Consumer complaint received 2017-05-31
Product: Payday loan, title loan, or personal loan — Installment loan
Issue: Problem with the payoff process at the end of the loan — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (PA)

CitiFinancial filed a judgment on a personal loan with XXXX  County Maryland District Court in XX/XX/XXXX for {$12000.00}. A payoff was requested from CitiFinancial last week on 3 separate occasions. The 1st time it was requested by my company after calling CitiFinancial 's recovery unit onXX/XX/XXXX to ask how to obtain a payoff of the judgment. We were told by CitiFinancial to fax the payoff request and the borrower 's written authorization. The fax requesting the payoff was sent on XX/XX/XXXX and it included the borrower 's written authorization and instructions as to how to fax the payoff back to us. After not receiving a response of any kind by XX/XX/XXXX I called CitiFinancial and they did not show any record of the fax sent on XX/XX/XXXX. They said it can take 24 to 48 hrs. Informed them that it 's been that long and they stated that the customer needs to call. At this point I reached out to the customer and explained to him that he needed to contact CitiFinancial and request they provide a payoff. He contacted CitiFinancial Recovery Unit and spoke with XXXX and negotiated a settlement with them of {$3100.00} and informed them that I would be calling to get the payoff information. After the borrower informed me of the agreed upon settlement I called CitiFinancial in order to get the payoff information. I was then informed that the authorization was not on file and I would need to conference in the customer in order to get the payoff. I tried to explain that he just talked to them and told them I 'd be calling and they stated they still needed him. I called the borrower and was able to conference him in with CitiFinancial they verified with him that it was ok to speak and work with us and authorize us on the account. At that point the customer was able to disconnect and I was on with XXXX at CitiFinancial. At this point she informed me that the reason a payoff had n't been provided was because they are only mailed to the address of record. They are not emailed or faxed. I asked her why that was n't mentioned 2 days ago when we called to get a payoff. I asked for what happened to our fax from days ago ... she did n't know but suggested we fax in another request. I explained that they appear to have a faulty system if faxes are not showing received in the timeframe they are stating. I asked her how we would expedite this since it appears they had lost the fax we had sent. She stated there was no way to expedite it other than send a fax in requesting it be expedited ( to the same people that seemed to have lost the 1st fax ). I asked her how I would know f my expedited request worked she stated that I would n't because her department has no communication with the department that logs the faxes. I asked if I could talk to that department. She said no, she had no way to communicate with them or transfer me. I then asked for a supervisor, she stated that a supervisor is only available between the hours of XXXX and XXXX Monday through Thursday. So only 4 hours a week. Of course I was calling at about XXXX on Thursday the XXXX of XXXX. I informed her that this was quite unbelievable that a supervisor was only available 4 hours a week. She advised me that it was due to other duties she has. I asked then who she reports to and if they are available instead and I was told no and that I had to call back next week. If I wanted a payoff sooner than regular mail I could fax in a XXXX label ( at my expense ) that they would use to overnight the payoff. I advised her that this whole process was very disorganized and frankly not at all consumer friendly. I recall asking her how this process could be made easier because we are trying to pay them off and they 're making it actually hard to do that. She then informed me that there was nothing else she could do and would disconnect the call. I pleaded one more time to have her help find a better way to assist. She stated she was ending the call and hung up. I called back and reached another gentlemen who reinforced what was previously told to me by XXXX. I then got the instructions to fax in the XXXX label. The XXXX label ( that we paid for ) was faxed to them onXX/XX/XXXX using the exact instructions provided by the CitiFinancial Recovery Unit. I was out ill yesterday ( XX/XX/XXXX ) but called CitiFinancial today, XX/XX/XXXX, to see the status and they have no record of my XXXX label and gave me the same 24 to 48 hours line as before. I explained to them that it was sent on XX/XX/XXXX so it 's been over 48hrs even if they were off Saturday, Sunday and Monday for XXXX XXXX. They stated, " Well, we do n't have it. However, we can not provide a payoff on this  account. '' I asked why. The woman said it was because they were, " No longer pursuing any collection efforts on this debt and the judgment would be released within the next 30 to 60 days. '' I advised he that I needed a release letter, a {$0.00} payoff or a letter then explaining that no balance is owed so I can show the judgment as being satisfied. She then informed me that the customer will get a letter at some point within the next 30 to 60 days. I explained that was n't acceptable and we needed resolution sooner. If someone asks for a payoff they can not hold them hostage by not providing it and if they no longer owe money that was attempting to be collected then CitiFinancial needs to say that in writing in a timely manner when they have a judgment showing impacts other aspects of  someone 's life. The person said they were very sorry but there was nothing that could be done. There of course was no supervisor available. They offered to have the " Legal Department '' call me back at some point within the next 24 to 48hrs but there was  nothing else they could do. It appears the corporate restrictions placed on XXXX and others of that team are beyond reasonable. It 's important to know that I 'm not the account holder but I am authorized on the account I listed the account holder 's name as the 2nd contact so that CitiFinancial can locate the account.