CFPB Issues Annual Consumer Complaint Report

CFPB Consumer Complaints

On March 31 the CFPB published its Consumer Response Annual Report, providing a review of the CFPB’s complaint process and a description of complaints received during January 1 through December 31, 2013. According to the report the Bureau received approximately 163,700 complaints in 2013. Mortgage complaints outpaced all others (37%), followed by complaints regarding debt collection (19%), bank accounts (12%), and credit cards (10%). Complaints related to consumer loans, student loans, payday loans, money transfers, and “other” each comprised 3% or less of the total. The report also breaks down the types of complaints for each category and summarizes companies’ responses. The majority of closed complaints for all categories were resolved with an explanation by the company, i.e. without monetary or other relief, and companies responded to complaints in a timely fashion 99% of the time, or better. The report also stated that the CFPB “continues to evaluate, among other things, the release of consumer narratives, the potential for normalization of the data to make comparisons easier, and the expansion of functionality to improve user experience.”