andrews@yale.ARPA (Thomas O. Andrews) (10/28/85)
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I tried to make the following story as objective as possible, but
at times my account is definitely biased.
List of facts (uh, as I recall them, anyway):
1) In the summer of 1984, Mr. W had his house
appraised by Citicorp. according to his memory, they appraised,
the house at $76,000. He also has had his house appraised by
numerous other assessors, etc. and the house was always appraised
at over $72,000. The house is on the south side of Chicago, near
the lake, in a predominantly black neighborhood.
2) In the fall of 1984, my Mr. W and his wife move to Providence,
R.I., and look for a buyer for their Chicago house. As prospective
buyers role in, the house is appraised for the possible mortgage
loans, and on each occasion, the house was appraised for more than
$72,000. Prospective buyers roled in, but when it got right down to
buying the house, most of them backed down, or were rejected for
bad credit history.
3) In walked a Mr. E, who showed great interest in the house. Mr. E
is a Citicorp customer, and wanted planned on getting his loan from
Citicorp. In August of 1985, Citicorp sends an appraiser over to
the house. In his assessment, the house is valued at $65,000.
4) Mr. W and wife write a very rude note, implying all sorts of
improprieties on the part of Citicorp.
5) Citicorp reappraises the house. New appraiser determines that
the house is worth $56,000. In the meantime, Citicorp claims to
have found original appraisal (mentioned in note 1,) and report
that their first appraisal was at $65,000.
6) Mr. W asks for copies of both of these appraisals. Long delay.
Apparently, an executive of Citicorp was not pleased with the
recent $56,000 appraisal, and had driven by the house. Without
so much as leaving his car, he was able to determine that the
an inaccuracy had been made, and adjusted the appraisal to $65,000.
(This executive had no experience in appraising houses.)
7) Copies arrive of the two appraisals - one handwritten, one typed.
This is where things get a little strange. What one would expect:
Appraisal 1: From Summer 1984.
Appraisal 2: From Summer 1985, for Mr. E.
And, indeed, Mr. E's name does appear on one of the appraisals -
the one dated 1984! The document that Citicorp claims is the
first appraisal is dated 1985!
Now, this is a confused account. I've only heard about from my
mother on the phone. But Citicorp is beginning to smell bad.
It is not a big leap of the imagination to guess that the first
appraisal is a fake. But, aside from this, is it common to have
unqualified bankers adjusting appraisals without so much as examining
the interior of the house being appraised? The reappraisal to $56,000
and subsequent readjustment appear to be veiled threats. "See, we
can hurt you even more. But we'll be nice, and keep it at $65,000,"
says the benevolent giant.
Now, is this a way to run a bank?
More specifically, can Citicorp do this to people?
In particular, is there anybody out there who knows anything about
appraisals?
(By the way, I know Mr. W - he's my stepfather.)
--
Thomas Andrews
"Gosh, I used to know how to do that."
Favorite excuse of engineerstedrick@ernie.BERKELEY.EDU (Tom Tedrick) (10/29/85)
Citicorp/Citibank etc. absolutely sucks. They are the worst bastards I have ever had to deal with. I will never knowingly/voluntarily have anything to do with them again for the rest of my life.
jib@prism.UUCP (11/05/85)
/* Written 3:30 am Oct 29, 1985 by tedrick@ucbvax in prism:net.legal */ Citicorp/Citibank etc. absolutely sucks. They are the worst bastards I have ever had to deal with. I will never knowingly/voluntarily have anything to do with them again for the rest of my life. /* End of text from prism:net.legal */ I don't really think this is a forum for name-calling, and obviously the above statement is merely one person's opinion (especially since all we hear is accusations without any supporting information). Another opinion: I certainly do not have any vested interest in Citicorp, but it ought to be noted that Citicorp Savings in Illinois is a fairly recent acquisition by Citicorp (although I can't recall the original bank's name), and certainly local problems are not the company policy. I have been a satisfied Citibank customer for over 6 years with multiple accounts, including their Direct Access home banking (via PC) service. I have received consistently courtious service and any problems have been promptly corrected.
rastaman@ihdev.UUCP (Gus Anthozoan) (11/08/85)
>>Citicorp/Citibank etc. absolutely sucks. They are the >>worst bastards I have ever had to deal with. I will >>never knowingly/voluntarily have anything to do with >>them again for the rest of my life. >I have received consistently courtious service and any problems have been >promptly corrected. I have to agree with the former. After a billing fiasco with their Master Card, I will never deal with these "people" again. ihnp4!ihdev!rastaman "Ain't nobody loves me but mah momma; and she could be jivin' too..."
geoff@ncr-sd.UUCP (Geoffrey Walton) (11/14/85)
> >>Citicorp/Citibank etc. absolutely sucks. They are the > >>worst bastards I have ever had to deal with. I will > >>never knowingly/voluntarily have anything to do with > >>them again for the rest of my life. > > >I have received consistently courtious service and any problems > > have been promptly corrected. > > I have to agree with the former. After a billing fiasco with their > Master Card, I will never deal with these "people" again. *** MASSAGE THIS LINE WITH YOUR REPLACEMENT *** At the risk of turning this into a shouting match, I have found CitiBank Mastercard to be efficient, even human, in all instances. When a $900 watch was charged to my account they sent a notice that I was over my limit. When I informed them I was on the far side of the country when the purchase was made (and could prove it) they removed the charge, reversed the interest, and issued new cards within 48 hours. When a payment lost (actually destroyed) by the Post Office was explained to their customer service dept., they forgave the late charge; a subsequent TRW showed the account "as agreed, never late." Credit card insurance, later found to have been approved by a friend as a joke, was removed from my bill -- with appologies -- simply by returning the registration forms as "unsolicited and charge not approved." Geoff Walton :r all the usual disclaimers {wherever}!ucbvax!sdcsvax!ncr-sd!geoff Even the smallest problen becomes unsolvable if enough meetings are held to discuss it.