speak with him, and now he request that I resend all of the documents but he now requests another XXXX pages of additional documents. I oblige and email him everything. He says he will get in touch with XXXX and they will figure out why he is assigned to my first mortgage and she is assigned to my second mortgage. He explained to me, as she did, that I would have one single point of contact. I never hear from him again. I emailed him several times, and still no response. I then called Citimortgage yet again, then I am informed that I have now been reassigned to XXXX XXXX and I have to schedule a time for her to call me. I do. She calls me eventually on XXXX XXXX. She informs me that because I have so much equity in my house, that as a business decision, that Citibank who owns the XXXX mortgage, is going to buy out my XXXX mortgage, owned by Citimortgage and sell the house for a profit! But she says, never fear, I will take care of this and get the record straight. She admits that she can not guarantee that they will cancel the sale as of yet, but says we have plenty of time. Of course, she says I need to resend every piece of documentation to her email, for a third time, and I did. She calls me on XXXX XXXX and verifies she has everything she thinks she needs, and notifies me that she is also assigned to me permanently. I explain to her that I feel that I am being jacked around and mislead, and she reassures me that she will get to the bottom of this. In the meantime, a XXXX unmarked SUV arrives at my house and gives me foreclosure paperwork while I am outside in the yard with my family. My kids began to cry as I read that we are going to lose our house of XXXX years. XXXX says not to worry, because she will call me every XXXX and we can keep up to date with our case. She says she will follow up with me on XXXX the XXXX with an update. I never heard from her again. I emailed her on XXXX, and again on XXXX the XXXX. No response. I get another email, to inform me that I am being reassigned, yet again, for the XXXX time to XXXX XXXX. I called again today to talk to a supervisor. I spoke with a gentleman, who asked me a series of questions, and eventually kept me on hold for another half hour. I had to go back to work so I was unable to wait. Feeling distraught, I called the HOPE hotline, and they basically told me that there are no programs to help me, and Citimortgage holds all the cards, and the key to my families future. Great. They have already told me that they are going to buy out my first mortgage so they can have all of my equity over the past 16 years. Really nice. They continue to pass me around like a bottle of hooch, as the clock towards foreclosure ticks away. All of my claims are supported by multiple email chains, and I can supply those upon request. 

I have nowhere to turn, and I do n't know what to do. Oddly enough, I do n't owe that much, and all I want to do is get the mortgage current, modify it, or do whatever it takes to get back on track, but I can not get anyone to call me back. You would think that after having XXXX years of being a loyal customer would help with a solid payment record would help, but when you have equity in your house, I guess that tilts the scale, and not in my family 's favor. Please help.

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