Consumer complaint received 2017-07-17
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (IL)

At the beginning of last year, through no fault of mine, i had to take a reduction in pay from my job. By the middle of the year, i started struggling with the bill, including my mortgage. Towards the end of the year, i decided to seek assistance from my mortgage company, CitiMortgage. On my first call, i was told that there was nothing that I qualified for, since the account was not late. By the end of the year, my account fell behind and that point they took an application for assistance. Over the next six to seven months, I submitted and resubmitted all sorts for paperwork and explanations for that paperwork as requested, all to be told that a loan modification was not possible because if the loan was modified, my payment would be  higher.    XXXX   XXXX   was my contact during this process. When I called to get a better understanding and to ask some questions, i was not able to get a hold of her, but the person that i did reach tried to explained, but was not able to. She connected me with a manager, who gave me some additional information, buy really could not explain why the application had been denied because my payment would be higher. As I tried to explain to her, my principle has to be lower and the current interest rates are lower than the one i an paying. One of the things she did clarified for me was the fact that they would not be lowering my interest rates, not even to the current market rates.
After going back and forth, i asked her for what my options were at this point. She said that i could reapply for a modification, but then i pointed out that what would the purpose of that be since whatever factors they used originally, such as the interest rate, that they were n't going to change, were still the same. Then she mentioned to catch up the account, but i told her that i do n't have all the money needed to catch up. Then she mentioned a repayment plan. She gave me some basic information and then I asked her to transfer me to whom ever could could start that process.
She transferred me to a different department, to who I had to explain my situation all over again. At that point i was told that my account had to be a assigned to somebody and that they would get back to me, but they could n't tell me how long it would take.
As of approximately  XX/XX/XXXX ,   XXXX   XXXX    became my main contact. In my first conversation with him, we went over some of the key points of the repayment plan, but he was n't able to give me full description of the program because as he put it, he is new and still learning. He stated that i would need a down payment and asked me how much i would be able to put down. I told him that i would be able to put down at least {$4000.00}, to which he replied that i would need at least 30 % of the delinquent amount, which would be at least {$4400.00}. I told him that that amount would not be a problem and that i might be able to put more down. And then he explained that the balance would be spead over the next twelve months. A number of questions i asked him, he had to put me on hold and refer to somebody else for the answers and at then end of our conversion, he agreed to find out the answers to the questions he was n't able to answer . On   XX/XX/XXXX , in the afternoon, he sent me am email, saying that he had spoken with his manager and that i needed to complete a list of my monthly income and monthly expenses, and then to call in to make an appointment with him to give him this information. He would enter all of this information Mortgage Assistance Tool, which is the first step in the repay process. I replied back saying that when i had submitted the modification application, I had submitted all of this information, did i need to get it all again. I never got a reply back, so I started getting the information, together again.
I got the information ready and called back, and the earliest he could take my appointment was Friday,  XX/XX/XXXX  at  XXXX . When he called me, we started going over the numbers, but he was actually confirming the information he already had. Had he said that he needed to confirm the numbers he had instead of having to gather my monthly income and expenses, we could have had that conversation days, if not a week or two before. But this was another delay in the process.
About 15-20 minutes into the conversation, we get cut off. I was on my cell phone, so it was probably my fault. Since i can not dial in directly to him, i waited about 10 minutes for him to call me back so we could finish the conversation. I get no phone call back, so I call him. The operator that answered the phone, tried to get him on the line, but he told her that he was on the line with another customer and could not take my call, but that he had all the information needed. I tried to explained to the operator that he did n't because we were cut off mid conversation. She attempted again, but was told the same thing and not too schedule another call for me, that he had everything he needed and that he wouldget back to me once he knew something. Even the operator could not understand why he was acting in that manner. Not much i could do at that point, so i let it go.
Later on in the afternoon, i get a call from my wife saying that she had just gotten serve with a Foreclosure Summons. When i started the process to ask for assistance, i was told that as long as something is in process, they would NOT go through with the foreclosure process, so make sure to keep in touch, answer the phone calls and read any and all mail. I have been doing doing all of this and then some.
Monday m orning,  X/XX/17  , i attempted to reach him by phone to try and get an explanation, try to find out what had happened and what had changed on Friday between  XXXX , when we had our half conversation and that afternoon, when the summons was delivered. That attempt was similar to the one from Friday. The operator tired to get him on the phone with me, but was told no. Through this person, i was told at one point that he had everything he needed and that he would get back to me when he had an answer and at another point that he would get back to me for some additional information. Again i reiterated the point that we had n't finished the conversation so how could he have all the information. One big point that we did n't discuss was the amount of the deposit that i was able to put down. We had discussed the minimum required, but never the actual amount i was going to put down. And again the operator was told not to schedule a call in for me with him. And again the operator could not understand why   XXXX   was acting this way.
