Citibank Card 146 Days Past Due-HELP!

The hardship program that they offered to me was a reduced interest rate (I don't remember exactly what it was) and a minimum monthly payment amount of 1% of the outstanding balance. It is a temporary program though for a few months (somewhere between 6 and 12).

I couldn't afford even the reduced payments, but if you could qualify for their hardship program (loss of income, etc.), your $60 a month should more than cover your minimum payment (although your account would eventually revert to the former terms, and I don't think you can qualify for a second hardship program).

I would definitely call them and see if you can work something out. That way, the phone calls would stop.

What are the reasons for hardship?

I have other debts that are just so large and by the end I can't pay some creditors what I should.

I'm not sure what all of their hardship situations would be. In our case, it was a loss of self-employment income due to the downturn in the economy. Has your income been reduced any since having your baby? I think they will want to see some reason that makes them think that your situation is only temporary, since the hardship program is temporary. (However, they didn't require any proof of our hardship before offering us their program.)

I was foolish & overextended myself...that's my main reason.

As far as the baby, I've only lost income since April. I pay rent, utilities and I am enrolled in a debt consolidation program with another company because those bills were INSANE. I didn't want to enter the citicard in the plan because I have a sears card through citibank (different than this citibank debt) and didn't want them to close the sears card. That sears card has a high limit & I have good credit on it.

I go back to work at the end of this month, but even then I can still only pay the $60. Everything I can put into the debt consolidation plan, I'm putting in there.

My husband doesn't know about my debts & I would like to keep it that way. Is it possible to tell them to not contact him at all if they are the one who called him today?

I'm not sure about that. I know that my husband's creditors do not voluntarily talk to me. They call and ask for my husband, I say I'm his wife, can I help you, then they discuss the account with me (I'm the one dealing with all of the credit issues in our house). He does have an account with Citi, and they never identify themselves to me until after I identify myself to them--but then they readily talk to me.

What I have found with all of our creditors is that they don't necessarily read the notes on the account before calling, since most of the calls are auto-dialed and a live person only comes on the line once I pick up the phone. So even if they noted the account not to discuss it with your husband, I'm not sure that there's a guarantee that they would read the notes!

Maybe someone else will have a better answer for you on that question!

Thanks Alias! You've helped a lot!

I know I should call them, but I'm just so afraid of them treating me like crap.

would offering to settle work instead? I can't make a lump sum-it'd have to be in payments.

Hi Lawn,

I think that you should talk to your husband at this point of time when you are in such a bad situation. Initially he might shout at you???????but later you can sit together and find a feasible solution to the overwhelming debt. I think this is the best solution to your woes at this juncture.

Take care

Phoenix

Thanks Phoenix...I know I should tell him, but I want to handle this on my own. Telling him is the last option for me.

I really want to deal with this on my own, but not sure how to approach the creditor...

Since they are the original creditor it is almost impossible to stop the calls short of changing your phone numbers. Your options are change your contact info, try to negotiate with them or wait until they charge off the account and spin it to a collection agency so you can send them a DV with a CD attached.

I know it is probably hard but I would suggest discussing it with your husband instead of keeping him in the dark. If it makes you feel any better my wife did the same thing to my credit but for about 50-100x the amount of your debt. She had over $100,000 of unsecured debt in my name. I have settled most of it now with the exception of about 10k from 2 different creditors. One has never contacted me and the other I DV'd so they leave me alone. I might settle once I have the money but we are struggling right now.

Lawn...I would suggest you "bite the bullet" and call Citi NOW. Once the account becomes 180 days past due, by law, they must write it off. Once they do this, it will be very difficult to work anything out with them. Then it goes to collections which if you don't pay, they will sue you. Your husband will find out one way or another.

See if you can get into a hardship program and get them to re-age the account. I would also recommend that if they do put you into a program that you take a little extra from the consolidation program ($20 - $40) and apply it to the card.

If you call them and they are rude, politely end the call and call again later. Maybe you'll get someone who is willing to work with you.

For what it's worth, I have talked to numerous people at Citi, between my husband's and my cards, and also both of our AT&T Universal cards (owned by Citi). Nobody from there has ever been rude to me. I would also advise that you "bite the bullet", as desperatelyseekingsanity said, and just call them.

