Citibank closed Katrina victim’s account because he moved after his home was destroyed?
The 2/19/06 Citi letter advises of the account closure due to “inquiries in the past 6 months and a serious delinquency, and a derogatory public record or collection filed.” The most severe derogatory items were 60 day late payments in early 2005 while the account holder was serving in Iraq. No collection or public record was on his 2/7/06 and 3/5/06 credit reports. Why did Citi close the account?
To:
Kim Latimer-Nelligan
Citigroup CCDE
Via e-mail to kimberly.latimer-nelligan@citicorp.com
March 5, 2006
Re: Request for comments on Citibank’s decision to close Katrina victim’s account due to too many credit inquiries after home was destroyed
Account holder: [redacted]
Dear Ms. Latimer-Nelligan:
I research and publish credit reporting and banking issues and I am now looking into the Citi lending practices. I cannot understand why Citi closed a customer’s account without ever contacting the customer and without any legitimate reason whatsoever.
I posted the 2/19/06 Citi letter advising of the account closure at http://fight-back.us/forum/index.php?showtopic=1120. Citi stated in this letter that it based its decision to close the account on the Equifax credit report. : “… you have too many inquiries in the past 6 months and a serious delinquency, and a derogatory public record or collection filed.”
1) The account holder’s 2/7/06 and 3/5/06 Equifax credit reports do NOT contain a collection or public record.
I personally reviewed both reports at the myFICO.com website.
Is Equifax reporting a collection or public record to Citi?
2) The worst and most recent delinquencies on the reports were 60 day lates a year ago, while your customer served in Iraq!
The creditors who reported those late payments were notified of the military service in Iraq and Option One has gone out of its way to destroy the credit reports with entirely false reporting. While some of the Option One reporting was finally corrected, it still reports a 60 day late payment despite numerous notifications of the military service and documentation such as the travel orders and the passport with Iraq visa and entry stamp.
Why does Citi close an account due to late payments a year ago?
3) Every time consumers move, they have to apply for rentals or mortgages and utilities, resulting in numerous credit inquiries.
The credit inquiries were listed as the primary reason in the 2/19/06 Citi adverse action letter.
How does Citi justify closing an account because a customer moved?
Regardless of the circumstances related to those late payments, I don’t believe that it is appropriate to close a credit card because a Citi customer had a few 60 day late payments one year ago and a few inquiries in the last 6 months.
This is an open letter posted at [this URL] and at other websites and I hope to hear from you soon with an explanation of the Citi lending practices so I can update my publications.
Sincerely,
Christine Baker
http://creditsuit.org/
http://mylitigation.net/
