CFPB reports on complaints received

Federal Issues CFPB Consumer Finance Consumer Complaints

On September 23, the CFPB released its first in-depth report analyzing complaint submission patterns by U.S. Census tract, titled “Consumer complaints throughout the credit life cycle, by demographic characteristics.” The report is based on approximately 1 million consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB between 2018 and 2020 and classifies complaints by matching the relevant consumers to census tract-level U.S. Census demographic data. The report finds, among other things, that: (i) loan origination complaints increased by nearly 50 percent in 2020, driven by mortgage complaints; (ii) “[n]eighborhoods with the highest share of white, non-Hispanic consumers submit complaints about loan originations at more than twice the rate of neighborhoods with the highest share of Black consumers”; (iii) lower-income and communities of color are more likely to submit complaints regarding credit reporting, identity theft, and delinquent servicing than higher-income and majority white, non-Hispanic communities; (iv) Asian American and Pacific Islander communities had higher rates of submitting credit reporting complaints compared to predominantly white, non-Hispanic communities; and (v) census tracts with the greatest share of Black residents have complaint rates that are double the rates for tracts with the lowest share. According to the CFPB, the report’s findings will help the CFPB’s work, and the Bureau “will continue its research into consumer complaint data as part of its larger commitment to put consumers, and their varying experiences with consumer financial products and services, at the foundation of all its work.”