Citi Mortgage
Principal Rose to $306,000 After a Denied Federal Modification

Written March 21. I am lodging a formal complaint against Citimortgage. The company fraudulently misrepresented the facts about how the federal Home Affordable Loan Modification Program works, and it held back guideline details that we needed before choosing what to do about our home. Now we are backed into a corner and must pick an option that does us no good.

Everything started in March, when a modification flyer arrived inside our Citimortgage statement. We were eligible since I draw unemployment and my earnings had dropped by half. We had never missed a mortgage payment. The company instructed us not to pay the full $2,534 from then on but to send $1,500, the new monthly payment at 2% interest, and promised final documents after 3 months. We were worried about our credit, and Citimortgage assured us that enrollment in the program shielded us: our credit would stay unharmed by the partial payments, foreclosure was off the table, and no interest or late charges would accrue.

We complied with every request and returned each document within 24 hours. A dedicated Loss Mitigation representative was promised, yet we never got one. During the last year we talked to dozens of different people, and we were told the calls were recorded. We could never get the same person twice, even when we gave a name and badge number. Each of them repeated the payment figure above and described the modification as guaranteed because we qualified.

After a full year, Citimortgage informed us that Fannie Mae had turned down our application under the program because I receive unemployment benefits, and offered an "in-house" modification in its place. That saves only $300 monthly, while the principal balance has grown from $289,000 to $306,000 at 4% interest, higher than the price we originally paid for the house. We were also reported to every major credit bureau as being in foreclosure. They are hurrying us to sign the in-house deal and warn that otherwise we owe $18,000 in back interest or lose the home.

Their fraudulent actions deserve a serious and immediate investigation, and I hope that we can keep other families from losing their homes. We are standing up for the rights we have and for what we were promised: a smaller mortgage payment that would make the home affordable. That plainly did not happen.

Company: Citi Mortgage
Country: USA

  <     >