Consumer complaint received 2015-10-24
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
Product: Credit card
Issue: Billing disputes

Complaint:
RE : Citi retaliatory closing of accts in good standing immediately after I blow the whistle on Citi 's suspicious fraudulent business practices. 

CITI : Your response " As explained in our XXXX XXXX, 2015 letter, we maintain our right to close your accts at any time for any reason. " XXXX : Your understanding of fed and state law is patently incorrect. No bank, including Citi, may close an acct for any reason if that reason is tantamount to discrimination or retaliation against a consumer for exercising his/her right to dispute a charge or complain of a bank 's fraudulent business practices, such as Citi discriminated and retaliated against me in the instant case. Citi asserts its mistaken assumption of absolute unqualified privilege in a federally regulated financial industry. 

Citi confirmed my accts were in excellent standing for yrs. Only after I complained about my suspicion of Citi 's fraud and lack of due process and due diligence re : my disputes did Citi close my acct w/o NOTICE, REASON, or GOOD FAITH. 

Furthermore, Citi has denied me due process and acted in bad faith by 1 ) repeatedly refusing to share merchant 's response and XXXX ) failing to provide me the opportunity to rebut it. 15 USC 1666, 1666i, and 1640 ( e ), 12 CFR 226.12 ( c ) and 226.13, California Civil Code at 1747 - 1748.95. Pursuant to fed and CA law, XXXX and even Citi 's policy, in a credit card dispute, the bank shall forward the merchant 's response. Here, Citi claims to have received a response from the merchant but Citi 1 ) never forwarded the merchant 's response to me, the consumer and therefore 2 ) denied me an opportunity to respond or further support my dispute for the chargeback. Citi admitted it failed to take these basic steps in chargeback and credit card dispute process. 
By failing to abide by fed/state laws and Visa/its own policies, Citi illegally 1 ) prohibited my right to pursue a chargeback for services that were in breach of a contract, 2 ) denied me due process, 3 ) failed to properly investigate a meritorious chargeback dispute, and then 4 ) retaliated when I asked for the merchant 's response and expressed my concerns about Citi 's fraudulent practices in its billing disputes dept. 

XX/XX/2015 : Thanks to CFPB, Citi finally provided the merchant 's response for the first time ever but CONTINUES TO DENY ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO RESPOND! I just learned that the merchant violated Health Info Portability and Accountability Act ( HIPAA ) by providing my private medical info to a bank!!!! And Citi withheld this violation and invasion of privacy from me for months. Citi must allow me TO RESPOND to this new info and continues to deny me due process in violation of fed/state law. Furthermore, a review of my Thank You point history revealed that Citi seized points which I earned via my Citigold Checking acct which is current and separate from credit cards! ILLEGAL! 

Citi closed my accts which it admits were in good standing in retaliation of my complaint that it engaged in fraudulent practices by using one of its employees ' names w/o her knowledge or consent in all of its dispute communications. Additionally, Citi 's illegal actions have caused my acct to be late which I have NEVER been. Citi has engaged in illegal harassing collection attempts by calling me early in the morning, late at night, and several times in an hr. I have documented Citi 's harassing calls. 

Citi has caused and continues to cause me economic harm when it illegally 1 ) confiscated {$700.00} Thank You points much of which I earned from my unrelated Citi GOLD CHECKING acct and 2 ) closing my acct which has ALREADY adversely affect my credit score and worthiness. Citi 's illegal retaliatory act caused my score to drop XXXX points in just a month! My involuntarily closed acct by Citi is the ONLY derogatory file on my ENTIRE credit report and has already caused me SEVERE financial hardship.

Company public response: Company chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation