Consumer complaint received 2017-06-04
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: HI
Product: Mortgage
Sub-product: Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Trouble during payment process

Complaint:
We purchased a home in XX/XX/XXXX for $ XXXX with 10 % down payment so we were forced to open an escrow account and pay PMI - due to mortgage debacle we were not permitted to finance a 80/10/10 loan as we did with our first home - even though we have an excellent credit score. In XX/XX/XXXX we took advantage of an offer by CitiMortgage ( big mistake ) to lower our interest rate. In the process of the paperwork, they " appraised '' ( on paper ) our property far below our purchase price - at $ XXXX I believe is the number cited over the telephone. Our loan amount was $ XXXX. The home was not physically appraised and I never knew they changed the value of our property as I was advised no appraisal necessary and I do not believe I was given a copy of this form as I do not have it with our closing loan docs. I called CitiMortgage several months back to inquire about removing PMI because our house is worth significantly more than we paid. That 's when I was informed that the appraised value is {$290.00} and our loan {$280.00} - so we were a long way off to reaching the 78 % LTV. I was told I could have an appraisal at my expense - fine - I asked if I could use an appraiser of our choice ( because I do n't trust them ) or was I forced to use one of their choosing. They said I could use one of our choosing, as long as they were licensed to perform appraisal in the state HOWEVER - they said they would review the appraisal BUT that the holder of the loan ( XXXX XXXX ) did NOT have to approve our appraisal. I know for a fact that a bank does not loan more $ than the appraised value on a loan and asked several people within CitiMortgage about this including a supervisor and they went silent - they could n't answer my question because they knew I was right. If the appraised value is less than the loan amount, the purchaser must come to close with the additional cash. I then asked for a copy of the supposed appraisal and the representative over the phone said he put the request in and a couple of weeks later, I received a letter from CitiMortgage stating they could not provide and I would have to obtain from a third party ( not surprising - CitiMortgage has always given me the run around-always ). Now they have sold my loan to XXXX XXXX  effective XX/XX/XXXX - I have no idea what 's in store for us now ). Our property tax records are showing the assessed value ( which is always lower than market value ) at $ XXXX for XX/XX/XXXX. Homes in our neighborhood are selling mid 400s as we speak. I would like to know what I can do. I am furious that consumers are held hostage and mortgage companies are allowed to break the law - they refuse to remove the PMI even when LTV is well above 78 %. They continue to raise our payments every year for the escrow account " to create a cushion in our escrow account. '' I 'm tired of them holding our money and us being forced to pay PMI. We have never been late or missed a payment and again our credit score is still over XXXX. Any advice would be much appreciated.

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