Consumer complaint received 2017-11-09
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Struggling to pay mortgage — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (UT)

Due to several years of total or partial unemployment caused by the failure of two of the companies I was working with at the time, I approached my mortgage lender, CitiMortgage, for a modification in order to lower the monthly payments. They granted a modification in XX/XX/XXXX, and sent me three acceptance forms, two to be returned to the mortgage company. 

I returned the acceptance, including authorization of a payment arrangement with my bank that would cover the new mortgage amount of $XXXX monthly. 

The agreement called for three trial payments to be made for the modification to take permanent effect. These were made over the next three months, and I made payments in the following two months on time. Then I received a delinquent notice from the bank indicating that none of the five payments had moved the due date forward and that the payment had gone to interest only. The payment on the late notice was in excess of $XXXX, indicating that the terms of the modification were not being observed. 

I immediately contacted the woman that had been my contact person for the modification at CitiMortgage. She was uncertain why this was so and promised to look into. A few days later she reported that the modification had not bee implemented and advised me to reapply. I went through the entire application once again, submitting income verification, bank statements, profit and lost statements for my outside activities, IRS XXXX requests, tax returns and hardship letters. This process always requires several months of submitting documents and receiving requests for more information and further documentation. 

Finally my contact reported that everything was complete and I should hear back soon. At this point, it seemed I had entered a rabbit hold of bizarre events. I received via U.S. mail the following documents from CitiMortgage: 

XX/XX/XXXX: Notification that my application for mortgage assistance was complete, including the bank auto-pay agreement.
XX/XX/XXXX: The following email exchange between me and the modification contact person with CitiBank: 
XXXX, XXXX 
XX/XX/XXXX

to me, Homeowner 
Dear XXXX XXXX,
 
I hope this email finds you well. I am reaching out to you for our weekly follow up. I have not heard from you. The modification documents have been resent to you because there was a change in a delinquent interest (in your favor). The XXXX tracking number is XXXX. Once received, please sign, date, and return as soon as possible. I thank you in advance.
 
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you for being a valued client of Citi Mortgage.
 
Remember, during any point of your treatment review you can reach me at XXXX, EXT. XXXX, Monday XXXX XXXX.  XXXX XXXX. (CST), Tuesday - Friday XXXX XXXX.  XXXX XXXX. (CST) or email me at XXXX I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

XXXX XXXX
Homeowner Support Specialist
XXXX, Extension XXXX (use leading zero). 
XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, MO XXXX

My reply of the same day: 
XXXX XXXX 
XX/XX/XXXX

to XXXX XXXX XXXX,
Your email today causes me some concern. I have now returned two separate packets of materials to CitiMortgage. The most recent one went out on XX/XX/XXXX. I have the XXXX  receipt here to verify that. The tracking number printed on this receipt is XXXX. Did you not receive it? 

If this is yet a third packet, I will take care of it as soon as it is received and return it to you. My concern stems from a conversation you and I had on the phone a couple of weeks ago, in which you stated you had not received this second packet. Therefore, if we are talking about a third packet here, I will not worry about it until it arrives, then, as I said, I will return it to you immediately. 

Thanks,

XX/XX/XXXX - Email received from CitiMortgage containing the following message: 	Dear XXXX XXXX XXXX,

With the recent change of your mortgage account status, your mortgage account information is once again available online.
For your convenience, we have reactivated your subscription to CitiMortgage email notifications.
Account Number XXXX

NOTE: While undergoing the modification application procedure, I had been unable to access my complete account information online - this restored that access.

From this point on my communication with the modification contact person was by telephone. This is how she notified me that the modification was not implemented and advised me to reapply. This was in XXXX, when I had called about delinquent notice and the fact that my mortgage account online failed to reflect the changes. 

The next mailings I received via the Postal Service came on XX/XX/XXXX, announcing that my application for mortgage assistance was complete. 

XX/XX/XXXX: An email notification from CitiMortgage confirmed the XX/XX/XXXX letter. 

Sometime within the next few weeks I received the oral report from the mortgage motification contact person that the application had been denied. The reasons seemed vague to me, and she invited me to send in an appeal, which I did. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received advising me that my request had been received and escalated, with a resolution expected within 15 days. This letter also gave the name of an assigned escalation specialist, XXXX XXXX, with contact information. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received from XXXX XXXX inviting me to contact her and describing the escalation process. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Form letter received announcing that CitiMortgage had received my request for mortgage assistance, including a list of documents to submit, including paycheck stubs, bank statements, hardship affidavity, IRS Form XXXX, etc. I had received this at least three times previously at the beginning in during each of the previous applications, dating back to late XX/XX/XXXX. However, in this, it contained the contact information for XXXX XXXX, who had first entered the process on XX/XX/XXXX.

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received from XXXX XXXX informing me that they had completed a review of my case and there would be no change in my status - i.e., modification denied. 

I again reached out to CitiMortgage to gain understanding of the reason for the denial. Eventually I had a conversation with a woman who revealed that back in XX/XX/XXXX, the first set of acceptance documents pertained to an arrangement with an error in a delinquency date and that new documents were needed but not received. At the time I did not remember the full circumstances, but the email message printed above dated XX/XX/XXXX indicates that I had informed XXXX XXXX that I was sure I had sent both acceptances back. I never heard anything back from her to counter that and and therefore complied with the terms of the modification by making the next five payments. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received informing me that XXXX XXXX was now my Homeowner Support Specialist throughout the review process. This letter is verbatim the same as what I received from XXXX XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, as described above.

XX/XX/XXXX: Form letter received, sent by XXXX XXXX, that I had been conditionally approved for a short sale. I had previously made clear that a short sale was not an option. This home is the only home my son has ever known, his mother is very much attached to it, and we have expended great effort into rehabbing both the house and the landscaping. We want to preserve it as our home for the long term. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received from XXXX XXXX, informing that my application for mortgage assistance is now complete as of XX/XX/XXXX. It mentions a 30-day completion time to review the application and mentions and mentions that no foreclosure sale would be scheduled within this time frame. 

XX/XX/XXXX: Letter received via overnight delivery, stating that "your mortgage terms will remain unchanged. After a comprehensive review of the information you submitted regarding your NPV inputs, we are unable to approve your mortgage assistance request because you have received the maximum number of modification under this program."

 The letter also contained information on this web site. 

***********
To recap this whole event, a modification was granted in XX/XX/XXXX. I returned the acceptance and complied with the trial payment requirements. I fulfilled my responsibility under the terms of assistance program. Somehow the plan was not implemented, despite the multiple verification letters described above. I was not informed that it had not been implemented in a timely fashion and was advised only to reapply, which I did. However, the reapplication did no good. 

I honestly feel that I was given an enormous run-around by a company that was not operating in good faith. I understand that the ultimate decision rests with a private investor that actually owns the mortgage with CitiMortgage as servicer, but CitiMortgage failed to communicate with me in a meaningful and timely way, seems to have misplaced documentation, and continued to act as though everything  was OK or at least resolvable up until telling me it was too late and nothing could be done. 

The essential point is that I sincerely want to keep the property. The fact that this whole process dragged on for over a year means that the delinquency on the property makes it impossible for me to refinance it. On the other hand, had I continued to make the monthly payments following the trial period, they would not have counted as payments and would have been interest only. At this point, the only way I can bring it current would be to pay $XXXX in interest, $XXXX in escrow costs and $XXXX in fees, for a total of $XXXX. I do not have this - the period of unemployment and underemployment depleted my cash reserves as well as a 401-K. Despite being of age for Social Security, I am still compelled to keep working. I am making enough to make mortgage payments, but not to come up with $XXXX in lump sum.