Consumer complaint received 2020-08-14
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: GA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Closing your account
Sub-issue: Company closed your account

Complaint:
In XXXX I opened a Macy 's American Express Card issued by Department Stores National Bank with a {$2000.00} credit limit. Since I have had the card DSNB or Macys has on a continuous, excessive, irregular, and spontaneous basis conducted so called " reviews '' of my account by obtaining copies of my credit report without notice to me and without my permission. DSNB or Macy 's has used this information to decrease my credit limit from {$2000.00} to {$1900.00} in XXXX of XXXX and again to decrease my credit limit from {$1900.00} to {$1800.00} in XXXX of XXXX copies of the notices of the credit limit decrease are attached for your review. In XXXX of XXXX I was notified by Macy 's that my Macy 's XXXX card would not be renewed beyond the expiration date of XX/XX/XXXX even though I have always paid by bill on time and never exceeded my credit limit and that the decision was made in whole or in part of information DSNB or Macys obtained about me from a single credit bureau, XXXX, even though DSNB and Macys reports information regarding this account to all three major credit bureaus and the decision was made approximately eight months before the card expires and not closer to when the card expires and regardless of if the information contained in the credit report is accurate or not. How do I know that DSNB or Macys did not pull a no impact or soft inquiry/pull of my credit report from XXXX  or XXXX as well and then chose the credit report with the lowest score to make a hard inquiry and then use that report to base a decision on? DSNB and Macys even admitted that they review credit reports and it does not appear as an inquiry on the credit report or impact the credit score. DSNB or Macys offers no explanation or information regarding what precipitated DSNB or Macys conducting unusual, irregular, inconsistent, and spontaneous reviews of my account and lowering or decreasing my credit limit twice ( once in XXXX of XXXX and again in XXXX of XXXX ) and then choosing not to renew the card account in XX/XX/XXXX when the card does not expire until XX/XX/XXXX and not closer to the expiration of the card. I dont need one of the automatons to tell me for the third time that DSNB regularly ( which is not true as discussed above and is on an unusual, irregular, inconsistent, and spontaneous basis ) reviews credit report data to determine if our cardholders continue to qualify for their accounts. We may review a copy of your credit report ; however, it does not appear as an inquiry on your credit report or impact your credit score.

In XXXX of XXXX ( eight months prior to the expiration of the card in XXXX of XXXX ), DSNB or Macys sent me a letter stating that they will not be renewing my Macys American Express card beyond the expiration date of XXXX of XXXX. According to the XXXX letter, I appears that DSNB or Macys without my permission and knowledge pulled my credit report in XXXX of XXXX ( the letter does not specify the exact date that DSNB or Macys pulled my credit report to conduct a so called review ). DSNB or Macys has offered no explanation of why DSNB and Macys made the decision no to renew my Macys XXXX card in XXXX of XXXX eight months prior to the expiration of the card and did not mail the notice of non-renewal until mid-XXXX  instead of waiting until XXXX or XXXX ( XXXX is the month the card expires ) to make this decision and allow me time to review and or dispute items or pay down or pay off balances which would greatly enhance or improve my credit score. Since DSNB or Macys has made this decision not to renew my Macys XXXX my credit score has improved and gone up and is higher than it was in XXXX when DSNB and Macys last reviewed my credit file and made a decision not to renew my Macys XXXX. 
DSNB or Macys offers no appeals process or any opportunity for a customer to provide any additional information about their financial assets or income for DSNB or Macys to reconsider the decision. The decision not to renew a credit card account should not be made eight months in advance of the card expiring instead, the decision should be made closer to when the card or account expires and is up for renewal. Again, DSNB or Macys has offered no explanation as to why this decision was made so early in XXXX of XXXX and eight months prior to the current card expiring in XXXX of XXXX. 

Department Stores National Bank ( DSNB ) or Macys is not properly and prominently and conspicuously disclosing the extent of Citis involvement in its credit card accounts and the DSNB is  a subsidiary of Citi when issuing Macys branded credit cards. The customer agreement ( a copy of which is attached ) makes it appear that the customer is entering into an agreement with Department Stores National Bank not Citi. The definitions section of the agreement defines we, us, and our to mean Department Stores National Bank ( DSNB ), the issuer of your account. Department Stores National Bank is located in XXXX XXXX, SD. DSNB should have to be more forthcoming and fully and prominently disclose to consumers the extent of Citis ownership and involvement with the consumers account and not just list Citi as an affiliate ( companies related by common ownership or control. They can be financial and nonfinancial companies. Our affiliates include companies with a Citi name, including Citibank N.A. and Macys and Bloomingdales ). DSNB should have to disclose all affiliates with whom DSNB does business with and or shares information about consumer with to consumers. The back of the credit cards indicates that the card is issued by Department Stores National Bank and not Citi.  Additionally, all correspondence received by me are on Macys letter head and signed by an employee who works at the Macys Executive Office so DSNB and Macys continues to mislead consumers about Citis involvement in the Macys branded credit card accounts and that DSNB is a subsidiary of Citi. 

