Tag Archives: Consumer Complaints

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection has released a report enumerating the total number of complaints it has received by state and financial product or service. Find out what states complain the most (and least) about mortgage issues and why.

Consumers ran into three major problems with the way their loan is being serviced, according to the CFPB's latest monthly consumer complaint snapshot.

"Consumer complaints are the CFPB’s compass and play a central role in everything we do. They help us identify and prioritize problems for potential action," CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. "These monthly reports will enable us to share that data with the public more regularly, so that everyone can benefit from the information."

The data showed that modification, collection, and foreclosure-related complaints were falling at an even fast rate than the number of non-current loans over that same period. In Q1 2013, the number of such complaints were received by the Bureau totaled 10,047; for the fourth quarter of 2014, that number was 4,741, a decline of 53 percent–compared to the 27 percent decline for non-current loan inventory.

A policy allowing consumers to publicly share their stories when submitting complaints to CFPB was first proposed by the Bureau in July 2014. After months of receiving comments from consumer groups, trade associations, companies, and individuals, CFPB finalized its consumer narrative policy on Thursday.

Perhaps the most serious complaint comes from surviving, non-borrowing spouses. When the borrower spouse dies, surviving spouses suddenly face foreclosure, despite the fact that "some consumers report that their loan originator falsely assured them they would be able to add the other spouse to the loan at a later date," the report states. Similarly, others complained that the loans are often difficult to repay and that lenders often throw obstacles in the way when consumers take steps to avoid foreclosure.