Consumer complaint received 2017-09-07
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MD
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem when making payments
Sub-issue: Problem during payment process

Complaint:
Re : Citibank Credit Acct. ending in XXXX Hello, I apologize if this is overly lengthy but I like to be thorough ( and I sure hope there are breaks in paragraphs as opposed to the way it 's displayed in the review section ). Yet it is still not as thorough as I would like since the bank has completely shut me out from having any access to my account. I was initially keeping records of dates, contact names, etc, but this institution initially put me in a position where I felt comfortable enough that such notes were no longer necessary. And now they are refusing me access both electronically via the internet and via telephone. When I called them at the end of XX/XX/XXXX and after going through all the routine security questions, they refused to speak with me about my account ( never in 55 years have I had a bank refuse to give me *any* information about my own account ).
Earlier this year, due to a drastic reduction in income, I fell into delinquency on this account. After some discussion, I came to an agreement with the bank that the account would be closed and that I would be put on a payment program wherein I would pay off the balance over a period of 60 months, at $ 151/month. Frankly, I was stunned by the generosity of the 0 % APR they gave me.
Because they have now put me in a position of blindness where I have virtually nothing to refer to in order to provide you with an accurate account ( apparently statements have stopped coming as well ), I 'm going to jump ahead a couple of months to the most recent development. I received an email from my credit reporting alert service that potentially negative information had been recently been reported to the credit bureaus. I logged in to find that my balance had been " charged off as bad debt. '' This was reported to XXXX and XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX and XX/XX/XXXX, respectively. It was easy to figure out that this also meant my payment program was terminated.
I am convinced that if it were n't for this reporting service, I would still be unaware that any of this had happened, as to this moment I still have received nothing to this effect from the bank. Prior to setting up the payment arrangement, I recall being badgered by the bank constantly in the form of electronic account alerts, phone calls and letters that I needed to act. Yet now, when I could have used some of this badgering to let me know what was happening and even prevent it from going as far as it did, they kept me completely in the dark, not communicating with me by any means to make me aware of the situation - still have n't. And still wo n't.
Let me try and piece together what led to this. With the help of a relative, I have recently set up an arrangement in which these monthly payments were to come out of a trust fund. {$150.00} was to automatically be sent out on the XXXX of each month ( the due date being the XXXX of each month ). I was given the impression that the first payment was to go out on XX/XX/XXXX. Only through investigation as a result of the credit alert did I discover this payment never went out. Through either computer error or miscommunication, the first payment was programmed to go out on XX/XX/XXXX( once this had all been discovered, the managers of the fund offered to expedite the payment, but I instructed them to hold off on it so I could see where I stood with the bank and what that payment would do for me, if anything. But as stated earlier, when I called last week, they refused to speak to me. I know this might be hard to believe, but rep after rep after rep in various departments literally would not tell me a single thing about my account ( should they deny this, I will address that claim then ).
I am aware that as a result of my own oversight, I submitted a prior payment one day late. And I am also aware through discussion of the terms of the agreement at the time that two consecutive missed payments could result in removal from the payment plan ( though there seemed to be some discrepancy between a " late '' payment and a " missed '' payment ). I also know that yet another payment that I paid at a Citibank branch itself on the due date itself may have inaccurately been posted as late ( I know it had to be before the cutoff time of XXXX XXXX because that is when the branch closes! ). But as I said, I have denied access to anything I could refer to give you more detailed information.
But this really goes beyond the two late ( " missed ''? ) payments. Where was any kind of notification or warning from the bank? All the badgering I got prior to the agreement? Why was I kept so in the dark until it took a credit alerting service to make me aware of how far it had gone? Why am I still being kept in the dark to this very day? With a little communication, this could have been resolved before it went off the rails entirely. And from that point on, payments would have gone out on time like clockwork for the next five years. Instead, what started out as a generous resolution from the bank has now unnecessarily become a ( possibly irreparable? ) nightmare.
The people who manage the fund ( who I 'm choosing not to name for the time being because, as is stated below this form, I am allowing this to be published publicly ) said they would like to write an official letter explaining their involvement. They seem to think they can get the plan reinstated. I want to hear what the bank has to say first. I also want access to my account returned to me so I can get my facts straight. I like to have my facts straight. I am especially appalled by this aspect of the whole thing - I can not get access to anything that will tell me what payments were received, how they were submitted, when they were posted, etc ( I do recall, before I was shut out completely, seeing a {$45.00} payment posted that I could n't make heads or tails of - I do n't even know where such a figure came from ).
If I were to give the managers of the fund the go ahead to write the bank a letter, I would want to make sure it goes to someone in authority as opposed to some standard dime-a-dozen rep who has no power to do anything. I figure that if this submission does nothing else, it will at least put me in touch with whom that person might be. And as far as any authority that the CFPB has over the bank, I believe they should be made to answer to why they have refused me access to information that I have every right to see. I have to wonder if they have in some way violated some law or regulation.
Thank you, XXXX 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