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On the heels of National Day of Action, the Federal Trade Commission filed a $500 million lawsuit on March 6 against Citigroup's Associates First Capital Corp. charging the industry with predatory lending practices, including high fees and interest rates.

The FTC has charged Citigroup and The Associates with deliberately "steering" and "misleading" borrowers into accepting predatory loans.

Led by former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, Citigroup became the largest sub prime lender in November when they bought The Associates.

NPA groups report that The Associates and sister company CitiFinancial use such predatory practices as "steering" borrowers into high-interest loans even though they qualify for prime-rate loans; "flipping" borrowers into progressively higher-interest loans by repeatedly refinancing their mortgages; charging excessive and unjustified fees; setting borrowers up with impossible loan terms that lead to foreclosure; and defrauding borrowers in general.

NPA groups have presented Citigroup four national lending reforms during meetings and local actions. 1) Groups want Citifinancial branches in all communities to offer affordable, prime rate loans so that borroweres with good credit can get a fair deal. 2) Citigroup must review and repair predatory loans made in the past by The Associates, CitiFinancial, and all other subprime subsidiaries. 3) Citigroup must prohibit all predatory lending practices throughout the country. 4) Citigroup must create a review board with NPA at local and national levels to monitor the agreement.

"We want Robert Rubin to run a bank not a predatory lender," said Gale Cincotta, NPA chairperson. "While Rubin has been promoting Citigroup as a clean company, this group has been soaking people for money and setting them up for foreclosures."