[ssurace]

I contacted CitiBank to inform them that charges had been made on my card without my permission. I ttld them I wanted to cancel my card to prevent additional charge. The charge was recurring monthly charge that I had not authorized. Citibank sent me a form, which I filled out and returned.

The card stayed open and the charge continued to occur. In the meantime, Citibank charged me late payments, fees, etc. In January, when they finally issued a credit for all charges made and fees charged to my account, they reported me to the credit reporting agencies for failing to make payments for 3 months. They held on to my credit until May of the same year when I finally got the check. For 25 years my credit has been in the high 700s. It is now in the low 600s because of a $300 dispute.

Are there not laws that protect consumers from this type of experience? CitiBank is required to protect my card if I report fraudulent charges to the account. When fraudulent charges have been made on other bank cards, the card is generally frozen for several months until the issue is resolved. I have never been charge interest and penalties on money I do not owe or that is in dispute before. I notified CitiBank 2 months ago and they told they would correct this error. What can I do to get CitiBank to correct this report?

[Fr_Chuck]

Besides a phone call, did you also report and dispute in writing each charge that was incorrect on each billing. Did you pay the remainder of any bill or charges on your account

[ssurace]

I had not been using that card and had paid off what I owed prior to dispute. Complaints have been filed with FTC and all reporting agencies bit they still have npt retracted the report of default.
My credit score was around 774 for 25 years with only one late payment following a serious accident. I have never defaulted on a loan or paents. Yet for $300 CitiBank has fraudulently impacted my credit score for the next 7 years.
CB promosed to correct this error in March when onlu one agency received erroneous report. No correction was made and it was reported to other two agencies.
CitiBank acknowledged that billing does not communicate with customer service. I can't believe that 25 years of diligence can be thwarted by a bank's mismanagement.
Why bother paying anything off? Why should they have the power to destroy without being held accountable?
Where are our protections as consumers and how can I prevent this from happening to others?

How do I file a lawsuit agaimst them for slandering my good credit?

[ScottGem]

First you need to stop throwing around the word fraudulent. To be fraud, you would have to prove that Citibank willfully and with malice made the report to the credit bureaus. Good luck in proving that.

What you have here is a bureaucratic mess. I doubt if anyone is targeting you. Unfortunately, too often, these things take on a life of their own.

You ask how to sue them, the answer is the same way you sue anyone. You retain an attorney to file suit. But if you consult an attorney they will probably tell you that you would have to show real damages to file such a suit. For example, were you denied credit because of the false reports? And did that denial cost you something?

By the way, you should be filing your complaints with the State and federal banking agencies.

[SDowd]

I am going through the same time right now. I have been filling out papers for the last 3 weeks. The first time I called them about it, they reversed the charge. However, I checked on it the following month and they had reversed that decision so that I was still being charged for something online that I never authorized. I think I have called them a total of 10 times and they say no problem, we'll take care of it, and then they don't. I'm going to close out my card and pay off everything except that charge. I feel like the whole credit score institution has now become a predatory tool for large banks. If I get dinged over the charge, fine. I'm not paying for something I didn't buy and that's the end of it.

[ScottGem]

These things happen. Like I said, sometimes the bureaucracy takes over. I will say I have been a customer at Citibank for decades. I've never had a problem that wasn't resolved quickly.

[ssurace]

I had 3 cards with CitiBank, including an American Express. I had been a customer for 10 years and this card had a $20k limit.
To say that this happens is a cop out and not worthy of a large financial institution that carries FDIC liability. The day we say its normal get over it is the day the institutiin should be shut down. We depend on creditors to be honest and trust worthy. The credit and lending system keeps this country moving forward. We depend on it to be governed responsibily.
The fact that CitiBank knew when they issued the credit in January that I had defaulted and still reported me as delinquent in January to Experian is fraudulent or in the very least incompetent. The fact that they issued a check in May for the credit and then reported me as delinquent to the other 2 credit agencies is nothung less than FRAUD. They had 5 months to fix the problem with full knowledge the problem existed in their own accounting records.
I have cancelled all 3 CitiBank cards and will never do business with them again. I have never experienced such negligent disregard for the customer before this. For $300 I did not owe they reported me as defaulting with complete disregard for my history and the full knowledge these charges were being contested as unauthorized. I want them to fix the problem the caused me and to make sure it never happens again!! To anyone .
The common colloquialism now is ****tyBank. I would recommend closing down all accounts with them until they figure out how to run a bank that deserves the govenment's protection. The only question I have is where is the government when it comes to protecting us from them!

[ScottGem]

I'm not saying its normal, nor that it should be tolerated. However, it is questionable whether laws have been broken. Or that there are grounds for a suit. And yes it a is LOT less than fraud. Again, criminal fraud requires a conscious attempt. I doubt that such exists and, I doubt even further that you can prove it. Incompetent it may be, but incompetence is rarely illegal. The problem is that you have encountered the exception, not the rule. You are not going to convince people, like me, who have been satisfied customers for years and years, that the problems you encountered constitute sufficient reason for us to switch.

If you are looking for a bank that never makes a mistake or botches a situation, you will be hard pressed to find one.

But the bottom line here is that I doubt if you have sufficient grounds to process a lawsuit, let alone, win one.

[ssurace]

I don't have to convince you that CitiBank does not qualify to be in the big league. There are enough of us out here that have had negative experiences with them. I just want to know who they answer to for such irresponsible banking practices. Whether it fits the legal definition of fraud is not my concern. It is criminal in that is goes against a moral society. Like stealing, something was taken from me, namely 25 years of effort to maintain a high credit rating, it goes against the beliefs of a moral society. I say this was stolen because the company that took this from me knew it was wrong and had promised to contact the credit agencies and reverse the first filing. They instead made a second filing after giving me a check for a balance they owed me. Incompetence from a bank of CitiBank's caliber should never be tolerated.

The difference here is I had to wait 5 months to get a check from CitiBank and I could not report them as being negligent or ruin their credit. They owed me money for longer than I owed them money and they have suffered nothing. While it will take me 7 years to get my good reputation back.

To say in any way that this is exceptable because they are bigger than I am is giving up on any moral value system that may otherwise exist. If large institutions follow no moral code then why should society. This leads to the degradation of right and wrong. As people helplessly experience an act that must somehow be compensated by constitutional law, and are told there is nothing that can be done, the act begins to define their own moral code. In any corrupt environment, such as third world governments, either corruption or helplessness itself becomes normalized as a part of one's social identity. If I believe it is OK for them to do it, then it is OK for me to do. I believe it is wrong and fraudulent because it was done knowing that no money was owed. If I do not hold the bank accountable then there is no reason for me to try to do the right thing, such as paying off my creditors. They get what they deserve!

You can argue legal terms, and I can argue that despite whether the act fits the legal term it is a criminal act against a moral society and there must be something that can be done. There must be an agency to report to, a government entity that regulates banking activities, or a investigative branch.

The term used in most circles I travel in to describe CitiBank is an earned reputation. Our tax paying dollars went to bail them out so they could continue to serve as a reputable banking entity. We were not allowed to vote on this matter. We were expected to trust that our government knew what it was doing in saving it. If it was saved to continue fraudulent business practices, such as this then why did we bail them out. Who is responsible for letting this action continue? I am if I don't let others know what happened and let those in charge know that I am not satisfied!

People around the world are standing up to corrupt actions. The banking industry has always been the worst culprit.

[ssurace]

I have been told the same thing multiple times. I have spent hours on the phone with customer service and transferred to accounting, where I was told the problem would be rectified. Well It has not been rectified and only got worse. The problem is that we talk to one person and that person never tells the person responsible for making the change. I have talked to at least 20 people and still nothing has been done. They had my money for 5 months and never paid me interest. I could not report them for being delinquent on their credit issue. By law a creditor MUST refund a credit balance within 30 days. Not only was my refund not returned. They had the nerve to charge me $89 for renewal fees. I had already informed them that I was canceling my card as soon as the credit was resolved. I was never asked if I wanted to renew. I would never pay a fee to a creditor for the right to use their credit card. I already pay them interest.
If we stop borrowing banks don't exist.

