Consumer complaint received 2023-02-02
Product: Mortgage — Conventional home mortgage
Issue: Applying for a mortgage or refinancing an existing mortgage — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (FL)

This message is to follow up on my previously submitted complaint regarding my mortgage application. After receiving a response from XXXX XXXX with Citibank, the CFPB system automatically closed my complaint but the issue remains unresolved. Please see my feedback below originally submitted on XX/XX/2022. 

Dear XXXX XXXX, Thank you for your response to my complaint and for the fee reimbursement of {$200.00}. I appreciate your teams investigation into our experience while applying for a home loan. Unfortunately, your records do not accurately reflect what was communicated, or more explicitly, not communicated to us. 

We received a call on Saturday XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX XXXX stating that the underwriter was requesting more information regarding the nature of '' my Husband 's employment with his employer, XXXX. There was no mention of a pending or even potential denial during this conversation. In fact, the word denial was never spoken to us until the week of XX/XX/XXXX. XXXX asked us for an email explaining the conversion process at his employer which we promptly provided that same day. There was no follow up to that conversation and my records show that we reached out to both XXXX and XXXX XXXX multiple times in the days that followed. They were unable to provide a substantial update on the status of our application for the next two weeks.

To reiterate, Im not upset that our loan was denied. Its within Citibanks right as a lender to approve and deny applicants based upon whether they meet certain criteria. Im upset because your employees failed to follow up on our application which left us with no alternative options when the message was finally delivered at XXXX XXXX   on Friday XX/XX/XXXX ( our extended closing date ) that the application was officially denied. Its inexcusable that no one within the company notified us sooner, as the dates were clearly outlined in the purchase and sale contract. Furthermore, myself, my agents and the closing attorney were reaching out multiple times a day asking for updates and were ignored by your employees. 

The complete disregard and unprofessionalism of the loan officer was so apparent to everyone involved in this transaction that the closing attorney literally threatened litigation because of his incompetence. Had Citibank provided us a formal denial even a few hours earlier, we likely could have renegotiated our contract with the seller and mitigated the risk of losing both the house and our {$20000.00} escrow deposit. 

By waiting until close of business on Friday to finally inform us of the denial, Citibank left us backed into a corner with the Seller threatening to walk away from the deal and take our entire escrow deposit. Citibank and its employees treated us like we were an afterthought. I explored every internal and external avenue I could think of to have this situation escalated, which I described in great detail during my initial complaint. These efforts were entirely fruitless. No one from the organization was willing to take ownership over the mishandling of our application or push for a resolution. 
As previously explained, we had to pay the seller {$7000.00} outright to prevent him from taking our full escrow deposit. I am seeking reimbursement from Citibank for these funds. The resolution of this issue is extremely important to me. At the time we applied for this loan, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Its shameful that an organization as sophisticated as Citibank would put a family in a position like this because of pure negligence. I will continue to escalate this using any means available to me. As a Citibank customer for over ten years, I implore you to please make this right. Its money that would still belong to us had Citibank met the bare minimum of their obligations as a lender and informed us of the approval or denial within the timeframe noted in the contract.