CitiMortgage, Inc. Mortgage bank kept money meant for repair damages which my Insurance gave. Gaithersburg Maryland

We had a weather related damage to our roof. The insurance gave us check for about $12900, but also put Citi Mortgage on the Check. We submitted the check to CitiMortgage, they gave their okay for us to start work on the repairs. When the job was completed we informed them and they sent their inspector to inspect it.

Then we called to have them paid the money into our account so we can pay the Roofing contractor. They kept telling us to provide all sorts of papers. They wanted a receipt from the contractor. We have not paid the Contractor, so a receipt from the Contractor can not be obtained until the Contractor is paid. We have called more than 4 times on this issue. We called them on September 29, 2008, October 7, October 13 and today October 17. They kept requesting for the receipt.

This is grossly unfair to us. For the reasons below:

1) They gave their okay for us to begin work on repairing the damage.
2) We are not behind in our mortgage payment.
3) Our home Owner has appraised the damage for the amount of check sent.
4) We have in fact used a more superior roofing than the one which was damged.
5) They have sent their inspector to inspect the finished work.
6) The money really is NOT their money.
7) the contractor is threatening to put a lien on our home.


To our dismay they are holding on to money which is right due us.

These are my questions:

a) Can we rightly assess interests on this money? this is because they are in fact using our money to trade.
b) Can they legally request that we submit a receipt before the money can be released to us?

Any suggestions will be appreciated as to how we can get CitiMortgage to release the check so that we can pay the contractor.

312 lakefield
Murphy, Texas
U.S.A.