The Department of Justice’s U.S. Trustee Program (USTP) has entered into a national settlement agreement with Citibank N.A. (Citibank), Department Stores National Bank (DSNB) (collectively Citi), and FDS Bank requiring Citi to pay $5 million to remediate robo-signed proofs of claim filed in consumer bankruptcy cases in connection with more than 71,000 Macy’s-branded credit card accounts, Director Cliff White of the Executive Office for U.S. Trustees announced yesterday. The proposed settlement has been filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, where it is subject to court approval. In the settlement, Citi acknowledges that its affiliate DSNB issued Macy’s-branded consumer credit card accounts. FDS Bank was responsible for account servicing activities and contracted certain bankruptcy-related services to vendors. Between 2012 and 2015, tens of thousands of proofs of claim were filed in bankruptcy cases across the country on DSNB’s behalf. These proofs of claim were improperly signed, under the penalty of perjury, by employees of a third-party vendor who had not reviewed and/or lacked knowledge of the contents of the proofs of claim. In some cases, the electronic credentials of the vendor’s employees were used to file claims where the employee did not review the claim. These improper practices were identified when Citibank took over the servicing of the accounts in late 2015 from the third parties. Citi self-reported the errors to the USTP. Click here to read the court filing.
