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Citi May Owe You Money Because Of Bad Mortgage Practices

 

In the despicable category,  companies run by big banks like Citi take advantage of struggling homeowners who try to hang on to their homes. Now CitiMortgage and CitiFinancial Servicing will pay the price, a whopping $28.8 million in a settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said, “Citi’s subsidiaries gave the runaround to borrowers who were already struggling with their mortgage payments and trying to save their homes. Consumers were kept in the dark about their options or burdened with excessive paperwork. This action will put money back in consumers’ pockets and make sure borrowers can get help they need.”

About 20,000 borrowers learned that they could defer their payments, but they weren’t told that the interest would add up and come due immediately at the end of the deferment period. This added to their loans and violated deceptive lending laws.

CitiFinancial Servicing did not cancel credit insurance bought by 7,800 consumers whose loans went into default. Instead, between July 2011 and April 30, 2015, it continued to collect the money.

On the other hand, it prematurely canceled credit insurance for some customers.

And then, it sent inaccurate information to the credit reporting companies.

As a consequence of all this, the CFPB order CitiFinancial Servicing to pay $4.4 million in restitution to consumers and pay a $4.4 million civil penalty.

CitiMortgage will pay $17 million in restitution directly to 41,000 consumers who received confusing information about what documents they needed to provide to pay off their mortgages. The CFPB said, “Many of these documents had nothing to do with a borrower’s financial circumstances and were not actually needed.”

The CFPB ordered CitiMortgage to freeze foreclosures imposed during its bad practices and to pay a civil fine of $3 million.

 If you think CitiMortgage or CitiFinancial Servicing misled you, sit tight. The companies should notify you within 60 days. If you don’t hear from them you can contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: http:www.consumerfinance.gov, or call 855-411-2372.

We will point out that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may come under fire from the Trump Administration. Republicans have criticized the bureau’s work and want to take away some of its power or kill it entirely. 

If you think this valuable bureau should continue, contact your U.S. representative or your U.S. senator. 

Here’s where to find your representative: http://www.house.gov/htbin/findrep

Here’s where to find your senator:

https://www.senate.gov/senators/contact/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 Books To Read and Give As Gifts

We made a list and checked it twice to recommend 4 books to read and give as gifts.  We read all of them recently and think you can’t go wrong with one or all of them.

You will find them quite different. Yet, each will keep you reading and enjoying.

We offer reviews in the ConsumerMojo.com Book section. But here’s a quick look at 4 books we like.

The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home by Louise Penny

Every time I read a book by Louise Penny, I want to linger in the world that she creates. I’m always sorry when something pulls me away.

The Long Way Home is the latest in Penny’s Inspector Gamache series. And we find Gamache retired and living in the idyllic village of Three Pines in Quebec near the American border.  The story starts out slowly, reels you in and then offers surprise after surprise.

Just when you think you understand the mystery, you discover how an artful writer like Penny can tease you, keep you reading and deliver a suspenseful and powerful payoff. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS

Paris Match

Paris Match by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington is really getting around these days. Stuart Woods’ ex-cop attorney, intrepid crime-solver and effortless lucky-getter is in Paris in his latest escapade.  Paris Match pits Stone against a criminal Russian oligarch who wants revenge for his brother’s death, and only Stone’s murder will satisfy his blood lust. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS.

 

A Dancer In The DustA Dancer In The Dust, Thomas H. Cook

Cook creates a literary mystery with soul.

How many of us look back on our youth and idealism and wonder if we were foolish and event hurtful to others.  Cook, an Edgar Award winner, skillfully uses  the backdrop of a lawless, fictional, African country in turmoil to explore the intersection of love and idealism.

In A Dancer In The Dust, we meet Ray Campbell, an expert in risk management, twenty years after his return from a stint as an aide worker for a non-governmental organization (NGO). He went to, the fictional, Luanda to invest a foundation’s money and create infrastructure projects to transform the country.   And almost immediately, he  fell in love with a young white woman born and raised in a traditional African village who wanted everything to remain the same. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS

The Children Act

The Children Act by Ian McEwan

When I finished The Children Act, I hugged the book to my chest and continued to think and think and think. I’m still thinking.

In this short novel, Ian McEwan explores the difficult choices that we confront in relationships, in religion and the law. He brings us into the life of Fiona Maye, a respected British High Court judge in the Family Division.

We learn quickly that her long-time marriage to a professor is strained and perhaps over. But she buries herself in demanding work to avoid dealing with her roiling emotions and making a decision about whether to continue the marriage. Her cases involve bitter divorces and custody battles and she takes great pride in writing elegant legal decisions. CONTINUE→ or go to BOOKS