Tag Archives: Consumer Complaint Database

Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Arizona) is proposing changes intended to provide more context to the complaints received by the Bureau.

For the first time since the CFPB began accepting consumer complaints nearly five years ago, mortgages did not top the list of complained-about financial products.

Mortgage loans in today's housing market are not keeping homebuyers happy, as they are most complained about product in the eighth volume of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Monthly Complaint Report.

Where do mortgages rank on the list of the Bureau's most complained about financial products?

Many mortgage industry stakeholders are calling for the Bureau to strive for more accuracy and consistency when publishing narratives of consumers' complaints.

On a positive note, the CFPB reported that overall complaints declined 9 percent month-over-month, while mortgage complaints fell 7 percent from the prior month.

In order to assess the effectiveness of the CFPB's controls over the accuracy and completeness of the database, the OIG performed an audit of these controls relevant to the database covering processes from January 1, 2014, through June 30, 2014, and complaints in the database through June 30, 2014.

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.

The Bureau reported as of June 1, 2015, it has handled more than 627,000 complaints from the time it opened its doors in July 2011. According to the CFPB, about 28 percent of those complaints have been mortgage-related, making it the category with the largest share (debt collection was second with 25 percent). The Bureau says it forwards the complaints to companies and works to get a response, typically within 15 days.

In April, the Five Star Institute (FSI) and Black Knight Financial Services (BKFS) released a report titled "Analysis and Study of CFPB Consumer Complaint Data Related to Mortgage Servicing Activities,” that addressed the concern that the complaints do not provide a full picture of the mortgage servicing industry.