CITIBANK Raised interest unjustly, refuses to talk unless I pay in full, won't talk to debt management co. I went to, now sueing me The Lakes And South Dakota Nevada
I have had Citibank for 6 plus years. Had a low balance and always paid down, on time, reasonable. They upped my credit limit and i transferred other debt to it. Started getting into trouble around 2001. But never late, the balance creaping up into uncomfortable area. Then Citi buys out another large credit card company on the east coast, and suddenly I have 2 citibank accounts.
Combined credit limit of over $20K. Don't be absurd. Tried to get a car loan, was turned down because I had too much credit limit from Citibank. Lost the deal of a lifetime on a guy getting laid off and just wanted out of his truck payment.
Then Citi takes over my gas credit card company I never keep a balance on, and always pay off each month. They decided to now charge me $2 a month just for the privilage of using it, since they can't make money on a balance.
Then they bought out my second mortage company.
Right after 9-11, when not a plane was flying and most of the mail was stopped, I was concerned that my paymemt to the new east coast Citibank was going to be late, I called them.
They could care less, if the payment is late, I will get charged late fee and possibly get my interest rate bumped up. I tried to convince them, but they couldn't see how someone on the west coast could be effected by 9-11. Well dumbies, the main postal office that had the anthrax scare was the main distribution center where this payment would be traveling through.
So they finally suggested I do an ACH payment. Huh? What's that. Just read all the numbers on the bottom of your check and we can accept the payment like that.
Ok, so I do. Well guess what. For added security at my credit union because we had recently went through an identity theft the checks I have aren't allowed to be used as ACH payment.
I didn't know that. So the payment bounced. Citibank charged me $20 to do the ACH, $25 because it bounced, and then because I had two bad transactions, they raised me to 24.99%. Then a few months later, all the other Citibank cards followed suit when I had never been late or a high balance.
We had an earthquake here, did $20,000 damage. I got an SBA loan for $10K, but that only did a bandaid on repairs. Then I had a fire and lost my detached garage. A $42K loss, after the insurance paid within the limits of the policy, we only got a $10K check. (please, read your policy!) Ok, so it's my fault. I ask Citibank to lower my interest. They refuse.
The loss in the garage took most of the tools I use on my job to earn a living, (which I bring home on the weekend so they don't get ripped off at work) and I need more tools, so there goes my credit card debt. But I charge to the other card, who are still being nice to me. Then wife starts having something going wrong with her, and the medical bills start creaping up. I can't seem to get anywhere paying $300+ a month to the cards that are charging me $250 in interest. Daughter gets married, son goes off to war. Stress mounts.
So I plead in writing and they deny it. Now mortage company (the first mortage don't care but Citibank now starts hounding me to replace the garage because of diminished value of property) I owe Citibank $31K on a second, and the first is $40K, and even without the garage I'm apraised at $140K. But they threaten, so I took $10K and threw up a little building, getting a few $K from a cash advance on one of the cards.
I tried to refinance but I have a not so nice credit because of the Citibank deal. It's just getting too much to handle, so I call Solutions, and see if I can't get into a structured debt management program. Then I find another company called Debt-xs, where they are supposed to go to bat and try to negotiate a reduced payoff in cash, and be done with it. I signed a power of attorney for them to work for me. Citibank refuses to talk to them, and now a couple days ago I get a summons to appear in Superior Court in the State of Washington, me Vrs Citibank of South Dakota, N.A. Who the heck is that? Never heard of that one. Maybe they hand it over to what ever Citibank branch has a location in a state that has the law to go after you, or raise your interest rate to a rediculous amount.
They hired a Suttell and Associates, P.S., attorneys at law. They so far refuse to talk to me or Debt-xs.
The summons conviently does not have the summons number on it.I called the court clerk and they will not give me the details without the summons number. I grill the clerk questions, and when I tell her Suttell and Associates name is on the corner of the summons, she said I'm sorry. So what's that supposed to mean?