On Monday,   X/XX/17   about  XXXX ,  XXXX  sent me an email saying that he had worked with his manager and that they would not be able to submit a repay plan. My only option was to contact the foreclosure attorney to request a reinstatement plan. His last paragraph was that he had been assigned to a new department and he would not be able to help me out from this point forward.
Needless to say, my anxiety, my frustration grew from there, but I kept my composure. I replied back, asking him the questions that i needed answered, the questions that i had attempted to ask through the operators. I thanked him for his help and asked if he could forward my email to somebody within his old department or to his previous manager so that they could address my questions or concerns. Never heard back from him and based on the lack of response from anybody, I 'm going to assume he never forwarded my email to anybody either.
On Wednesday,   X/XX/17 ,  I get a call from Citi Bank, following up on my mortgage account and to see if I 'm still interested in a repayment plan. I respond yes and ask if this call was in response to my email to   XXXX   XXXX  . The operator was not aware of my email, but took the time to look up things and was again confused by what he saw. He asked me some questions, I explained what had been happening and he was even more confused. He had to speak with a manager for clarification on some things and finally said that part of the problem was that my account was not assigned to anybody? He and his manager were going to process something in their system to get somebody assigned to my account. When i asked about a time frame, i was told about 48 hours, so by Friday-Monday, somebody would be in touch with me.
Friday and Monday came and went and word from anybody. I called back on Tuesday,   X/XX/17   and spoke with  XXXX , #  XXXX  to find out who my new agent was and see what the status of the account was. I was told that me account was not assigned to anybody, that the previous operator/customer service rep and done something wrong, so there was n't anybody assigned to my account yet. Again, it would take about 2 days for somebody to be assigned to my account.
On   XX/XX/XXXX  or  XX/XX/XXXX ,  i get a call from   XXXX   XXXX  . He is my new point of contact. I asked him if he had had the opportunity to review my account and any notes associated with the account. Yes says yes and asks how he can help me. I give him all the details that i can over the phone and try to explain how i feel about being not being given all the information and how it seems that they keep dropping the ball. He responds a couple of times that he does n't know, that he was n't there and that he was n't in the conversation. While i understand that he may not want to throw one of his fellow workers under the train, depending on how detailed the notes are on my account, he should be able to see that a few things do n't make sense, as some of his other co-workers have previously seen. I can hear in his voice that he is getting tired of the conversation and he asks what he can do.
I explain to him that it seems that it seems that my only two options are to catch up the account in full or the repayment plan, but since I do n't have the {$14000.00} to catch up 100 %, the repayment plan IS my only true option. He agrees. We start talking about the details. He asked how much of a deposit would i put down, I reply that i could do $  XXXX - {$8000.00}, depending on how the rest of the numbers would look. He says that he would be able to work out the rest of the numbers because its late, it was almost  XXXX , and that he doesn ; t know what the attorney 's fee are, but they they would be rolled up with the balance of the delinquency of the account and then spread out over six months. Here is another issue. Previously i had been told that that the balance would be spread over 12 months. I explain this him and again, he was n't there. He only does six months. So I tell him to work out the numbers so have a better idea. The he tell him that there is going to be a bit of a problem because he is going to be out of the office for a while, part business and part personal. He would not be able to take my information, but that one of fellow team members,   XXXX    would follow up with me, get my information ans give me the information about the repayment, once they hear back from attorney.
As of yet, i have not heard anything back from  XXXX  or  XXXX . I did get a letter in the mail date d  X/XX/17   saying that mu application for mortgage assistance is incomplete and to submit some documents, which i will be submitting later on this week.
Somehow I feel that I have been mislead, misinformed and misguided. I have been told different and at times, contradicting things by different people. I am not hiding or avoiding the bank. I know my responsibilities, but at times, they can not be met and that 's when i reached out for help. I can not understand how after submitting all all sorts of paperwork, multiple pay stubs, explanations for deposits and stuff, the modification application was denied because they could n't lower the payment and it took them six months to figure this out? In retro spec, I would have done so many things differently, including better notes with dates. I realize that I am just a file on somebody 's list of things to get done before the end of the day, but this is my house and life that we are dealing with.