Okay, my husband and I have honestly been fighting with CitiMortgage constantly for over a year now. The story goes about the same as everybody else's...
In Jan. our loan was bought by CitiMortgage from Irwin. From that moment on it has been problem after problem, story after story. First of all, for the entire first three months that they had possession of our loan, they didn't even have a loan number assigned to us, so all of our checks were being sent back because they had nowhere to apply the money, which makes sense. But then we had to provide the huge payment in March to cover all three months.
Luckily, we were fortunate enough to keep our money until we were finally able to get it applied to our account. It literally took us fighting and calling every single day to see if we had an account number. Then, when they finally got up and ready, they spoke to us as if we had tried to run out on our payment, which, by the way, is very demeaning and upsetting... just in case any of them decide to expand their intelligence and read these reports.
Second issue. After the huge payment, they decided to raise our monthly payment $100 for reasons that we have still not figured out. The first time we learned of this, their reason was "because your insurance premiums raised." The first thing I did was call the insurance company, and they did not show a raise in our insurance. The next time I called, it was "because they had to pay extra for the previous year that Irwin didn't pay."
Once again, the first thing I did was call the insurance company. The only check they had ever received was in the full amount due from Irwin Mortgage. The next time I called, I got a rude individual who just yelled at me the entire time, telling me that she didn't know and that all she was expected to do was collect the money... This definitely makes you want to send money to somebody.
Well, needless to say, my husband and I had immediate red flags because we didn't know where the money was being applied, since it wasn't to our insurance. I tried calling again, and this new person on the other line blamed our property taxes. So I called our county assessor... Yep! You guessed it, they didn't go up, except by $13.00 for the entire year. It seemed to me that the more I kept shooting down whatever excuse they had lined up, the more irritated they became.
Finally, in July, an individual contacted us and said that our payments were going back down to the normal rate. When I asked why, she said, "I guess somebody finally listened to you and audited your account." (How nice of them to go out of their way to do what should have been done in the first place.)
Well, now we are in February, my husband needs a new car and we can't get one. Why? Because, after all the turmoil that they caused us, they still have reported late payments to our credit, even though they were the cause of the late payments. What amazes me is that every single person I have talked to on the phone about this states that the late payments should come off and agrees with what I say. As much as I would like to think that was the end of this mess, it isn't. As of November of last year, we entered into what they call a "payment agreement." This allows us to pay extra every month to get completely caught up from the complete disaster they caused months earlier, which we just weren't able to afford.
I learned, for the first time, today that we will be reported late every single month until the payment agreement is completed, because it is still considered late. So even though my husband and I make our payments on time, per the agreement, and they are more than our typical payment, and we are following the rules exactly, we are still being reported against because of their mess-up in the first place. I cannot even type this without getting a disgusted feeling in the pit of my stomach.
It is pretty sad when a financial institution can look at our credit and see that for the entire year of 2006 there wasn't one late payment or problem, and that the trouble appears only in the time frame in which CitiMortgage has had the account. Total havoc.
Too many of us work too hard to have to come home and worry about what we are going to do next just to provide the lives for our family that we not only want, but need. My husband so desperately needs a car, and he can't get one now because of the unexpected trouble being thrown at us that ends up being tied around CitiMortgage once again. I am disgusted by their name, I will not refer them to any individual, and I will not speak a good word about them. For the 200,000, 000 valuable customers that they claim to serve so efficiently daily, there are sure a whole lot of complaints, all surrounding the same identical issues. I just want to know how long this is going to continue before they finally get what they deserve!
As much as I am pleased to know that we are not alone, I am saddened by the fact that so many of us are going to have to figure out what we need to do. There just doesn't seem to be any sign of relief in our sight. I do hope that isn't the case for the rest of you.
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