No Statements from Bank since 12/2004

We have some problems with Citibank. We lived for some years in Bahrain/Middle East and had opened an account with the Citibank Bahrain. When we moved from Bahrain in December 2004 we still had and still have a personal loan with the Citibank Bahrain. But since we moved from Bahrain we did not receive one single statement, also we requested them again and again and again. We continued paying the monthly installments but we have no clue, whether they received the money or not. In December we moved again. So we did not pay any installments through December up to today. Now they started to call my poor mother-in-law in Denmark (!) at all times through the day and even late evenings (9pm!). She knows nothing and is quite upset, because they told her, that they would send her the bailiff and on top of this, they deny to give their name. And my mother-in-law, of course, denies to speak to them without having a name.
The Citibank Bahrain tried not even once to contact us, the customers! They always had our e-mail address, which in all these years never changed. And the Citibank Bahrain not even once gave us any statements since December 2004. I find this behaviour not only shady but harrassing my poor mother-in-law extremely repellent! Is this legal? What about financial privacy?
We would like to settle everything once and for all with this Citibank, but since we don't have any statements, we have no clue how.
So, I hope, you can help somehow with this muckheap of a bank.

If you reside in the United States, you're referring to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or FDCPA which strictly prohibits the type of behaviour you're describing concerning your mother in law. In particular, section 806 strictly forbids harrassment in attempting to collect on the loan; more information may be available on the following link:

http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/fdcpa/fdcpact.htm

Regardless of whether you received statements or not, you're bound by the terms of your original agreement if you still owed on the loan at the time you moved. Do you know if a balance still remains? The simple withdrawal from your own bank account at the time you made payments is receipt enough .. you may want to check back during the times you said you didn't receive a statement and see if corresponding withdrawals in the same amount appear on your monthly statements prior to December. If so, obviously your payment was received.

A telephone call to Citibank will probably resolve most of your questions. If you know there's still a balance owing, then quite simply you should fulfill the terms of your contract. At the same time, you should let Citibank know the tactics of their collections department, citing the law above.

Good luck.

Thank you for your reply.
First of all we ar not US citizens nor residents. I just thought, that since Citibank is US Company, they have to act after those laws and regulations.

Of course, we tried several times and in different ways to get statements. We spoke to I don't know how many persons, send faxes and e-mails, without any success. Which is not only frustrating but also annoying. We paid until December 2006.
But what makes me concerned is, that since we have no statements, we have no clue, what there is left. We don't know how many interests are charged aso.
We are more (!) than willing to get a final settlement, we have already asked last year on several occasions, whether they could give us the final amount - again with no success.
On the other hand, they call my mother-in-law. They got her contact details, when we opened our bank account with these towel-heads (in Bahrain it is customary for expats to give a contact in the home country, when opening a bank account). We had the same problem, when we moved from Bahrain to Qatar two years back. We asked them to stop calling someone who is not involved. Everytime the payment was late (it was always only a question of days ) they started calling her again. They always had our contact details, we never moved without giving those. And our e-mail always remained the same. How can an international operating bank allow itself to operate in such manners?

Citibank has over 1400 locations in a total of 46 countries and is owned by Citigroup. Here is the link to their privacy statement:
http://www.citibank.com/privacy/
Obviously the type of treatment your account is receiving is clearly in violation of their own interal policy, however if you provided your mother in law's name, address and telephone number on your original application, they ARE entitled to contact that person if they are unable to contact you directly. There's also nothing you can do to stop them from calling, even if the payment is only a "few days late." It's late, period. They are attempting to collect on the debt. Has your mother in law provided you with the telephone number, name and title of the person who is calling? Do you have the account number in question? (That can be obtained from the person who is contacting your mother in law, if you no longer have it.) If you have that information, you can access your account directly online to 1. find out what the balance is and 2. schedule payments in plenty of time so that the telephone calls cease. Chances are your account has been referred to Citibank's internal "collection department" and as is common industry practice, may have been contracted out several times to several different companies scattered all over the world. Can you access your account online, or have you set it up to access online?
In answer to your basic question, yes a creditor IS entitled to contact anyone listed as a reference on a basic application if the payment is 1 day late according to your contract. And yes, on the surface, it appears that this creditor is acting well within the terms of the contract with you by contacting your mother in law.