Well it's about time they get put in their place. I have till the 1st of March to respond as it says, "in order to defend against this lawsuit, you must respond to the complaint by stating your defense in writing and serving it upon the attorney within 20 days of being served.".
Citibank would not and won't talk to me. They will not talk to the company I gave power of attorney to represent me. David and Goliath. I need to find a few good stones.
I get this balance paid off, one way or the other, Citibank will never see a dime of my money ever again.
Willie
Roy, Washington
U.S.A.
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5 Updates & Rebuttals
Nicholas
West Chester,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Problems taken one by one.
#6UPDATE Employee
Fri, March 19, 2004
Willie,
I will take your comments one by one:
1. The $2.00/month charge on your gas card is the minimum finance charge. If you have a balance this is the minimum amount you can be charged in finance charges. This is stated in your cardholder agreement.
2. Citibank probably refused the proposal from the CCCS.
3. Citibank of South Dakota is the credit card division. All Citibank credit cards are held by this bank. This is actually not uncommon. You'll find most credit card companies are based in South Dakota, Delaware, or Utah. The reason behind this is simple, these states have lax Usury laws.
Susan:
4. The 2% of the balance request is standard for a credit card. Honestly people will complain about this both ways. On one hand people will say that the minimum is too low so Citibank gets lots of interest. On the other hand people think their minimum payment is too high.
A general comment:
If people complain about being able to borrow money but you don't like to pay it back, you should do one simple thing: Don't borrow money. Citibank or any other lender doesn't force you to borrow money from them, if you like you can pay cash for almost everything. I just heard recently Citibank writes off several billion dollars in consumer loans yearly. If consumers don't want to pay their debts, they should stop accruing debt, plain and simple.
Nicholas
West Chester,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Problems taken one by one.
#6UPDATE Employee
Fri, March 19, 2004
Willie,
I will take your comments one by one:
1. The $2.00/month charge on your gas card is the minimum finance charge. If you have a balance this is the minimum amount you can be charged in finance charges. This is stated in your cardholder agreement.
2. Citibank probably refused the proposal from the CCCS.
3. Citibank of South Dakota is the credit card division. All Citibank credit cards are held by this bank. This is actually not uncommon. You'll find most credit card companies are based in South Dakota, Delaware, or Utah. The reason behind this is simple, these states have lax Usury laws.
Susan:
4. The 2% of the balance request is standard for a credit card. Honestly people will complain about this both ways. On one hand people will say that the minimum is too low so Citibank gets lots of interest. On the other hand people think their minimum payment is too high.
A general comment:
If people complain about being able to borrow money but you don't like to pay it back, you should do one simple thing: Don't borrow money. Citibank or any other lender doesn't force you to borrow money from them, if you like you can pay cash for almost everything. I just heard recently Citibank writes off several billion dollars in consumer loans yearly. If consumers don't want to pay their debts, they should stop accruing debt, plain and simple.
Nicholas
West Chester,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Problems taken one by one.
#6UPDATE Employee
Fri, March 19, 2004
Willie,
I will take your comments one by one:
1. The $2.00/month charge on your gas card is the minimum finance charge. If you have a balance this is the minimum amount you can be charged in finance charges. This is stated in your cardholder agreement.
2. Citibank probably refused the proposal from the CCCS.
3. Citibank of South Dakota is the credit card division. All Citibank credit cards are held by this bank. This is actually not uncommon. You'll find most credit card companies are based in South Dakota, Delaware, or Utah. The reason behind this is simple, these states have lax Usury laws.
Susan:
4. The 2% of the balance request is standard for a credit card. Honestly people will complain about this both ways. On one hand people will say that the minimum is too low so Citibank gets lots of interest. On the other hand people think their minimum payment is too high.
A general comment:
If people complain about being able to borrow money but you don't like to pay it back, you should do one simple thing: Don't borrow money. Citibank or any other lender doesn't force you to borrow money from them, if you like you can pay cash for almost everything. I just heard recently Citibank writes off several billion dollars in consumer loans yearly. If consumers don't want to pay their debts, they should stop accruing debt, plain and simple.
Nicholas
West Chester,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Problems taken one by one.
#6UPDATE Employee
Fri, March 19, 2004
Willie,
I will take your comments one by one:
1. The $2.00/month charge on your gas card is the minimum finance charge. If you have a balance this is the minimum amount you can be charged in finance charges. This is stated in your cardholder agreement.
2. Citibank probably refused the proposal from the CCCS.
3. Citibank of South Dakota is the credit card division. All Citibank credit cards are held by this bank. This is actually not uncommon. You'll find most credit card companies are based in South Dakota, Delaware, or Utah. The reason behind this is simple, these states have lax Usury laws.
Susan:
4. The 2% of the balance request is standard for a credit card. Honestly people will complain about this both ways. On one hand people will say that the minimum is too low so Citibank gets lots of interest. On the other hand people think their minimum payment is too high.
A general comment:
If people complain about being able to borrow money but you don't like to pay it back, you should do one simple thing: Don't borrow money. Citibank or any other lender doesn't force you to borrow money from them, if you like you can pay cash for almost everything. I just heard recently Citibank writes off several billion dollars in consumer loans yearly. If consumers don't want to pay their debts, they should stop accruing debt, plain and simple.
Susan
La Center,Washington,
U.S.A.
Possible Solution For Willie
#6Consumer Suggestion
Thu, March 04, 2004
Willie, your story is to familiar and similar to our's. Citibank will not deal with you, no matter what your circumstances are. My husband is disabled after a job injury from '96. All letters and calls fell on deaf ears. I finally got caller ID and ignored any number that showed UNKNOWN and stopped making payments for 6 mo. They finally offered(in writing) a referral program that lasted about a year interest free.
We also went through a debt managment program that ended up a nightmare. I found out those programs hurt your credit more than anything, cause a prospective lender views it as if you can't manage your finances. The government suggests you work with your creditors, well they need to tell the creditors that cause it doesn't work either. Washington State allows a creditor to place a lien on your property for unpaid debt. The debt people cannot stop this or do anything about it. We also received a summons from Suttell & Assoc. and they wanted about 2% of the unpaid balance as a monthly payment (and they add on attorney's fees). When you got that summons that indicated a lien has already been placed on your property if you didn't dispute the bill, but Citibank will not dispute it, it's a losing situation. You don't pay them, they will enforce that lien. However, they will be willing to settle for about 80% of the balance if you can get that paid.
I've been dealing with creditors for the last two years and have become very savvy to their bull. Your first priority is to save your property. Stay away from banks and contact Majestic Mortgage in Portland, OR. Tell them your situation and refinance your property with an FHA. They got us a 5.5% and will pay off our last two creditors and with a payment that we can handle. If you do that be sure to check with Citibank about a settlement offer on the unpaid card. GET AWAY FROM CITIBANK, THEY'LL RUIN YOUR CREDIT. The reason most card company's main branches are on the East Coast is their laws are different and they can legally raise interest rates to outlandish rates.
Citibank uses a most vicious collection agency in Florida and they use threatening tactics that are unlawful, not to mention what they already did to you with Suttell & Assoc. If you search, you'll find the banking system for unsecured debt (CC's) is a ponzi scam that they have gotten away with for years to the public. It's based on the Euorpean Banking System. Until the laws change, the people are at their mercy. Also for your info, ALL card company's deal only with their selected debt management outfits, as some of them are owned (YES OWNED) by the card company's, and most card company's will not work with outside agency's if their's is the only card you're putting through a debt management program. CCC being one of the biggest debt counseling agency's. Also if you received a "change in contract terms" from Citibank, contact your Attorney General, as you can't change an orignal signed "agreement contract" that's one sided, THEIR'S. Hope this helps. It has for us.