mod with Citi Residential Finally SUCCESS!!

[Jameel]

I have been dealing with a Joe Guillen at Citiresidential. My loan resets in Sept. I provided all the docs requested and was told it would take 4-12 weeks for an answer...He really was not helpful at all,could not give me any info re:what program I may be eligible for..Itl really felt like they could care less,but I see where people just kept at it, and they got some success...Ifeel a little better and I will be the squeaky wheel...

[schwefls]

Hi Jameel welcome to our forum:

I wanted to stop in say hello and assure you, you are not alone. Yes, this process takes lots of patience, persistence and politeness. Shortly someone will be reaching out to you with additional advice/suggestions. In the interim please hang in there and know that we are here for you.

[Moe Bedard]

Jameel,

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining..................

[Jameel]

Thanks for the good wishes. I want you guys to know that I really appreciate all the support I see on this site. I can really relate to everything people are gong through. Too bad we have this mind set of "youre on your own" that makes it so difficult to help people who are just trying to lead a normal life. Thanks again

[Hate Citi]

Originally Posted by Jameel

Thanks for the good wishes. I want you guys to know that I really appreciate all the support I see on this site. I can really relate to everything people are gong through. Too bad we have this mind set of "youre on your own" that makes it so difficult to help people who are just trying to lead a normal life. Thanks again

Have you made any progress with Citi?

[Jameel]

I did receive a response from H.Farid and I was able to provide my financial info over the phone. I received a letter last week asking me to sign and return the list of financial obligations that I gave over the phone. So I guess thats some kind of progress so we shall see what shakes out. Thanks for the contact at Citi, we'll see what happens...

[susieq68]

Have you had any luck with Joe? I had to deal with him for a short while. The person that was helping me transfered Dept and I was assigned to him. My file had been with someone else ever since Jan. 2008. She had the escrow dropped and put my loan " On Hold". I do not know if it was coincidence or not, but the day he recieved my file, my credit was dinged several times. There was a hold placed on reporting to the Credit Comp., so it should not have happened. He was kinda rude to me and not very helpful. Thanks to this forum I sent an email to Hala, and he was removed from my file. The manager of the Office of the President contacted me by email and then my file was given back to the person who was helping me in the first place. You may need to contact Hala if it continues. When I called last week to check on something he answered the phone at The Office of the President. He said he could not answer a question for me, and did not put me through when I asked to speak to someone else. I called back 10 mins. later and the person who answered the phone put me right through and was able to see on the computer to answer my question.

Good luck!

[Jameel]

I have to say that dealing with Mr.Guillen was one of yhe worst experiences in this whole process.He was rude,unresponsive and just seemed heartless. I asked him what criteria was being used to make the decision,he told me there was no set criteria,what is that? I deal with the public every day in my job and I know there are ways to deal with people especially in a situation like this,when peoples homes are at stake. After I talked to him I said to my wife that Citi has probably written us off already...He is not the person to be dealing with people in this situation.

[Jameel]

I dont think they know what they want...Ive been given so many different stories provided the same info over and over...I think theyre making it up as they go along.. my loan resets in Sept..I dont know what Im going to do at this point

[fercho14]

Jameel.

Did you give the your financials with deficit or surplus?

[Jameel]

My financials showed a deficit...I had no idea what they were looking for in terms of finances...I gave the info over the phone and it seemed kind of off the cuff...I mean I sent them my tax returns,pay stubs W2 etc...there doesn't seem to be a set criteria. and at the end of this process, if they say no..does this go into my credit report?

[Moe Bedard]

Jameel,

The modification attempt will not go on your credit unless you are past due on payments as that would be the only thing reported as late..............if not then it doesn't show..........

[susieq68]

Jameel,
Are you having any better luck? If not I would call the manager of the Office of the President. Thanks to Victoria Dunn I am with someone else now. I was told that she had a talk with Joe. I let the person who was working on my modification know that I was not the only one having problems with him. She was apologetic. If you need her number or email just give me a shout. I hope all is well. I am told my modofiaction is about 87% done and that it should be fedexed soon. I pray for relief and for you and your wife to get it too.

[Jameel]

I had some interesting things happen. I used the contact that *** had recommended,Hala Farid and I was directed to different people and things started moving very quickly. I sent all my financial info in (by the way,my loan resets next month),I actually talked to someone, a Latish Stephenson and she told me that all the info was received and the file was being referred to the next step. I had been trying to do this loan mod since January, and all the other financial info I sent seems to have disappeared into a black hole...things seem to be moving now...we shall see...

