If you took a mortgage loan from Citibank, from August 2011 to April 2015, it’s possible Citi discriminated against you and you didn’t get the financial breaks you deserved. The Office the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) found that the bank did not make sure loan officers told all customers about mortgage discounts available to them.
The bank had set up a program for customers who banked with them regularly. It offered these customers who applied for a mortgage, a discount on closing costs, or an interest rate deduction. But the bank’s written policy wasn’t clear and apparently some loan officers went their own way. They made arbitrary decisions and discriminated against people to whom they offered the discounts. Not everyone who qualified got the same deal.
Citibank discovered the problem during an internal review and reported it to the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates banks. “The errors affected borrowers across gender, race and ethnicity. Citi has no tolerance for discrimination in any form. Across its products, Citi provides equal access and opportunity for credit for applicants, regardless of race, ethnicity and gender and is committed to ensuring that customers are treated fairly,” Citibank said in a news release.
No criminal charges were filed. But as a result of an agreement with Comptroller of the Currency, Citibank must repay $24 million to 24,000 customers who didn’t get the full benefits they deserved.
The Comptroller of the Currency also required Citibank to pay a $25 million dollar civil fine to the federal government.
The bank said, “We apologize to our customers for the errors and are pleased to have the matter resolved.”
If you think Citibank owes you money let them know. Here’s a number you can call 1-800-283-7918.
In the years before the Trump administration took over, The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aggressively investigation bank fraud and discrimination. The CFPB required banks, including Citi, to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution and fines. State attorneys general also pursued banks that cheated customers and levied large fines.
The CFPB has slowed its enforcement under the Trump Administration. But the CFPB still is a good place to complain if you think you have been cheated or discriminated against by a bank.
