Citibank

This review is for the mortgage loan side of the branch. The checking and savings staff are fine, friendly and all, but the loan officer did not know what he was doing and gave me the runaround for 3 months. I was planning to do a refinance with cash out on an existing property, a co-​op in New York City, and was told that it could be done, but after spending $ 750 in various fees in the application process, was told after 3 months of the process that it could not be done. What was really horrible was that they had all my documentation for 2 months, including authorization from the IRS to review my tax transcripts, but they sat on this for 2 months.
Finally in the third month, and after a lame apology from them for not even looking at my paperwork for 2 months, they just asked me for a hard copy of my tax returns, and after underwriting review said that since I am renting a room out of my NYC property (I am still living there part time), it is considered an investment property and can’t be refinanced. The loan officer claimed he had experience with co-​op apartments but that is clearly not the case. To defend his lack of expertise to process the loan, he also claimed that other big banks like Chase and Bank of America would not be able to refinance it either, but I just checked with Chase, the bank where my existing mortgage is, and they said they can fast-​track the refinancing since my existing loan is there. I only went with Citibank because it was a couple blocks away from where I lived and just got suckered in with the sales pitch. Should have made sense, to get my refinancing on a NYC property I should have stuck with a bank based in NYC, or at least a Citibank branch based there (staffed by people with the right expertise).
I have been trying to get a refund for the $ 750 in fees I spent, but the loan officer has been ignoring me. He won’t even refund me the $ 50 I wrote on a Citibank personal check to his name. Unfortunately I can never recover the amount of time wasted. So just AVOID getting any loans from Citibank, because you’ll be dealing with shady people. If he’s shady on this applicant, who knows what he’ll do with your finances. If their sales pitch in getting you a loan were conveyed by e-​mail from Nigeria, it would be a total SCAM.

Friendly service+ Knowledgeable bankers+ Great choices for accounts+ Personalized service= A great bank!
I work in the area and have been banking with this Citi location for over a year. The employees are very friendly, its rarely ever busy, I always feel secure, and they have great customer service. Brad (the banker) is wonderful! He set me up with the right account and even follows up when I’m at the branch office.
Minus 1 star since Citibank does not offer very good options for travel overseas or Canada. I hate paying fees to access my own money. Otherwise this is a wonderful bank!