Anyone Use Citi for their Mortgage?

[jostonusa]

We are American citizens recently moved here. We currently have a Ctiibank account. We were told that they do not offer mortgage lending to US Citizens in Singapore. However, we have gotten conflicting reports from others and even got an application from a loan officer. Before we go through the hassle of filling out the loan application and providing copies of documents, we want to make sure we have the correct information and not waste our time. I emailed the loan officer to inquire and they have not responded yet. So my question is if any American citizens successfully got a mortgage through Citi.

[Girl_Next_Door]

You did not indicate where is the mortgage? Singapore or US?

[jostonusa]

The mortgage is for a home here in Singapore. Sorry I did not make that clear. We were told Citibank does not offer mortgages for American citizens here in Singapore to purchase property WITHIN Sing - though I think other countries' citizens are okay (like if you were a Swedish Citizen). They said the overly complicated tax implications were the reason. Again, other people like property agents and so forth seem to think this is not correct. We currently have a Citi Gold account and our "relationship manager" was the one who provided this information. We think she may not have experience with mortgage lending perhaps to give us this sort of "misinformation" if is is indeed incorrect.

[Girl_Next_Door]

I know there are private banks that intentionally reject American clients due to the complicated tax system and they lack the experts to provide relevant advice. However, if there is any bank who should be familiar with American tax system, you would think it should be an American bank.

Personally, I think your RM is inexperienced. You should approach a mortgage specialist from Citibank for advice. However, do keep your options open and explore other banks as well for competitive rates.

[jostonusa]

Exactly what we are doing. HSBC is an option and there are several local banks where we already know American can get loans. Citibank was first choice b/c we were already banking with them. All we need is the In-Principle approval at this point and we haven't been able to get a straight answer from Citibank with any level of certainty. It's really a hassle to be filling out the application and providing copies of so many documents if it's all for nothing. We just want to know, can American citizens get a loan, yes or no. First it was no and then someone else says 'yes, fill out the documents'. We ask the question about the citizenship concern and no reply from the same person who said yes...so now we are sitting on an application wondering whether to even bother sending it.

We have decided to take our business elsewhere as this level of service and lack of accountability is not okay. Thank you for your input too.