Another Citi Horror Story!

[TXCajun5]

I have what seems to be another Citi horror story, and my husband and I would appreciate any advice that anyone has.
In June of 2007 my husband’s company transferred us from TX to NY. We tried to sell out house, but it did not move. Therefore, we leased it out. To make a long story short….we had to evict 2 different sets of tenants form our house between 2007 and late 2008 because our tenants failed to pay rent for 7 of the 12 months that the house was leased out. We tapped out all of our savings paying rent in NY and our mortgage in TX.

Consequently, my husband changed jobs and we moved back to TX in June of 2008. During this process my husband was out of work for 4 to 5 months. However, his new job pays less than his old one did, and our mortgage got behind.
In Dec. 2008, we sent in paperwork to modify the loan. However, Citi claimed they never received it. In March, we re-submitted it. The only option they were willing to give us was to put us on a repayment plan that raised our mortgage $330.00 month. Our loan is a VA backed loan, and that is the only help that they were willing to do. So, that is what we did.

In June we contacted Citi again, and asked for some other form of help. We were having a lot of difficulty paying the extra $330.00 a month. They told us to try to rent or sell the house. We agreed to try that approach again. We contacted 5 Realtors, and posted it for lease. Realtor after Realtor told us good luck. All 5 said they would not even list the house because of the way that the neighborhood had turned. They said there is no way that it will sell for what is owed on it. In fact, they estimate we are upside down 30 to 40 thousand.

Most of this neighborhood is now rentals. In fact, many of the homes went into foreclosure, were bought by investors, and turned into Section 8 rentals. People walk the streets at night and 2 convenience stores within a mile and a half have been robbed in the last 3 months. The public school district is a failing district, crime is rampant. We even had a local policeman tell us to take our family and relocate no matter what the cost.

So, we decided to keep trying to lease it out. Nothing! We called Citi again. The guy we spoke to said don’t pay the July payment, and try to get a Realtor to list it. Ok, did that again! Still no luck with getting anyone to even list it. However, we do have one person that is interested in leasing it for $350.00 less than the new mortgaged amount. Not good, but finally a ray of hope in this mess! We were happy.

So, we secured a new place to live for our family. Then I checked the mail…….Citi has now sent us a default letter. So, here we go again. We called Citi a few hours ago. They now tell us that our repayment plan has been canceled because we did not make our payment on July 1, 2009. And of course there is no note in our file that stated that is what their rep. told us to do that. In fact, their rep also told us to go ahead and move, because vacant houses move faster.

So, today we asked Citi to defer the past due amount to the end of the loan. They just flat out said NO! They told us that since we have a VA loan that they WILL NOT do that. From what I have read about VA loans, they can do it, they are just refusing. They automatically told us to go on-line and do a request for a Deed-in-Lieu of foreclosure form. OK……that might be the easy way out, but we would like to save some portion of our credit. With all of the foreclosures on the market, we cannot imagine why any bank would want another one when there is another option.

Bottom line…..we are behind on payments, have a renter lined up for Aug. 1, 2009, and the bank would rather do a foreclosure or a deed-in lieu rather than push the past due amount to the end of the note. We have had this loan for 6 ½ years, and have not had any problems prior to this situation. Our interest rate is 4.75 fixed.

Is there anything that we can do at this point? We are now bound to a lease, and in default on our home loan. Have a renter lined up, but now we can’t rent a house out that the bank might foreclose on.

Does anyone have any ideas? Ideally we would like to see the delinquent amount pushed to the end of the note, and be able to lease the home out to cover the mortgage. This would keep it from going into foreclosure. It would also save our credit.

Why does this solution not seem reasonable enough for Citi Mortgage? It just seems like Citi is being very unreasonable considering the current housing market. UGH!!!

[SillyWorld]

Welcome to the Forum...

Sorry to hear of this mishap..But If I were in your shoes and because you have not been living in the residence I realy would think this is a case of WALK no pAY bank at all, save your cash for your Family, you tried and seems to what you say it is not worth keeping a place in a non safe area, sign no lease allow anyone to move in TEMP until bank forces them to move is only way at this point that I can see. Only if you went to a 3rd party like NACA but only before I would think it is too late, sounds like you do not want to live in the home any longer. If that is the case I would just let it go and have Peace of Mind, sure your dredit will die for 3 years but seems no more choices are left..

But on the other hand if you wanna save the Home go to NACA.com and start the process of Save My Home, they can at least give you your options FREE of charge

Good Luck on your choices!!

[TXCajun5]

Thanks Sillyworld!

We are considering walking, but that credit hit will be harsh! Foreclosure was never an option that we wanted.



We are going to call someone in their mitigation dept. in the morning. Who knows if that is who we even need to speak to at this point. But, they are the ones that put us on the repayment plan that has all but killed us! I don't get it, we are making less, and they expected us to pay $330.00 more.



Tonight, we are actually still in the home. But, we will be moving this week. Moving is the best option for our kids, but a deed in lieu, a nice term for foreclosure, just seems wrong. I'm just so mad at what Citi did to us. They tell you one thing, and then they tell you something else. It seems to change with every person that you speak to. But, from what I see here, that seems very common with them. Sad!



Anyway, if they tell us to go ahead and let the tenant move in, we will consider it. However, I will get that information in writing first! I would LOVE to save what is left of our credit. If leasing the house will allow that, fine. Being landlords have never been our first choice, but if it is a viable option, we will try it again.



It just really disturbs me to know that there are about 15 active foreclosures in my subdivision right now, and these banks are still so very hard to work with. In fact, there is a foreclosure sitting right next door. It is identical to our house, just sitting empty. The house behind me foreclosed, the one in front of me foreclosed, and now both houses on either side of me have foreclosed. That should give you an idea of what is going on in this subdivision.



If we cannot get anywhere with Citi, we are going to try another route. This morning we were contacted by a local investor. At this point, I guess the idea of a short sale, if possible, is not a bad option. In fact, it seems like a pretty darn good option at the moment.



I sure wish I would have found this site earlier, like 2 years ago. I think it would have made a huge difference in how we progressed with Citi Mortgage.


My husband and I are very disgusted with Citi, and this whole ordeal! He lost a great job trying to save this house, and our kids have been through hell over the last two years. All of this due to this housing mess. And, for what? A a very likely deed in lieu or foreclosure. Great! I sure wish that we could get a "bailout"!

[SillyWorld]

Yes Citi is the PITS biggest liers on the Market...Like I said if you want the home set up app with NACA they can give you your options and it is FREE

yoiu can call CITI 85 times and everytime get a different person and get a different answer

[TXCajun5]

I sent the VA an e-mail over ther weekend asking for advice. They are going to take a look our situation. So, I am keeping my fingers crossed!