[ssurace]

I agree that without regulation of the credit system it is a tool for predators. All CitiBank had to do was threaten me with a negative filing and I would send them a check. The threats are real and we have no protection against them.
It took CitiBank so long to 'investigate' the charges that the fees and interest were higher than the amount owed. I sent them a check for the balance and waited for the credit to keep from incurring costs I should never have incurred. They could charge me for money I did not owe. Yet I could not charge them for money they DID owe. It has been a mess since it began.
The way they get you on internet charges is to ask if you reported your card stolen. My card was in my possession at all times, but my account information was not. All anyone needs is the card number. With all the stolen account info recently someone got the number. Luckily they did not have my security code.
I had a new card issued, verified the charges were unauthorized, and they still reported me to credit agencies as delinquent. A large part of what I was 'allegedly' delinquent on was the fees they charged and had not yet credited back. What angers me the most is that reports are taken so seriously in our society. Yet, anyone can file a negative report without adequate support. They should be fines for errors in reporting...

[ScottGem]

I don't have to convince you that CitiBank does not qualify to be in the big league. There are enough of us out here that have had negative experiences with them.

And there are MANY, MANY more that have not had negative experiences.

Whether it fits the legal definition of fraud is not my concern.

Yes it is since you question how to sue. Filing suit is a legal process.

It is criminal in that is goes against a moral society.

Oh please, the main purpose of laws is to enforce the moral imperatives.

While it will take me 7 years to get my good reputation back.

Not necessarily. Have you contacted the credit bureaus to inform them the notation was in error? And demand its removal?

To say in any way that this is exceptable

I never said it was in any way ACCEPTABLE.

If large institutions follow no moral code then why should society. This leads to the degradation of right and wrong.

Again, that's what laws are for.

[QUOTE=ssurace;2821867]You can argue legal terms, and I can argue that despite whether the act fits the legal term it is a criminal act against a moral society and there must be something that can be done. [QUOTE]

You can argue anything you want. But unless laws are broken you will get no satisfaction from a court. If you believe you have been "morally" wronged, then you have the choice to take your business elsewhere.

I just want to know who they answer to for such irresponsible banking practices.

There must be an agency to report to, a government entity that regulates banking activities, or a investigative branch

Yes there are:
• The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), established in 1864, charters and supervises national banks and federal branches and agencies of foreign banks.
• The Federal Reserve System (FRS), established in 1913, supervises bank holding companies, state-chartered banks that are members of FRS, and the U.S. operations of foreign banking organizations; it also regulates foreign activities and investments of FRS member banks (both national and state chartered), and Edge Act corporations.
• The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), established in 1933, is the federal supervisor of federally insured, state-chartered banks that are not FRS members.
http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/gg97023.pdf

You have me wrong, if you think I don't sympathize with your plight or your outrage. But you spoke about suing them. You asked about laws to protect you. So you received answers about the law.

[ssurace]

FYI to Everyone! CitiBank just reported being hacked in May and are just now letting clients know that all the account information; names, contact info, balances, and account numbers for over 200,000 people are in the hands of someone else. Check CNN reports.

I hope you REALLY enjoy being a customer now!

[ScottGem]

FYI to Everyone! CitiBank just reported being hacked in May and are just now letting clients know that all the account information; names, contact info, balances, and account numbers for over 200,000 people are in the hands of someone else. Check CNN reports.

I hope you REALLY enjoy being a customer now!

Less than 1% of Citibank's customers were affected. Citibank has moved to protect the people affected and prevent this from happening again. Citibank is not the only institution that has had such problems. Blaming Citibank for this is likely blaming them because a branch was robbed.