[Jameel]

I was hoping to have some good news by now, but things seem to be stuck..I submitted ALL of my financial info AGAIN ,and as of the end of August was told that the file was about to be moved to underwriting...I thought Fine,now we're getting somewhere..however, I was told that they needed tax info from my County and who knows how long this is going to take..My loan reset this month (Sept) and I'm getting anxious to say the least. It seems that Citi has no interest in doing any of this in a timely fashion, individual cases don't seem to mean much to them..it seems like they put the most inexperienced people on this...so we're pretty much in limbo now..I've told them that once the loan reset, I would be unable to pay the new rate..it went from 7.25 to 8..about 2800/month..I can't do this..

[Hate Citi]

Jameel,

Have you tried to contact them via telephone recently?

If you haven't received a denial letter, then I believe there is still hope.

Please come back here and let us know how things turn out either way!

Good Luck to you!

[Doucelait]

jameel, i feel your pain, believe me.. check out my thread " need help with citi residential" i think my mod is moving along nicely because i got in touch with the right people. keep us posted.

[susieq68]

Hey Jameel. I was hoping things were moving for you. I have hit the same road block! They said the same thing to me on Tuesday. They have already received my tax info once, and now they are doing it again. I was also told it was not being done by expenses vs income now. They are doing it soley on income. I think they said that your house payment can only be 40% of your expenses based on your income. They said they can not control other expenses that may be relivent or not. I am frustrated too. This has been going on since Jan for me. Who is doing yours now? Not Joe G?

[Hate Citi]

SusieQ68 -

Hi and good luck to you in your modification endevours.

Did Citi tell you that your mortgage couldn't be more than 40% of your gross income?
I am curious because when they denied my modification a few days ago, they told me I had too much income and that my mortgage had to be at least 40% of my income, but could not be less...

I have contacted my senator, I don't know what they can do, if anything, but I would imagine that if enough people call them in regards to the housing issue, they might be compelled to implement some new legistlation that may provide some relief for those of us in this dreadful situation.

Can I ask, was your mortgage like mine, originally with Ameriquest/Argent?

[Jameel]

To answer your last question first..yes it was an Ameriquest loan..as to the 40% figure,no,I was never told anything...I specifically asked one of the people handling this what the criteria for modifications are..and I was told there was no criteria..my fear is that I have gone through this process for half a year now and at the end of the story,they tell me no...

[fyrcapmo80]

I'm waiting for them to get my tax info also. They say it takes 30-45 days to get the info from the county. So I too wait. It's been a little over a month for me.

[Doucelait]

my original loan was with amc. i am waiting for tax info too. but she didnt say it was gonna take 30-45 days.. she said they should have my tax info already since they just did an escrow on my loan.so it shouldnt take too long. as for the criteria, they never tell you up front.. but basically, if you show a surplus of $150-200, and you are at least 1 month late , and your are atruggling due to something that has changed ie, a life event, or an adjustable that went up, or you lost some income, then you qualify. but i heard that they always deny the first go round, but you have to be persistent. and talking to customer service reps, will just get you frustrated. when you talk to the people at the corporate office or the office of the president then the ball should start rolling fairly quickly.

[Hate Citi]

OK, Good Luck, please keep us updated.

I did go through the entire process with the "Office of the President", it took 3months. They denied my modification request and cited that my mortgage debt was below 40% of my total gross income as the reason for the denial.

I am trying to work through my local state housing authority now; my senator put them in contact with me. The plan is that the Housing Authority can apply some pressure to modify the terms. Hopefully, it will work.

Citi has me completely over a barrel, they have also denied approval for a short-sale. So my only option according to Citi is to keep current on the raising mortgage payments, or foreclosure. Either way, my family and I are screwed.

I really hope that you have better results than I did.

[susieq68]

Yes I was Argent. They said my house payment had to be a least 40% of my income. When I started this mod in Jan it was based on expenses and income. I was told that I qualified, but if I did not they could at least look at freezing my interest rate. Please check that out. Let me know how it goes! I'm still praying on mine!

[Hate Citi]

Citi Is Big Trustee To Lehman Debt - Forbes.com

Citigroup and Bank of New York Mellon are trustees to $138 billion of Lehman Brothers' bonds, the biggest on the list of unsecured creditors, according to a petition filed in New York bankruptcy court on Monday.

Banks are trying to calm employees and clients in the wake of Lehman's bankruptcy filing Monday. Citi, (nyse: C - news - people ) which is also reeling from exposure to mortgage securities and rising loan losses, said in a memorandum Monday by CEO Vikram Pandit that the firm had strong liquidity and capital positions. Pandit also wants to motivate them to focus on business.

Honestly, with the shape that Citi is in, I have no idea why they aren't displaying more of an incentive to modify the terms of these toxic loans.