Nervous about Citibank....please help!

There is no rhyme or reason, or any set plan, as how any creditor will deal with each customer. So I can tell you my experience, but that doesn't mean yours will be the same. I have two Citibank accounts, and have not paid either one of them since December of 2007 when I started a debt settlement program. Neither one has been settled, as they had not really wanted to offer anything I can do, yet. I have not yet been sued, but both accounts have been charged off and are in the hands of collection agencies right now. In your case, I wouldn't think that Citibank will still have the accounts by September. Perhaps you will get lucky, and they will offer you a lower settlement than 50%, that you can pay off sooner. I have read where some folks have gotten settlements in the 25%-30% range on Citibank. I have been waiting for that, and haven't gotten it yet, but who knows why or when some get the settlement offers they do.

You should consider calling a couple of debt mitigation companies to see what they can offer. Good debt mitigation companies can typically save a customer more than the customer would be able to save on his/her own. Even more importantly, in some cases, they remove the STRESS immediately.

Debt mitigation companies put you on a payment program that can begin at your convenience. As soon as you make your first payment the DMs (Debt Mitigation companies) begin working with your creditors so they are on board with the program. The phone calls stop and the DMs act as your liaison between you and the creditor. With that being said, the customer typically is more at ease because they know that they are working the plan and they can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Also keep in mind that the DMs are professional negotiators. They know what your creditor will settle for before they pick up the phone to begin a negotiation. On the other hand, your creditor knows what you, the customer, will settle for before you pick up the phone to ask for settlement. It's much like going to trial as the defendant without a defense attorney.

I hope this info helps. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me.

Hope you have better luck than me. I had about $7,900 on a Home Depot Card (Citibank). Sued me, only offered about 80% settlement which I didn't have. Got the default judgement. Now I'm paying it off over 24 months. Only good thing is no interest, court fees, lawyer fees, etc. Just the principal. Even worked out the payment before it actually went to court and they got the judgement anyway.

I now have a Sears card still to pay off. That was Citibank but looks like LVNV owns it now..not sure if that is better or worse..

Arb -

I have a Home Depot Card as well that is in default with a balance of about $12,500 on it. How long was it til they sued you. Were you in a debt settlement program or making payments of any type? Just trying to figure out my odds of getting sued as well.

Thanks.

This is the deal i had with citibank. They absolutely would not settle my account whatsoever and i was with a settlement company. My settlement company said they are the worst for them to deal with. till the end of my settlement plan i did recieve a summons after 2 years balance 1,300.00 scince they were my last account I told provanta to just pay them I didnt want to deal with it any longer. They said they would still fight for a better settlement, but my 2 year program was over and i didnt want to deal with it anylonger. Provanta didnt think that they would ever come to a agreement. The origional debt was 430.00 and they didnt stop the fees like they were suppost to do every single month they kept adding and Provanta offered them the full debt owed of 430.00 but they wanted 1,300 all late fees, over the limit fees, whatever. They are the absolute worst to deal with in my experience and Provantas too so they say

Foolish-

I was in a debt settlement program with Century Negotiations. My last payment on the CC was in April 08. Received a letter Sept 8th from a collection law firm in my area. Then mid November was served with a summons. Payment was worked out Dec 9th for paying the full principle over 24 months. They got the default judgement on Jan 5th.

Good luck!

My experience with Citigroup was that I owed $35k on one card, I was 6 months behind when they settled at 20% late in 2008. Obtaining good settlements depends on how dire your situation meaning can they can anything from you by suing...if you have no assets, your wages can't be garnished and there is no way for them to get $$ they will settle low to get anything they can. Check the info on garnishment laws and homestead to see if they can sue you for anything you may have.

btw, an addition to my last post regarding settling at 20%, i did that on my own, i think most creditors work with you more when you do it on your own

I agree, creditors are more willing to work with you if you do it on your own. You can do this on your own. It helps if you have defaulted on all of your credit cards around the same time because they do pull your credit report to see if you are current on other cards. The best time to settle is right before charge off which is 180 days past due. For you this would be in April. I know you say you won't have enough until Sept but, you can negotiate your settlement in payments. Once the the debt gets charged off you will only be able to do a lump sum. At the beginning of April start negotiating tell them what you can afford and ask for payments, with a large sum they will usually do 3-4 payments, try for 6 that will bring you to Sept. I got a 50% settlement of 26,000.00 in 12 payments. Someone on this forum told me I would never get 12 but I held out because thats all I could afford and they called me one day saying it was approved. They were nasty too the whole time but, stay calm, don't yell back (it doesn't help) just keep stating its all you have. Hardly anyone sues during this 6 month time. Good Luck

in my case i did try to work with my creditors before i went to debt settlement program and got absolutely no were. Can you reduce my % NO can you stop the account and maybe lower my monthly payments to help? NO can we settle on a amount NO i got no were with them when i asked what I could do or what they could help me with all they would do was cancel my account.

Thanks everyone this site is so great, I appreciate all of the input. I will keep my fingers crossed that come April they will allow me to settle for a decent %, and stretch it out for 6 months which will put me into September.
Do you think the decision of who gets what offer is based on the size of the balance or the credit card rep that you happen to have on the phone? There really seems to be no rhyme or reason as to how they work!

You need to be at least 4-5 months behind before they even consider a settlement. They won't tell you this, they will just keep saying no until that time frame happens. The type of settlement you get depends (I think) on how much they believe your situation. When starting to negotiate offer a low settlement of around 30%...they start high you start low and hopefully end up around the 50%. Always talk in sums of money not percentages. ie. "I have x amount of dollars to give you this month and can give you X amount within the next 3 months". if it gets nasty end the call politely. At some point in time, closer to charge off "I am able to borrow a little more from family and come up with x dollars but I will need 6 payments" to do it. Good things tend to happend near the end of the month also. Then get it writting before you send any money. (fax machine access helps) Its also best to set up a special separate checking account for the purpose of electronic withdrawls.

For the most part, Citi will extend 4 months out only now. The 12 month thing got yanked a few weeks ago.

Citi has been adamant about not working with 3rd parties and some offices still are.

I disagree on the rhyme/reason thing. The computer, the screen the recovery rep is looking at, tells them what they can do. Go outside that and it will take approval and maybe some hoop jumping to establish legitimate hardship.
Verbal explanation can be sufficient in some cases while other cases, medical being a good one, may require documentation to support an exception from the almighty computer screen.

Do not use this information while standing next to pooled water or while operating heavy machinery.