Citibank, N.A
HELOC Frozen by Computer Model, Costly Appraisal to Reinstate

On April 16, Citibank sent out a notice entitled:

"Important information about home equity line of credit
reduction of your line of credit"

The letter starts out with the first lie, "Citibank, N.A. Is committed to each of its mortgage customers and to helping each of our homeowners with their financing needs."

Citibank froze the HELOC of all customers based on an arbitrary computer model that showed their home had dropped below some value, which they would not share with me.

Here is the rub: if you want them to reconsider the freeze on your account, and possibly reinstate your line of credit, you have to hire their exclusive appraiser (LSI) at your cost.

When you call LSI (866-612-9276), you will learn that appraisals are provided on the following schedule:

* Below $500,000 = $350
* Up to $1,500,000 = $550
* $1.5M to $3M = $750
* Above that you will be quoted a price

LSI will only schedule an appraisal after you pre-pay via credit card over the phone.

Now I can only imagine that Citibank gets a handsome kickback from LSI in exchange for being the exclusive appraiser... How do you spell "scam"?

So let's say you pay for this scam appraisal. Citibank underwriting will not even tell you what loan-to-value (LTV) ratio they will give you. For example, if your appraisal comes back at $2M, you have no idea if they will give you up to $1.3M (or 65% LTV) or $1.4M (70% LTV). It is a complete gamble at the whim of some bean counter that couldn't figure out how to get it right the first time.

I am so completely disgusted with Citibank that, without any regard for their "customers," it decides to freeze accounts and potentially damage the credit of tens of thousands of families. Unlike so many others, I am lucky I didn't bounce any checks and am not in the middle of a construction project.

Company: Citibank, N.A
Country: USA
State: Texas
City: Irving
Address: 4050 Regent Blvd, MS N2A-215
Phone: 8666458767

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