Also, is there any way that you might be able to add that card at this point to your debt consolidation plan? I know that you originally didn't want to because of the Sears card. However, many creditors will cut off all cards if any of the cards are delinquent, so you might end up losing the Sears card anyway.

Thank you all for the advice. I really should call them. I can't add them to my consolidation plan because then my payment to the dmp would be too much.

Just an update that might interest you. I just received a phone call asking for my husband. I said he's not here, can I take a message. The person introduced himself from Citi, and asked if he could speak with the wife of ____. He then told me that although I'm not liable for the account, he can speak with me about it.

So it may not be possible to keep this account information from your husband! Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

Bottom line time here...

It's always easier to talk to the original creditor than it is to talk to a collection agency. Yes, they can be brusque. If they are, politely hang up, and call back again later. Try a different shift, weekend vs. weekday, etc., until you get somebody who's not rude. FWIW, it sounds like Citi's gotten mellower of late. Last I dealt with them [1999], they were regular hard-****.

Be advised, Citi sells a lot of their charge-off accounts to LVNV. You do not want to deal with LVNV if you can possibly avoid it.

[color=Red]****Adult term removed - Jason[/color]

Thanks a lot Alias. Bad news is better than no news at all. I'm going to see if I can get a lump sum together & then call.

He only received that one "unavailable" call which was a hang-up. Makes me wonder if it was even Citi calling. He didn't get any calls today.

But I know i need to call them asap...just need to get money together first.

If you live in a community property state,most courts hold spouses to equal partners of each others debt.It would be very wise for hubby to know about this debt.

Lawn - you are approaching that 180 day charge off point. If you can barely make the $60 payment, is it realistic that you can come up with enough money for a settlement? (I think that's what you are replying in your post above.)

Make the call first and feel them out as to what your options are. Maybe they'll suggest something that we haven't thought of. (Positive thinking here!)

If they can put you in a re-age program, then you'll be back to making minimum payments and the past due amount will go away.

Thanks so much everyone. NJ isn't a community property state. I looked it up online. I'm going to see what money I can get together in the next few days & then I can see what's what. I do want to call them & see what my options are. I'm not going to tell my husband until I get all my ducks in a row and can show him options of what we can do. I'd hate to go into this & say "I did this, but I'm not cleaning it up". If I give him options at least I can show him I'm working on it & he'll be less upset.

If they are able to re-age your balance and get rid of all of the past due amounts, it looks to me like the $60 a month would probably cover your minimum payment amount?

Alias, what would I ask them? Just ask to re-age the account or is there a special way I should ask?

I'm going to defer to someone else on that question since I've never asked about re-aging any of my accounts. Desperatelyseekingsanity, above, is the one who originally suggested it. I just took a look at your balance and thought if you could do that, it might put you in the ball park for the minimum payment amount.

Thanks anyway Alias! I appreciate the effort you put forth!

I appreciate all the effort EVERYONE has put into helping me.

Just call them and ask them what programs you may qualify for. Ask them what happens with the "past due amount" and I'll bet they'll tell you that the account reages after x amount of payments, your account is current and keep up the payments.

It's rather simple.

Sounds simple enough...thought it'd be harder....Thanks!

I managed to scrounge up an additional $270 that I sent in to Citicard today. In total I payed $330...that's a little more than 1/2 the past due amount. I'm going to wait & let them get the payment (sent it next day air...hoping it posts by Monday) & then calling them to see what I can work out. I'll let you all know how it goes. I hope the $330 is enough for them to work with me.

Good luck lawn! Keep us posted!

Thanks Alias!! I'm going to need it!!!

I just really hope the $330 is enough for them to see I am willing to do something but need help. It's almost 1/2 of the past due amount.

I would've called them before I sent the money and used it as a bargaining chip. If I were you, I'd call them today and ask about what programs you qualify for...and, oh, by the way, would making a $330 payment help! ;)

i would be even more direct than that.. tell them how difficult it was for you to come up with that and ask for the help. I would approach it like this: figure out how much you can afford to pay monthly (make sure it is a number you can handle), then when you talk to them start out with a number thats 60-70% of that amount. If they try and get you to pay more, then you have some room to go up without going over your budget. If they accept, you can send in the amount that you budget, but you have just built in a little safety net..

