Consumer complaint received 2021-12-07
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Company closed your account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (NY)

Complaint Letter This complaint is being lodged against Citibank. And that they closed my checking and savings accounts without notifying meand for no reason. 

About 4 months ago, after having recovered sufficiently from a fractured pelvis to ambulate, I went into my Citibank branch in XXXX XXXX, XXXX  to ask a question. Do I need a Citibank power of attorney specifically for Citibank or will my general power of attorney suffice? 

The answer. I will need a POA from Citibank if I want my daughter who lives 4 blocks from me to be able to access funds. So they gave me the necessary papers and instructions as to what needed to be filled out. My daughter is XXXX years old and an XXXX  ; I am XXXX and a retired XXXX XXXX XXXX and XXXX. 

I returned the papers, filled out as instructed. They were approved by my personal banker. '' A few days later I received a call from him, saying I needed to come in. I did. My signature was not notarized, which was true. That was because I had been told that it didnt need to be. 

I got new forms and both my daughters and my signatures were notarized. I returned them to the branch. 

A few days later, quite by accident, I noticed on my on-line statement that there was a letter for me. I opened it only to be horrified -- my accounts were going to be closed in 3 weeks. The letter did not tell me why, only that I should go to my branch. I didthis time more than a little annoyed. My " personal banker '' called in the manager, XXXX XXXX, who reviewed all the papers again and assured me that there must have been some error and that now they were all fine. I asked him to sign a copy of the forms he had in his hand so that I had proof that all was taken care of. He did. 

Less than 2 weeks later, on a Saturday evening, XXXX XXXX I went online to pay bills. ACCOUNTS CLOSED was the message that came up when I tried to log into my Citibank account. I almost had a heart attack. Ninety percent of my bills are automatically paid from this account. All my income is automatically received into this account. I had no access to money. Ive never been late in any payment for anything including my mortgage which is also held by Citibank. My credit rating was perfect. 

My blood pressure, already high but controllable, became dangerously high. 

I immediately called my daughter, the XXXX, and my son, the XXXX XXXX at one of the nations largest credit unions. The next morning, Sunday, he and I were on the phone with Citibanks customer service ( which, of course, couldnt help ) except to say that a check was mailed and that it would come in 12-14 days. ( So the bank was earning interest on the float of almost {$70000.00} to boot! ) The following day, I and my daughter, who took the day off from work, spent from 9-2 in the manager XXXX XXXX XXXX office until he rectified the bank errors. ( He had been at this branch for less than a month ... and was resolute in getting this fixed. ) We got my account reopened with apologies from XXXX XXXX who said he had done at least 10 of these reversals. And he called me later that evening that the bank couldnt stop payment on the check. I had to borrow {$5000.00} to put into my account so bills could be paid. 

Even if all the paperwork for the power of attorney was incorrect ( which it wasnt ), why would that trigger closing an account? Couldnt they just have said no to the power of attorney? Why couldnt the bank stop payment on their own check even though they could if I called and asked them to stop one of mine? And how could they close an account for no reason ( or any reason ) without notifying the holder? 

This is a cautionary tale. If this could happen to me, someone who herself knows personal finance, someone whose children have tremendous connections and knowledge of banking laws, and someone who has a child whose job allows her to take a day off from work to advocate for her mother what happens to other older people or those less fortunate or knowledgeable? What happens to people who dont have access to additional funds and might have to wait 12-14 days before they get their own money back? How would this craziness affect their health? What would they do? 

Was this age-related? Was this just the ineptitude of one person or a system? Is this how banks do business nowadays? 

This has been an upsetting experience even though the bank manager was determined to resolve the issue asap and even though I expect to be made whole ( financially ). It almost gave me a heart attack. I am hoping that the CFPB can find the answer and rectify the system that Citibank ( and perhaps other banks ) use. 

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. 
XXXX, NY XXXX