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Mortgages Rank Third Among Consumer Complaints in Latest CFPB Snapshot

hands-writing1Mortgages were the third-most complained about financial product nationwide in July, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)'s monthly consumer complaints snapshot for July released Tuesday.

As of August 1, 2015, the Bureau has handled 677,200 consumer complaints across all products in slightly more than four years of operation, according to the snapshot.

In July 2015, the Bureau handled 26,704 complaints. Approximately 17 percent of those complaints in July were on mortgages (4,498), making it the third-most complained about financial product during the month. The top two categories were debt collection (8,224, or 31 percent) and credit reporting (6,696, or 25 percent). CFPB found that the top three companies receiving the most complaints for a three-month period from March to May 2015 were Equifax, Experian, and Bank of America.

Mortgages have been the most complained-about financial product since the Bureau opened in July 2011, accounting for about 28 percent of all complaints (about 189,600 out of 677,200).

The Bureau's July snapshot spotlights credit reporting complaints, which CFPB has been accepting since October 2012. In less than three years, the Bureau has handled approximately 105,000 complaints related to credit reporting. Between June and July 2015, the CFPB found that the number of credit reporting complaints shot up by 56 percent, from 4,289 to 6,969.  The number of credit reporting complaints handled from May 2015 to July 2015 increased by 45 percent from the same period the prior year, according to CFPB.

More than three-fourths (77 percent) of the complaints  submitted on credit reporting involved incorrect information on reports such as debts already paid or not yet due that showed up on their report and therefore negatively affected their credit scores, CFPB reported.

CFPB graphOut of the top five most complained-about companies, three of them were credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion). In fact, 97 percent of credit reporting complaints received from March 2015 to May 2015 were on one of those three nationwide credit reporting agencies, according to CFPB.

"Whether a consumer is trying to get a mortgage, apply for a student loan, or buy a car, credit reports are fundamentally important in allowing people to access their financial goals," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. "As we see a rise in the number of consumers complaining about this issue, the Bureau will continue to work to ensure that credit reports are fair, accurate, and readily available to all consumers."

The July snapshot highlighted complaints from the Los Angeles, California, metro area, which is the second-largest metro in the United States by population. As of August 1, 2015, the state of California has accounted for about 94,000 (14 percent) of the 677,200 consumer complaints the CFPB has handled since opening its doors in July 2011. Out of those complaints from California, 33,700 (5 percent) have come from the Los Angeles metro area.

"Whether a consumer is trying to get a mortgage, apply for a student loan, or buy a car, credit reports are fundamentally important in allowing people to access their financial goal."

The CFPB found that although mortgages have been the most complained-about financial product over the four years of the Bureau's existence, consumers in Los Angeles have submitted complaints on mortgages at a higher rate than the national average. About 35 percent of complaints the CFPB received from consumers in the Los Angeles area were mortgage-related, compared to a 28 percent nationwide average. The rates at which consumers in Los Angeles complained about credit reporting and debt collection were lower than the national averages, however. Credit reporting complaints accounted for 14 percent of those received by the Bureau from Los Angeles, compared to 16 percent nationwide; for debt collection, it was 22 percent for Los Angeles and 25 percent nationwide.

The CFPB launched its consumer complaint database in July 2012. The Bureau caused some controversy when it began publishing complaint narratives in June 2015. The Five Star Institute and Black Knight Financial Services published a study in April adding more context to the consumer complaints.

To view the entire CFPB monthly complaint snapshot for July, click here.

Editor's note: The Five Star Institute is the parent company of DS News and DSNews.com.

About Author: Brian Honea

Brian Honea's writing and editing career spans nearly two decades across many forms of media. He served as sports editor for two suburban newspaper chains in the DFW area and has freelanced for such publications as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Dallas Home Improvement magazine, and the Dallas Morning News. He has written four non-fiction sports books, the latest of which, The Life of Coach Chuck Curtis, was published by the TCU Press in December 2014. A lifelong Texan, Brian received his master's degree from Amberton University in Garland.
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