Citigroup Bailout Leaves Toxic Securities On Bank's Balance Sheet

The US government's titanic battle against the credit crisis keeps escalating - and a key reason is that despite bailout efforts, the risk of "toxic" assets lingers on.

The bailout of Citigroup last week is the latest example, but the challenge goes beyond a single giant bank.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[robjpainter]

I was laid off in June and began immediately calling Citimortgage - like you are supposed to - right? SIX TIMES people at Citimortgage told me I qualified for a program that would cut my payment in half for six months. I spent HOURS on the phone with them. They promised to call me back and then didn't. I emailed them - no response. I called dozens of times and was cut off, or they simply did not answer. I was told not to make my payment until I got the loan modification paperwork - I NEVER got any paperwork - even though it was supposed to be "in the mail" SIX TIMES!! Finally, after threatening to turn them into the state Attorney General I was passed through several departments and told I did not qualify for the loan modification - even though their own system documented all of the calls and conversations over four months. AND I was told if I turned them into the Attorney General's office they would simply deny any wrong doing and it would be my word against theirs!!

I am ANGRY about how I was treated, and how others are treated. CRIMINAL CHARGES SHOULD BE BROUGHT AGAINST CITIMORTGAGE!! Had I not made my payments - as I was told - they would be in a place to foreclose on my house. THANK GOD I now have a job, and GOD HELP anyone seeking help from Citimortgage or the government because GOD KNOWS they are

[mrohrbe]

The idea of having the government buy toxic assets in the first place was a bad idea, which was why many in congress successfully attempted to broaden the authority in the bail out legislation in line with what has worked in other countries or what was needed to loosen credit or to assist homeowners. Now that Paulson and friends has not bought toxic assets, a sesspool with tens of trillions of dollars, we are bashing him for it. Our bashing should focus on the other things Paulson and the Bush administration are messing up.

[leevntheus]

I've got a NOD on my house from CITI. We HAD negotiated a settlement at same principal with interest lowered from 8% to 2%. It made enough of a difference to allow us to afford the payments (we have been paying for seven years, but being self employed wih the economy tanking business is down) They would win and we could stay.

THE MOMENT THEY GOT PRINCE ALAWEEDIE CASH AND TREASURY GAVE THE NOD ON BILLIONS FOR THEM...the called us up and reneged on the deal claiming that....get this.....WE MAKE TOO MUCH MONEY...and should be keeping up with payments - so they are going to seize the house.

So they get the bailout for the "losses" AND get to keep the properties.

[Weathermaker]

I'm really sorry for you. These kind of stories should be on TV news, not some stupid prison shows. CNBC had a show about high paid prostitutes, which tells you a great deal where the taxpayer is on the priorities list.

[robjpainter]

yeah, similar experience - see my post. Citi should be prosecuted, not bailed out! And the news SHOULD be picking these stories up!!

[dadw5boys]

Ctit increased the interest rate and I closed the account.

If the Fed cuts rates again it is time to get a ARM with 1% or less above the Fed rate.

You then have 2 years before it goes to 5 % to pay off everything. lol

[deminmo]

Ah the $10B for a Spanish company, did you read that here on
Huffington Post? Shake down of the average American to benefit
all those poor CEO's. Print up more of that worthless money and
spread the goodness around to make little things grow!

[aedelbert]

Citigroup employees received notice Monday morning that severance packages would be halved. These are not the juicy millions the talentless and morally bankrupt management is absconding with. This is the fair pay deserved by long-suffering workers who spent ten, twenty, thirty years shoveling the bullshit their inept and juvenile managers doled out while they climbed the corporate ladder to the big boys club.

I'd love to see a book come out detailing--with names--the unbelievably unprofessional "management" style that has run the company into the ground. There should be criminal charges for what they're doing to their employees.

[OB-GYN]

Government = accountability? I want it too, but I believe more and more that day will occur when pigs can fly.

[Novista]

I've said since last year that it should be possible to deconstruct these assets. And, IIRC, the Blackstone Group did just that on Bear Stearns and other assignments.

If they can cut it, why can't the gubmint?! Oh wait ... maybe they don't want to ...

[heal57]

I just got a memo from Citibank Mastercard that the interest rate on my card will be 20% instead of 15%. Fortunately, I don't carry any debt. So, let's see, the guv bails them out with OUR money, and then they turn around and raise the interest rates of their customers an additional 5%. How the hell can we take back our government?? This is totally outrageous. I want some accountability.