WASHINGTON—The CFPB’s latest monthly complaint snapshot shows the most common complaint about debt collection has to do with attempts to collect on a debt that the consumer says is not owed.
As of Dec. 1, 2016, the Bureau has handled approximately 1,058,100 complaints across all products.
“Today’s report shows that consumers continue to report being harassed about debts they already repaid or debts they do not owe,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement. “The Bureau will continue to work to ensure that consumers are not being wrongly pursued by debt collectors.”
Since the Bureau began accepting complaints in 2011, debt collection has been the most-complained-about financial product or service by over 100,000 complaints compared to the next most-complained-about product, the CFPB said. As of Dec. 1, 2016, the Bureau had handled approximately 285,000 debt collection complaints.
Some of the findings in the snapshot include:
- Consumers report being contacted for debts not owed: Over a third—39%—of complaints submitted about debt collection had to do with consumers reporting being contacted about debts that they no longer owed. Many consumers complained they were never provided documentation to verify the debt, even after submitting requests for verification.
- Accounts forwarded to third-party collectors without notice: Consumers complained that their accounts were forwarded to third-party collectors without receiving any prior notice from the original debt holder about an outstanding balance. “Some of these consumers also complained that their accounts were not in delinquent status prior to contact by the third-party collectors,” the CFPB said.
- Consumers complain about being bothered by frequent and repeated calls: Many consumers complained that they are subject to frequent daily calls by debt collectors both at home and at work, even after informing the collector that contact at work was prohibited by their employer.
- Most-complained-about debt collection companies: The three companies that the Bureau has received the most average monthly complaints about are Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc., Encore Capital Group, and ERC.
The Monthly Complaint Report can be found at: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201612_cfpb_MonthlyComplaintReport.pdf