As discussed and outlined above this is misleading due to the fact that this seems to be a decision made by Citi in which DSNB or Macys is a subsidiary of and is in retaliation of a dispute between me and Citi regarding a Best Buy Visa credit card and is omitted from the letter or notice to me that my Macys XXXX card will not be renewed beyond the expiration date even though the letter appears on Macys letterhead and would the least sophisticated consumer the impression that the letter is from Macys and not Citi. The letter makes it appear that the decision was based on the decision was based primarily or entirely on information contained in a credit report obtained from XXXX when that may not be true making the letter false and misleading. 

In XXXX Citi closed ( by refusing to renew ) my Best Buy rewards Visa card and refused to work with me to resolve the issue. Citi continues to report adverse information regarding this account to all three credit bureaus even though Citi made its decision based on information it obtained from only one credit bureau XXXX instead of obtaining and including scores and reports from XXXX and XXXX and refuses to remove the account from my credit reports with all three credit bureaus XXXX XXXX and XXXXXXXX  even though the customer agreement and the Fair Credit Reporting Act does not prohibit Citi from removing the account from my credit report 15 U.S.C 1681i and 15 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ). The letter is in the exact same format and font as the Best Buy letter copies of which are attached for your review. At least the Best Buy Card indicates and discloses Citis involvement unlike the Macys XXXX. Citi also refuses to work with me and or negotiate any resolution or settlement with me regarding the Best Buy account claiming that a settlement is/was not available and or government regulations and the law prohibited Citi from negotiating a settlement without citing specific regulations and or laws that prohibited Citi from doing so. Citi refuses to provide information to substantiate its claims ( such as citing specific government regulations or legal code sections or laws ) so that information can be researched and verified. Citi only wants to offer the same robotic and generic responses and or refuses specifically address this. Citi only offered one settlement of 50 % of the balance after ten months after the card expired and Citi closed the account and Citi charged the account off as required by law and charged and assessed {$890.00} ( {$250.00} in late fees and {$630.00} in interest ). Citi still refuses to negotiate and work with me to settle and resolve this matter for good. Citi has also forwarded the Best Buy account to two different collection agencies both of which have made little to no effort to collect this alleged debt beyond sending a dunning letter and responding to a request for validation. 

Citi has now retaliated against me for a dispute with the my Best Buy rewards Visa card by refusing to renew my Macys American Express  Card and I was not properly informed of the extent of Citis ownership and involvement with my Macys American Express as explained previously in this complaint. The company refuses to reconsider its decision or offer any type of appeals process to its decision. The company also refuses to allow me to close the account and or settle the account for less than the full balance. No laws or government regulations prevent DSNB or Macys from doing so. If DSNB or Macys claim that there are laws or government regulations that prevent them from doing so DSNB or Macys should be required to identify and cite each law or government regulation that prevents them from doing so or that DSNB or Macys is relying on to respond to this complaint. The company also refuses to remove the information from my credit file with the three major credit bureaus even though the customer agreement which states We may report information about your account to credit bureaus. Late payments, missed payments, or other defaults on your account may be reflected in your credit report. We may report account information in your name and the names of authorized users. We may also obtain follow-up credit reports on you. If you think we reported incorrect information to a credit bureau, write us at the Customer Service address on the billing statement. We will investigate the matter. We will then tell you if we agree or disagree with you. If we agree with you, we will contact each credit bureau to which we reported and request a correction. If we disagree with you, we will tell you that. '' and the Fair Credit Reporting Act ( FCRA ) 18 U.S.C. 1681i and 18 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ) does not prohibit Citi from doing so. I also find it interesting that Macy 's is basing its decision on information from one credit bureau XXXX however, DSNB and Macy 's are reporting information regarding this account to all three credit bureaus ( XXXX, XXXX, and XXXX XXXX ).  When responding to complaints about the credit reporting and request to deletion or removal from the credit reports, the only thing that DSNB and Macys minions and apparatchiks do is repeat the mantra and offer the same response as a credit provider, we are obligated to report the account accurately to the credit reporting agencies. While the statement it true, the statement is designed end all discussion about credit reporting without DSNB or Macys having to answer any question or be subject to scrutiny and to be misleading and misrepresents the truth. DSNB is required by law ( FCRA ) to report accurate information about a consumer to all credit bureaus however, DSNB and Macys are not required to report information about a consumer to any credit bureau and is not prohibited by the customer agreement or the FCRA from removing or deleting information about a consumer from any credit bureau as stated and outlined above. This statement is engineered and designed to be misleading ( and a gross and intentional misrepresentation of the facts ) and intended to end, close, or shut down any further investigation, inquiries, scrutiny, or discussion of the issue. 

