Citibank Still sucks & executive support number - ideas?

Question

I was 100% fully approved to do a HARP refinance with Citi, to the point that their notary was in my house, in my kitchen, with all of the docs, ready to sign. There was only one problem, an issue I addressed with 5 people from the time of application, to the night before the close. It was about having the proper mailing address for me.
They failed to address the issue and we couldn't close on the day it was scheduled. The notary attempted to contact citi, but, surprise, no one was there to answer the question she had, so she stormed off.
I then proceeded to email a rep at Citi minutes later and 4 or 5 times over the next week. I also called her a few times as well.
A few weeks later, after about 3 or 4 voicemails and 5 or more emails, she finally responds and tells me my loan has been removed and that I need to fully re-apply for a refinance with them under the harp program.
I indicated their "solution" was unacceptable and demanded a better one. After some arguing with them, they put some donkey on the phone, who literally promised to close my refi by the end of the year (this was about 2 weeks ago).

Today, the new application blew up, as they're demanding a full property appraisal (likely a deal killer), since they can't use the original "code" because it was used on the first applicaiton and can't be re-used. Can you believe this garbage?

So, loan 1: 100% complete and approved without any appraisal at all. They fumbled poorly and then deleted it because the rep didn't handle my inquiries.

They had me start a new app, promising the same deal with an even better rate, and then have changed the terms of the loan, to the point that it will kill the loan.

I have contacted all of the donkeys at the lower levels of the company including the people that promised me it would be done and they have said "sorry."

I also was able to get on the phone with their mortgage executive support. After explaining more thoroughly what happened, the woman I spoke to around noon promised a returned call by the end of the day. Never happened, not surprised.

My next thought, other than banging my head against a wall is to try and contact whoever is adminsitering Harp or something along those lines. I realize I'm likely screwed, lost in the shuffle of the big banks, to stupid to make sense, too big to fail.

Can anyone offer any ideas? I had a 3% rate drop, which is a chunk to be likely lost, so I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Thanks for any suggestions and here is Citi's executive support number, in case you find yourself on the wrong side of a deal with them: 718-248-0847

Joe Delia · Answer

My brother handles harp refi's across the country for quicken. PM me if you want to get it done correctly.

Ed O. · Answer

As a guy that carved out a crappy living as a mortgage broker for a short time, I know why so many suck. The rules and programs, from day to day, lender to lender change too much. You could spend a few hours, every day, learning about tweaks each lender was making to each loan offering they had. Then, after soaking up a lot of knowledge, you'd have to compete against all the other cut throats to make any money. It's an awful industry. I agree on the financing side too. We got a van with a 2.5% rate by signing on the line. IF we were to buy a home for less than that, we'd get run through the ringer and get hit with 2k in fees to get a rate of 5-6%, Makes no sense. The industry itself is bloated by design. There used to be the torrens system, which was instead of having TI. Well, the TI companies backed these corrupt politicians that changed the laws once they got in power. We all pay more, but score one for the TI companies.

Rob K. · Answer

I can't speak for Citi, but I can tell you that there is a HUGE difference between the right loan officer and wrong loan officer. I had a HARP refi with Flagstar that took about six months of calling this mortgage clown and hearing that we should be approved any day now. He always said he would call me with an update and never did. Finally, I met a friend of a friend that was high up in the company. She looked up my refi to see that it had been denied. The mortgage guy never bothered to tell me. She told me that it was denied and I wouldn't be able to refi through them. About six months later, I talked to a different loan officer at a different Flagstar branch. This guy was a go getter and told me that the first guy screwed up (Duh!). He was able to get my deal done. I'm saving three percent as well. I have another deal with Wells Fargo that I tired the same thing. They denied it for some horse(bleep) reason. I then talked to a different guy at Wells who promised me the world only to find out later that because it's a Freddie Mac loan, I can't refi with HARP. Something to do with Freddie guidlines about too many loans. It's very frustracting dealing with these pointy headed mortgage dummies. I don't understand why you can go into a car stealership and drive out with a $100,000 car with no money down, but you have to jump through a million hoops to get a home loan. The house stays in one place, but you could easily smash the car or drive it to Mexico. Why didn't you just close and change your mailing address at a later date?