Back in January of this year we had a kitchen fire at out house. I contact the insurance company and they came out the next day to assess the damages. A week later we received the documentation on what they were paying for, with the checks for the damages. The check for the kitchen damage, the biggest check, was made out to myself and Citimortgage. I called the mortgage company to see what they wanted me to do with the check. They told me to sign the check and forward it to them. They informed me that they would cash the check and then forward me a new one. I overnighted the check to them the next day. After about a week I called them to check on the status of my check. After getting the run around for a few days on where my check was, I finally called the insurance company who informed me that the check had already been cashed by Citi. I called them daily for weeks, wondering why they cashed the check, but had not forwarded me a check. I informed them that my
kitchen was torn apart and the contractor was threatening to put a lien on my house if I did not make a payment to them within a week. I had to call Citi everyday, three times a day for over 5 weeks before I finally got my check to repair my kitchen. They even sent an inspector over to my house to check on the progress of the kitchen, three weeks before they even mailed me my check. I informed them that the only work done was demo work and drywall repair, since I never received my money from them yet. I finally got my check only after I called FHA and told them what the problem was and that they would not release my funds to me. After FHA called them, I received my check within 5 days.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed that I had to have my kitchen torn apart for a month and a half longer than I would of had to, because Citi would not release my funds to repair the damage. I understand that they have a vested interest in the house and want to make sure that the repairs were done, but to hold on to money from my insurance company for almost 2 months is ridiculous. I pay my insurance premiums, not them. They also stated that they would send me a check for the interest on the money from the time they cashed the check until the time that they sent me the check. That check was never received.

Because of this incident, I would never recommend Citimortgage to anyone looking to finance their house. No one knows what the other department is doing and every time you call them you get a different answer. And this is where our tax dollars went to during the bank bailout. With business practices such as these, it is no wonder that they are in financial trouble.

I hope this helps in making your decision.

Rating: 2