In 2005 we refinanced our home with Ameriquest, to get out from under an ARM and to survive a period of unemployment due to illness. The house appraised at $125,000 at that time, so we borrowed $104,000 for 30 years. We were rushed through the whole process, and documents often had to be rewritten because of incorrect names or spellings. The cost of dealing with these people was $4,000. So the total amount borrowed was $108,000. Payments were $791/month.
We made our payments faithfully to Ameriquest for several years, but one day when I tried to make a payment online, as usual, there was no longer a web site. A few days later, after my payment had become late, I received a letter from Citi informing me that I was to remit payments to them from now on. It said that they were acting as a debt collector for Ameriquest.
Then the housing market crashed, putting my contractor husband out of work. Citi Bank received a $25 billion bailout from the government, and I got a foreclosure notice from Citi when I became 34 days late.
I called them to try to work something out. I spoke with several people, including supervisors, and was told that if I could not afford to pay, then I should sell my house. Never mind the fact that the housing crash has reduced the value of my home to less than I owe on it, and selling would make my family homeless.
All I wanted to do was renegotiate the terms of my loan. I had paid in $45,000 since the note was written, but my principal had only gone down $3,000. This led me to do more math: if you multiply my payments over 30 years, I will have paid $284,000 for my house, which is now worth $80,000, or thereabouts. And you know that Citi paid pennies on the dollar to purchase my note. (Yes, I finally got someone to admit that they were not a debt collector but, in fact, had bought my note.)
I tried to make a partial payment and was refused. I was told it was not their policy to accept partial payments. Tough luck, Charlie. And here I thought something was better than nothing. I was told that Citi is not in the business of giving hand-outs, when I was trying to give them money.
Then, when we got to be two months behind, we tried to cure, and they made it almost impossible to pay them to get current. They would not let my bank wire them the money, and they would not accept a personal check; it had to be a cashier's check. They would not let me make a payment online, either. I had to do a check by phone, and oh, by the way, there is a $20.00 charge for that.
Citi Corp should be made to write off all its mortgage assets and give homeowners their homes. We have paid for them in the billions. Why should they be able to fleece the very Americans who bailed them out to begin with?
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