Consumer complaint received 2017-05-07
Product: Credit card or prepaid card — General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Struggling to pay your bill — Credit card company won't work with you while you're going through financial hardship
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (DC)

In  XXXX   XXXX , financial counselors at  XXXX   XXXX   XXXX  advised me orally to declare Chapter  XXXX  bankruptcy. Before taking such a step, as debts arose during a time when my judgement was impaired, I sent Citibank a modest proposal for debt settlement on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , explaining the accrual of debt arose from health problems which persisted, preventing me from earning income sufficient to make payments. Citibank declined to respond with a written proposal for a settlement or other arrangement. Also on  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , I requested validation of the debt, including a copy of the contract and credit card statements for the past three years.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , a letter from  Citibank  declined to provide me with a copy of the specific contracts applicable to my transactions, declined to provide me copies of any statements, and yet affirmed the validity of the debt for which it offered no documentation and for which it would not supply specific contract details. Citibank also made assertions in the letter that were misrepresentations of material fact or statements of fact that had the tendency to mislead.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , I responded to  Citibank, specifically addressing these concerns : " In your letter, you indicate that, We [ Citibank ]  have regularly sent you monthly statements to the email address provided to us :  XXXX  XXXX  XXXX . This would appear to be an intentional misrepresentation of material fact, in likely violation of consumer protection laws. On information and belief,  Citibank sent notices ( not statements ) to this email address that my statement was available to view, should I be able to access the statement online at Citibanks website. Citibank  did not email the statements themselves.     That said, I have no records of any statements because  Citibank never sent me any statements, and has now prevented me from accessing the statements on Citibanks website. I therefore asked for the statements from the last three years to be sent to me so that I could review them for validity of debt. Citibank  has denied this request, and now has misrepresented material facts regarding the transmittal of statements to me.     This is suggestive of systemic consumer rights violations. Citibank is seeking to collect a debt without providing proof of validity of debt. '' In its  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX  letter, Citibank expressed that there were in existence contr act ( s  ) between us and that I agreed to the contract s ( s )  of an ever-changing credit card agreement by mere use of the card. Citibank sent me an " examplar card agrement, '' rather than the precise agreements that Citibank indicates applied each time I used the card. I do not therefore possess knowledge of or have access to the actual contrac t ( s ) Citibank indicates I agreed to by using the Card, as Citibank h as refused to send me these specific contracts.     On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , I wrote a letter to  Citibank i ndicating : " During the period in which I used the credit card and accrued debt, which has yet to be validated, I was   XXXX   XXXX    and incapable of entering into a binding contract. I did not understand the terms of the contract, or what I was agreeing to, and I did not have sufficient self-control to properly abide by the contracts terms. '' On  XXXX   XXXX ,  XXXX , a professional   XXXX   diagnosed me formally with a   XXXX   XXXX