Another reason that DSNB and or Macys refuses to remove this account from my credit report is so if I dont pay the bill, DSNB or Macys could leave the information on my credit report so that DSNB and or Macys can attract collection agencies or debt buyers to possibly purchase the account for pennies on the dollar and then the collection agency that buys the account will come after me for the full balance. The collection agencies case would be based mainly on information contained in the credit report. My experience with debt collectors and debt buyers is that if you file an answer and  show up for court or are represented by an attorney you are more likely to have the case dismissed or settle the case for less than the full balance when a dismissal is not possible. DSNB and Macys wants to hold my credit hostage and use it as a mechanism to extort money out of me ( either pay what we say you owe even if it is wrong or we will report adverse or negative information about you to the credit bureaus ) even if the amount DSNB or Macys claims I owe is incorrect or is more than what DSNB or Macys is entitled to. DSNB and Macys should have to address this issue fully and completely and not just issue a general and generic, repetitive, incomplete, unhelpful, and cursory response as a credit grantor, we are obligated to report the account accurately to the credit reporting agencies. I expect and demand a better response along with an explanation and for DSNB and Macys to address the issue fully and completely. I expect DSNB and Macys to specifically address the fact that the customer agreement does not require or mandate that DSNB and Macys report information about me to a credit reporting agency and does not prohibit DSNB and Macys from removing or deleting information from my credit reports. I also expect and demand that DSNB and Macys specifically address 18 U.S.C. 1681i and 18 U.S.C. 1681s-2 ( b ) of the FCRA which does not prohibit a creditor or information burnisher/supplier from removing or deleting information about a consumer from the consumers credit file and not just say that they are not authorized to address a legal question or issue. 

I also expect and demand that if DSNB or Macys to identify, quote, or site any government regulation or legal code section of any law that DSNB or Macys is relying on as justification not to settle this account for less than the full balance and remove this account from my credit report or that DSNB or Macys is relying on in its response. 
DSNB or Macys is being careful of how it responds and does not want to provide any information that could be used against them and is just offering a generic form response so that DSNB and Macys can say it responded and move on to the next one. Do the minions even take the time to read the complaint and come up with an original response instead of just copying and pasting or repeating the mantra of the previous minion almost verbatim like an automaton? Or are they in such a hurry as to just issue a response to say that they responded and close the file so that they can move on to the next one? For example, in a letter dated XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX claims after researching the decision not to renew you Macys XXXX XXXX account ( which I dont believe she did ), we ( not her who is we ) determined the information ( does not indicate or specify what information was examined or used for this alleged research and used to make any determinations ) the information, ( what information ) to be correct ; therefore we are unable to comply with your request to renew the account. XXXX XXXX also included a copy of the credit card agreement ( a copy of which is attached for your review ) which makes no reference or mention of Citi being affiliated or associated with the account in any way DSNB should have to review this agreement and specifically highlight and point out were it makes any mention or reference to DSNB or Macy 's affiliation or association with Citi. On XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX XXXX wrote a follow letter that is almost verbatim and an exact copy of XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX letter copies of which are attached for your review. 

What DSNB and Macys expect when they decide not renew and close the account so that I can no longer use it to make purchase and still expects me to make monthly payments on the account and DSNB and Macys will continue to charge interest and or fees on the account every month as if the account was still open and continue to charge interest until the balance is paid in full. What DSNB and Macys will also knowingly omit is the practice of Residual interest, also known as trailing interest, is the interest charged on a credit card balance that accumulates between the billing statement date and the date you pay the bill. Residual interest only applies if you carry a balance on a credit card from month to month. What DSNB and Macys knowingly fails to mention that most credit card accounts are subject to the Truth in Lending Act or ( TILA ). The TILA usually requires credit card companies to charge off accounts after six months of non-payment and once the credit card company does this the interest on the account stops. A creditor such as DSNB and Macys would be subject to Georgia state law in regard to interest on a closed charged off account. Courts may not allow interest especially when there has been no meaningful effort to collect and alleged debt.

What DSNB and Macys also knowingly omits is that they may sell the account to a collection agency and then the collection agency may place the account on the consumers credit report as a collection account once this is done then the original creditor ( DSNB and Macys ) must remove the account information they are reporting because you can not report the same account to the credit bureaus multiple times. 
DSNB and Macys also omits that some collection agencies may offer to remove or delete the account from a consumers credit report in exchange for payment.

