Consumer complaint received 2016-12-19
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: ID
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Home equity loan or line of credit
Issue: Loan modification,collection,foreclosure

Complaint:
This complaint is in regards to a HELOC which was originated and approved by Citi Mortgage on XXXX/XXXX/XXXX. This heloc was approved by them in 7 days with no income verification, in the amount of {$430000.00}. At the closing I was not informed of the true risks and eventual costs of this loan due to the confusing terms in which I was misinformed at closing from the CitiMortgage closing representative. This closing agent misrepresented when the payments would revert from interest only to full payment status. I was specifically told at closing that I had 20 years before the interest only loan would revert to the higher payment. I was planning my finances accordingly. Looking back on when this loan closed, it would now be Non Conforming for reasons that after the financial crisis are now obvious. 
There was false disclosure as the lender ( citi mortgage ) and their representative ( the closing agent ) misrepresented the true costs, risks, and the appropriateness of the loan terms which I am now faced with. 
It was only after Citi sent a letter to me in XXXX of XXXX, that I was made aware that they would be requiring almost 3 times my current payment beginning this month. I was told at closing that this would occur in XXXX and not XXXX. So this month my scheduled payment went from {$1100.00} to over {$3000.00} per month. And this is before the recent rate increase by the federal reserve. There is likely another XXXX rate increases coming in XXXX as well, which will increase this scheduled payment even more substantially. 
The letter that was sent to me by Citi in XXXX, requested that if I felt this increased unexpected payment caused a hardship and the amount was unmanageable, then I should reach out to them for relief in the form of a modification. 
I reached out to a Citi homeowner support specialist on XXXX XXXX XXXX, and explained what I was informed at the time of closing and that I now consider that this loan was predatory in nature as this type of loan origination in XXXX was prevelant. 
I explained that this scheduled increase would not be sustainable and that with further rate increases on the horizon, that I would lead to imminent default. She explained that if I sent in the modification package, that we could work through this and come up with an equitable solution that would prevent a default. I was told that I would receive an answer to my request for loss mitigation assistance in approximately 6 weeks. 
It has now been 130 days since my initial phone call, and I have provided all requested documents in a timely manner. It is now 4 days before the payment increase, and I have been forced to put various bills on my credit card to avoid default for the XXXX payment. However I can not continue to pay bills by credit card going forward with an 18 % interest rate for obvious reasons. They put hard limits and timeframes on requested documents from the consumer, and it would be expected, that this application should have been reasonably expedited and handled in a timely and effective manner by Citi. 
They have failed miserably in this respect and now I am on the verge of default and may need to consider other options. I have done the responsible action by seeking assistance, however for this to work, I have found that both parties must work togeather in an honest and constructive manner. I have already payed over {$120000.00} in interest with nothing to show for it. This type of loan should never have been pushed on us without explaining in plain English the eventual consequences. They had no problem approving this loan in 1 week, however they now choose to be totally unreasonable and can not make a decision in 130 days! I have informed them that if they help me then I will help them by not defaulting, however any assistance must be designed to resolve this imminent default. In conclusion, if they help me I will avoid default. Thank you

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