I have had Citibank for six-plus years. I had a low balance and always paid it down on time, reasonably. They raised my credit limit and I transferred other debt to it. I started getting into trouble around 2001, but I was never late, though the balance crept up into an uncomfortable area. Then Citi bought out another large credit card company on the east coast, and suddenly I had two Citibank accounts.
The combined credit limit was over $20K. Don't be absurd. I tried to get a car loan and was turned down because I had too much credit limit from Citibank. I lost the deal of a lifetime on a guy who was getting laid off and just wanted out of his truck payment.
Then Citi took over my gas credit card company, on which I never keep a balance and always pay off each month. They decided to charge me $2 a month just for the privilege of using it, since they can't make money on a balance.
Then they bought out my second mortgage company. Right after 9-11, when not a plane was flying and most of the mail was stopped, I was concerned that my payment to the new east coast Citibank was going to be late, so I called them.
They couldn't care less. If the payment was late, I would be charged a late fee and possibly have my interest rate bumped up. I tried to convince them, but they couldn't see how someone on the west coast could be affected by 9-11. Well, dummies, the main postal office that had the anthrax scare was the main distribution center that this payment would be traveling through.
So they finally suggested I make an ACH payment. Huh? What's that? Just read all the numbers on the bottom of your check and they could accept the payment like that. OK, so I did. Well, guess what. For added security, because we had recently gone through an identity theft, the checks I have from my credit union aren't allowed to be used as ACH payments.
I didn't know that, so the payment bounced. Citibank charged me $20 to do the ACH and $25 because it bounced, and then, because I had two bad transactions, they raised my rate to 24.99%. A few months later, all the other Citibank cards followed suit, when I had never been late or had a high balance.
We had an earthquake here that did $20,000 in damage. I got an SBA loan for $10K, but that only put a bandage on the repairs. Then I had a fire and lost my detached garage. It was a $42K loss, and 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 asked Citibank to lower my interest. They refused.
The loss of 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 needed more tools, so there went my credit card debt. But I charged it to the other cards, which were still being nice to me. Then my wife started having something go wrong with her, and the medical bills started creeping up. I couldn't seem to get anywhere paying $300 a month to the cards that were charging me $250 in interest. My daughter got married and my son went off to war. The stress mounted.
So I pleaded in writing and they denied it. Now, on the mortgage side (the first mortgage company doesn't care, but Citibank started hounding me to replace the garage because of the diminished value of the property), I owe Citibank $31K on a second and the first is $40K, and even without the garage I'm appraised at $140K. But they threatened me, so I took $10K and threw up a little building, getting a few thousand from a cash advance on one of the cards.
I tried to refinance, but I have not-so-nice credit because of the Citibank situation. It was just getting to be too much to handle, so I called Solutions to see if I could get into a structured debt management program. Then I found another company called Debt-xs, which is 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 of days ago, I got a summons to appear in Superior Court in the State of Washington, me vs. Citibank of South Dakota, N.A. Who the heck is that? I never heard of that one. Maybe they hand it over to whatever Citibank branch has a location in a state that has the law to go after you, or they raise your interest rate to a ridiculous amount.
They hired Suttell and Associates, P.S., attorneys at law. So far they refuse to talk to me or Debt-xs. The summons conveniently 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 grilled the clerk with questions, and when I told her that Suttell and Associates' name is on the corner of the summons, she said, "I'm sorry." So what is that supposed to mean?
Well, it's about time they get put in their place. I have until 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 will not talk to me. They will not talk to the company I gave power of attorney to represent me. It is David and Goliath. I need to find a few good stones. I will get this balance paid off one way or the other, and Citibank will never see a dime of my money ever again.
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