DSNB and Macys claim that they are unable ( and reject your request as stated in the letters from XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX and refuse ) to delete the account from the credit file because as a credit provider they are obligated to report the account accurately to the credit agencies is false, misleading, and a misrepresentation of the facts for the reasons described in this letter. What DSNB and Macys will not admit is that credit reporting is nothing more than a debt collection tool/tactic that they use to ensure payment ( i.e. either pay what we say or claim you owe even if it is wrong or we will report this to the credit bureaus and ruin your credit for seven years ). I expect and demand that DSNB and Macys offer a better and different explanation other than make a unhelpful, incomplete, cursory, and generalized statement as a credit provider, we are obligated to report the account accurately to the credit reporting agencies.

The only thing that DSNB and Macys wants to do is offer and unhelpful, incomplete, generic, cursory and almost verbatim responses of the previous automation stating we are only doing what the Credit Card Agreement allows us to do written by an apathetic, heartless minion automaton with no concept of customer service. Whenever a consumer tries to ask questions or obtain information from DSNB and Macys, DSNB and Macys decides it does not like or want to answer the question or provide the requested information and refuses to answer questions, does not address the issue, and or provide the requested information claiming that the answers to the questions or the information requested is confidential and proprietary business information and can not be disclosed. Macys refuses to disclose the qualifications or criteria to obtain or renew or maintain a Macys XXXX  card claiming that credit criteria is proprietary business information and can not be disclosed. It seems as if DSNB and Macys are more focused on what they cant or wont do or refuse to do ( wont or refuse to is more accurate ) do rather than working toward an amicable solution. It also seems as if the agents who respond to these inquiries or complaints are not empowered to do anything and are focused on responding so that they can claim the company responded and just move on to the next one.

DSNB and Macys should be required by law to prominently and conspicuously disclose the clause that allows DSNB or Macys to suspend privileges or close a consumers account and that DSNB or Macys has the right to not renew that account once the card expires and that the consumer must meet certain criteria ( define or explain the criteria or requirements ) in order to maintain the account or have the account renewed to all applicants including at all Macys stores and all point of sale systems so that the consumer can make a more informed decision about applying for credit with Macys. Consumers should be aware of this information prior to applying for any DSNB or Macys credit card. This requirement could negatively impact DSNB and Macys and reduce the number of consumers applying for a Macys credit card which would make DSNB and Macys rethink this provision. Consumers have a right to know what is in any contract or agreement and ready any and all provisions and the entire contract or agreement prior to signing or agreeing to it. 

A growing and popular trend among credit card companies is to frequently pull a credit report on a consumer to " review '' their account and then lower or decrease the credit limit closer to whatever the balance is on the card at the time of the " review '' and then complain that the consumer is using too much of the credit limit or that the proportion of balance to credit limit is too high. Then the credit card companies expect the consumer to pay the full balance while at the same time continuing to charge interest on an account the consumer may no longer be able to use and refuse to work with the consumer for an amicable solution. It's only when a corporation is sued or is subject to action taken by the government against the corporation, then the corporation wants to play the victim. What the companies are doing is lowering or devaluing a consumers credit score and then using that as an excuse to close or cancel the consumers account. This practice has to and must stop.

During these uncertain times DSNB and Macys should not be alienating or angering customers by restricting us, lowering credit limits, or closing credit card accounts. If DSNB and Macys continue this practice and continue to lose customer and their busines will continue to decline. Macys and other retailers were already experiencing financial hardship and closing stores prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. When DSNB and Macys have not customers left because the customer got mad and closed their credit card accounts or DSNB and Macys canceled or closed the customers account, how is DSNB and Macys going to make money? When the mall apocalypse continues and DSNB and Macys continue to close stores and cut jobs and joins the long list of companies closing stores, going out of business, or filing bankruptcy which includes without limitation to Sears XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX ( XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX, XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX   XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXXXXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX XXXX, and XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX  customers will not be applying for or have to worry about their Macys credit card because DSNB and Macys will not be in busines or around for anyone to use the Macys branded credit cards. 
All this from a bank Citi ( which DSNB is apparently affiliated with or a subsidiary of Citi ) that received {$470.00} XXXX in cash and guarantees from American taxpayers under the TARP program in XXXX and with the expectation of being bailed out by the taxpayers but Citi, DSNB, and Macys cant, will not or wont, and refuses ( emphasis on will not, wont, and refuses ) provide any assistance to Citi, DSNB, Macys customers, the same customers who are the taxpayers who bailed them out in 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