Problem is, is she just sent $330 to be received today (Monday) and now she'll have to set up payment for another payment soon. I'm trying to think up a way that they'll apply the $330 as pymt on the "plan" and she won't have to make a pymt until next month. ;)

I wish I had seen this before today! I was busy with the baby all weekend & yesterday and couldn't get near the computer.

The payment was received...the balance is now $1948.99 & the amount due in total is $529.79 (past due $194.17 & amount over credit line is $218.99). Its now 63 days past due.

If the baby takes a nap today then I'll call...if not I have to wait until tomorrow.

I'm going to offer below the $60 & see what they say.

If your past due is only $194.17, any chance you could come up with that amount before your next statement? If so, that will bring you current and back in good standing with a payment of only $60. Will that help you?

I think she would also have to come up with the over limit amount and the current amount due before her next statement (the total due of $529.79) in order to be back in good standing by her next statement.

I took that the overlimit is $218.99 included the past due amount of $194.17 (difference being only $24.82). Can you clarify, Lawn?

Lawn, what happened with Citi? Did you call them? Did they set you up on a program that you can live with? Let us know!

Sorry for being so tardy in my response. I have a teething baby who won't take a nap at all during the day this past week...so it's been FUN here!

The payment got received and the minimum is now down to $413. I'm about 70 days past due now, so that's better than the 146 I posted before. I did call after the payment was received and we discussed a few options. The best was if I come up with $413 and send that in. I managed to borrow money from my family-but I won't be able to send it in until the end of this week or the start of next week. The rep said to call once I have the payment sent in. She'll note my account and then once the payment was received she can help me work out a plan.

I hope they come through with a good plan for you! I have read other posts on this site about people catching up their past due balance based on the creditor's promises, and then once the balance is caught up, the creditor doesn't come through. Hopefully, if she noted your file, then they will follow through with whatever you discussed. It sounds like things may work out for you!! Keep us posted!

I would ask for a plan BEFORE you send the money in. If you look at what has just transpired, they got you to send in payments ($330 + $413 you promised). At that point, you will be current and then they'll say you don't qualify for a plan...IMHO.

I would call them back and ask them for a plan first before you go borrowing from your family. That (IMO) is just robbing Peter to pay Paul.

If the first person you talk to can't help you, ask for a supervisor. Or call back later...you'll probably get someone different.

one thing you can do is send a letter confirming your conversation about a plan conditioned on receipt of the payment. if you mail the payment, sendit with it, if you pay by other means, send it via fax with a certified letter followup

I personally would not send them a dime until I had an agreement in writing. I also wouldn't send them a dime until the waived every last one of their BS fees that I am sure they are tagging you with.

jj - they haven't given her a plan yet. They said AFTER she sends in the $413 for her to call back and then they can look at what plans can help her. After that payment, she would've paid almost 1/3 of her balance. They may think that if she can come up with over $700 in one month, then she has the ability to pay the rest with no problem.

Personally, I would call them now and get on a plan. I've said this before but I guess noone is listening to me. :?

I hear what you are saying, but what you have to remember is that they hold the cards.. the debt is valid and any payment plan is really at their discretion..the trick.. is to negotiate rather than demand.. as I write I am thinking something like this... My payment was(is) submitted with the intention of negotiating a workable payment plan in order to resolve the account. based on telephone conversations (insert with whom and when), it is my understanding that upon receipt you will be willing to negotiate such a plan.

I do agree that getting it in writing before hand is better, but it never hurts to have a backup plan.

I understand. I don't think, tho, that the OP actually got a plan. I read her post as they want her to send in money and THEN they'll look at what plans are available.

My point to that is, if she sends in her $413 payment, then she'll probably be current and therefore, won't qualify for an assistance plans.

I had a balance of $7000.00 we too have gone through a bad spell with the economic downturn. They gave me a zero percent interest for a year at $80 a month. I too was in trouble with credit bills my husband didn't know about. I finally had it with the stress a nd told him we were in financial trouble. After 23 years of marriage we decided we could not let finances cause marital problems. You need to talk to your husband. call Citi tell them you need to go on the hardship program and exactly why they are great.