Consumer complaint received 2017-12-13
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CO
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC)
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage

Complaint:
We took out a HELOC with Citbank in XX/XX/XXXX for the purpose of investing in rental real estate. All proceeds were used for this purpose and in XX/XX/XXXX during the housing bubble collapse, we lost all rental properties and filed for bankruptcy. The line of credit was based on 125 % of equity, had a maximum value of {$120000.00} and the current balance is {$110000.00} ( rounded ). The HELOC was included in our BK filing but because we wanted to remain in our home, we continued to make the minimum payments until XX/XX/XXXX when my husband left his job in sales and started a new business, because of industry decline at his old job. We did not make the XX/XX/XXXX payment and received a letter from Citibank inXX/XX/XXXX telling us the repayment period would be accelerating in XX/XX/XXXX at a payment double what we had been paying up until that point. We contacted Citibank at that time to let them know we could no longer make payments due to financial hardship, but were seeking to negotiate a settlement with them. From XX/XX/XXXX until now ( see timeline included in the documents submitted below ), we have been complying with everything Citibank has requested of us, but they have failed to follow through with what they have told us to expect, have re-assigned us to four different " single points of contact '', have never told us whether our settlement offer has been accepted or rejected, have required four different appraisal/home inspections, and have pursued foreclosure while telling us our account was under review. The following is a list of key recent key events that overlap and go beyond the timeline included in our Hardship Letter to Citibank attached below : XX/XX/XXXX - Notice of Election and Demand for Foreclosure filed.

XX/XX/XXXX -My husband 's brother was given power of attorney for the second time in order to assist us as he has expertise in financial negotiations. The problem with this is email communication from XXXX now bypasses us and goes only to him, in spite of our request to be copied on all email communications. 
XX/XX/XXXX - Submitted third document package to Citibank at request of XXXX XXXX. We received three letters dated XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, each stating " Once your application is complete with all required documents, we will stop all foreclosure activity until we determine whether or not your request is approved. '' On XX/XX/XXXX we received an email from XXXX XXXX stating our account was officially with a negotiator and under review. We thought that meant Citi would stop the foreclosure, but they did n't. 
XX/XX/XXXX - we received 4 different letters from Citibank : 1. Notice that XXXX XXXX would be our new Homeowner Support Specialist ; 2. Letter informing us our request for a short sale was denied, even though we never requested a short sale ; 3.  Letter telling us we may be eligible for a Settlement on our Mortgage ; 4. Letter telling us our request was being escalated and was anticipated to be resolved within 15 days. 
XX/XX/XXXX - we submitted an updated Hardship Letter ( with timeline ) and current bank statements to XXXX XXXX at her request. 
XX/XX/XXXX - received a letter from XXXX XXXX stating " Because we received your complete application, certain foreclosure protections will apply. '' Our POA made several phone calls and sent emails requesting a detailed explanation of what the foreclosure protections were and never received a response to that question. We sent an email seeking an explanation and received no response. 
XX/XX/XXXX - third appraisal/home inspection performed. Throughout the month, more documents were requested through our POA only, we were never contacted directly by anyone at Citibank. Our POA was told to expect a call from a negotiator ( XXXX XXXX ) assigned to our case, but was never contacted by her. He called XXXX and sent emails informing her the negotiator had not contacted him but got no response. 
XX/XX/XXXX - we, along with our POA, had a conference call with XXXX XXXX seeking to find out why there had been no response from XXXX to our settlement offer, why the foreclosure had not been stopped, and what the foreclosure protections were that she referred to in her letter dated XX/XX/XXXX. She told us she had no idea what the foreclosure protections were and that more documents ( including a 1st mortgage payoff statement ) were needed in order for the negotiator ( XXXX XXXX, not XXXX XXXX ) to proceed. When we asked for the foreclosure to be stopped, she said they could not do that until 7 days prior to the sale date, but if we got our documents in on time, we had nothing to worry about. She refused to put that in writing, although the call was supposedly recorded by Citibank. We submitted the requested documents that evening. When we requested the payoff statement, our mortgage holder, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, told us they were never notified by Citibank of the foreclosure filing. 
XX/XX/XXXX - fourth appraisal/home inspection performed on the basis the one done on XX/XX/XXXX was done " incorrectly, '' but no explanation was given as to what was incorrect about it. Citibank communicated through our POA, not directly with us. We emailed XXXX XXXX to inquire who would be conducting the appraisal and received no response. 
We are now one week away from foreclosure, but still do not have a response from Citibank letting us know whether or not our offer has been accepted or rejected. We have complied with every request Citibank has made, in good faith and with hope of entering into a negotiation for settlement, but believe they have not acted in good faith and have deliberately stalled and bounced us around while waiting for the foreclosure to go through.

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