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The $2-trillion CitiBlunder

CitiMortgage processed Carl Varadian's payment, then wrote him to say he was $18 short of the $853.15 owed on his house. Too bad it overlooked its own $2-trillion mistake.

By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published November 11, 2006

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Bill Serne] “Please deduct the $18 from my check and return the balance to me,” Varadian wrote. “I may buy CitiMortgage in its entirety with the proceeds.”

Carl Varadian made a mistake when he sent in his mortgage payment. But his $18 error was small potatoes compared with the mistake CitiMortgage made when it wrote him back:

"We have received and applied your check in the amount of $2,001,004,113,835.15," the company's cash processing department informed him. That's 2-trillion 1-billion 4-million dollars. And some change.

The company said the Bradenton retiree and his wife, Ida, still owed $18 on their $853.15 monthly payment. Send it in, CitiMortgage said.

Varadian, who worked in government and taught college government classes back in Michigan, decided to have a little fun with CitiMortgage. He wrote back:

"Please deduct the $18 from my check and return the balance to me," he wrote. "I may buy CitiMortgage in its entirety with the proceeds."

Actually, he could buy all the outstanding stock in parent Citigroup Inc., which has a current market value of "only" $249-billion.

CitiMortgage officials responded to the St. Petersburg Times' inquiry with a little humor of their own:

"We would like to apologize to Mr. Varadian, our potential future boss, for this error," spokesman Mark Rodgers said. "In all seriousness, however, we want information going to our customers to be 100 percent correct, and we will make sure to understand why this happened and correct it for the future."

Sadly, his account has not been credited with $2-trillion.

Varadian, 76, figures he must have transposed a couple of numbers on one of his checks, writing $835 instead of $853. But the big numbers in CitiMortgage's letter were a shock.

"I couldn't believe it when I got the letter," he said. "I had to set it aside so I could calm down a little bit." But he added, "If they want $18, I'll give it to them."

The company's letter suggested that Varadian consider automatic payments, allowing CitiMortgage to draft its monthly payment from his bank account. Varadian said no thanks.

"I don't know if you can trust them," he said. "But if they were adding to my account I wouldn't mind."

Helen Huntley can be reached at hhuntley@sptimes.com or 727 893-8230.

[Last modified November 10, 2006, 23:52:56]