Consumer complaint received 2023-04-13
Product: Checking or savings account — Checking account
Issue: Closing an account — Funds not received from closed account
Company: CITIBANK, N.A. (PA)

Complaint:
Citi Bank ended up closing my account out of nowhere. It was a brand new account ( about 3 months old ), and me and my husband decided to put our IRS tax return in this account to get some money in it. That was the only money that went in this account ever. It went in and we got to access the funds for maybe a week. Then, I transferred some of the funds over to my XXXX account to put money on that, and also my husbands bank account in his name. After that, maybe a day or two later, I tried paying a bill and it wouldnt go through. I tried logging into my Citibank account, but it would not let me log in. I ended up checking my email and thats where I seen an email from them stating that the funds are on hold and theyve closed the account for suspicious activity. I dont know the exact amount that was in there at the time, but I can tell you it was roughly {$5000.00} or above still in there. When I called Citibank to get some answers, I explained what has happened, and they said that there is no information on the account, just that it was closed for the suspicious activity. I tried asking them what exactly did I do, why can I do, when will we receive our money, etc., and they said all the information that they have was it was closed. They said that the Citibank process for something like this is 30-60 days. They said before that we will receive a letter in the mail stating the reason, along with the funds in form of a check. I tried explaining to them that we need the money, my husbands XXXX XXXX, he has a XXXX XXXX he has to pay, we have mortgage, car and all the other bills. I tried explaining what I read online about different laws for government checks and how long they can hold it just to try to speed up the process, but they said the same thing. Just a closed account. I tried explaining that the money in question was a federal tax return, with both my husbands name and my name on it, even though I was transferring money into other accounts, if they look close, they will see that one account was in my name ( XXXX ), and one was in my husbands name ( XXXX XXXX ), and they would be able to see, that the federal tax return funds that are in question with both of our names on it were being transferred to both my husband and myself which both were on the tax return. So whats the suspicious activity-still no answer. I brought up that government issued checks, including federal tax returns, cant be held for more than 10 days from my understanding. I can see if it was being transferred to accounts of a different name, but since it was the same names on the return, to me, thats holding a government check. I called them a handful of times just to hear the same exact answer- it closed for suspicious activity. The only times I got a little extra information, was one call at the end of XX/XX/2023, they said the same thing, but added they mailed your letter. But it would have came by now, so that was a lie. Makes me wonder why they were lying on a recorded line ( supposed to be recorded ). But if that was the case, that was 3-4 weeks ago from the date of this complaint, and even regular mail carrying would have got it here by now. The other time I got a little extra info, was around XX/XX/XXXX XXXX I called and received the same answer- closed for suspicious activity, letter in the mail, blah blah. But this time when they said youll receive the funds in form of check, they said that it will be with the letter. That was pretty much my communication with Citibank. The one other time I called and was pleading to them, even telling them that if anything happens with my mortgage or other bills, like late fees and cancellations, that they can pay for everything ( to me, they should be help responsible just because even a grade schooler can investigate this matter and see that all the names on the accounts getting transferred to, match up with the funds, which happen to be government issued ), they gave me all the same answers of, being closed for suspicious activity, receive a letter in the mail, receive the funds in form of check in the mail, along with saying that they dont deal with closed accounts and cant have any information on why, that is their fraud department that handles that. I then ask them for phone numbers for the fraud department, but they said they dont have a direct line, and they can only be contacted by email. I then asked for their email. They said we dont have that contact information. Thats everything that I got from them. All the information that I received. Numerous times calling them, they would just hang up directly on me even though I had questions I still had to ask. So this bank is either scamming me trying to steal my government issued tax return, or they just are the worst bank that Ive ever seen or dealt with. But this is not right. Not when its our money. And names on the accounts would tell that there is nothing suspicious about it. They should have investigated it and seen that and then closed the account. I dont even have an account number anymore. Its like Ive never had an account there. Which scares me and makes me think that they purposely try to steal money. But thats everything, sorry its so long. The only documentation I have from them is two emails stating that they found suspicious activity on my account, and that they will close it within 60 days- which was a lie too, because my account was wiped clean from the start of all of this.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation