My home and neighborhood sustained catastrophic damage from an F4 tornado on March 22. FEMA came through and declared a disaster. My insurance company came to assess the damage, and I received a check addressed to myself and Citimortgage.
I called Citimortgage and was given what one would assume to be a fairly simple progression of what would be done. They sent out a packet of info within approx. 5 days, and I signed the check and sent it to them on May 11.
This is where the fun began. Because I was using a general contractor to orchestrate the repairs, he had to send in what we thought was the needed info. Each time I called Citi, I found out something else that they needed or that the W-9 needed correction. This portion of this joyous experience lasted about 4-5 weeks. The only way I found anything out was to call them, which I was doing pretty much every day.
Then approximately 4 weeks ago, I spoke to one of the "specialists" who came up with something entirely new that was needed. By then I was nuts! A couple of hours later, Lisa called from Citi and stated that the info I was given that morning was incorrect and that everything was in order to process a first check. Because of all the delays, she would get it rushed to me by Thursday or Friday of that week. It never arrived.
I again called and asked to speak to a supervisor and was transferred to a resolutions specialist named Cathi (with a C and an I). She was very compassionate and told me she would personally make sure a check was rushed again by the end of that week. When nothing arrived, I called and spoke with James (Thursday before the 4th of July). He was rather rude but said that a check was being made out and it would take 5-7 days processing, not counting the holiday weekend. So I should expect it by Thursday or Friday following the 4th.
For grins, I called Tuesday after the 4th and spoke with Patricia, and it was the same thing: 5-7 days processing! I called a number given to me by FEMA for Legal Assistance. Mind you, all my calls stated 5-7 days processing for all issues.
The lawyer assigned was very nice and did a conference call with another "specialist". He stated that he was my legal counsel. For some reason, she stated that a check would be sent by FedEx the next day and was given a routing number.
That was just the first 1/3. We still need inspections, and probably they will all take 5-7 days processing. I have had a reassessment of damages and expect another check, and I can see that the whole farce will start again. It has been close to 3 months since the damage, and in reality, experiencing the tornado was easier than this awful Citimortgage farce.
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