Consumer complaint received 2015-08-20
Product: Mortgage — Conventional fixed mortgage
Issue: Application, originator, mortgage broker — 
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (AZ)

My wife and I were contacted by CitiMortgage in XXXX, 2015, to refinance our existing mortgage with them ; they had held our mortgage for about ten years. Around that same time, I had spoken with a couple of other brokers interested in helping us lower our interest rate and explained that I had left my job to start my own business eight months earlier. I was told by these brokers I needed to be self-employed two years before I could refinance my loan. We decided to go with Citibank since they knew our payment history. XXXX XXXX XXXX ID XXXX ( Phone XXXX ext XXXX ) at Citibank was our mortgage loan officer. He asked when I had actually registered my business with the state ; it was almost exactly two years prior. XXXX said we could move ahead with the refinance process. On XXXX XXXX, 2015, my wife, XXXX, then paid {$470.00} to begin the loan process after a credit check was completed. Two weeks later, I was contacted by a title company and was told I needed to pay an additional {$200.00} for a Loan Subordination on our HELOC. 
We then spent the next two months submitting tax forms, letters of explanations about properties we lived in 20 - 28 years earlier, letters explaining why I do n't have XXXX forms for businesses that were listed as Schedule C in our submitted tax forms, complete copies of our Family Trust after being told they only needed the Certificate of Trust, as well as the usual bank statements, pay stubs, W2s, etc. At times, after submitting documents, Citibank contacted us and told us they could n't find them and we would have to resubmit them. I was able to see what I had submitted on their website and told them so. Sometimes they would find the file, sometimes I was required to resubmit again via unsecure email. Near the end of this process, the underwriter would ask for documents that had been submitted and our loan processor, after I would tell him they had the document, would say ; " Yes I see it. I do n't understand why she is asking for it. " On XXXX XXXX, I received an email from XXXX stating that the underwriter 's findings were that our debt-to-income ratio was too high and to call him to discuss. We set up a conference call for XXXX on XXXX XXXX. When we called, we were told that my income for last year was only {$6800.00}, and we did not qualify. I asked him how they could arrive at that amount when our net taxable income was {$73000.00}. XXXX was unable to site any specific figures and said he would have to talk with the underwriter and would call back around XXXX 
Later that afternoon, I received an email from XXXX. In part it stated, " I have discussed with my manager who in turn is going to the underwriter 's boss to get information. It may not be until next week before I get back with you. I am off until Wednesday next week. If I do hear before I leave for the day, another 4 hours or so, I will get back with you right away. " Just to give a little information about us -- our credit score at the time of this transaction was XXXX, Citibank carried this loan for approx. 10 yrs. Our only debt was this loan for {$140000.00} and a HELOC in the amount of {$38000.00}. Any credit card debt is paid in full each month. We have never been late, on any of our payments. Our property appraised for {$250000.00}, and I have enough in liquid assets to pay off both of these debts. This should have been a simple loan modification. 
I wrote an email to XXXX XXXX the next day and copied Personal Processor, XXXX XXXX hoping for some response, knowing XXXX was on vacation until the XXXX of XXXX. With no response by XXXX XXXX, I sent the same email again the afternoon of the XXXX, I got a call from XXXX within the hour telling me the loan was denied without further explanation on how they came up with such a low income for us. 

We pursued a new loan with a new company XXXX. We were approve and funded XXXX