WASHINGTON–Once again, consumers complained more about debt collection practices than any other issue during February, according to the CFPB’s most recent Compliant Snapshot.
The agency said that as of March 1, it has handled approximately 1,136,000 consumer complaints across all products since it began accepting complaints in July of 2011.
Among some of the findings in the most recent Snapshot:
- Complaint volume: For February 2017, debt collection was the most-complained-about financial product or service. Of the approximately 26,000 complaints handled in February, there were 7,755 complaints about debt collection. The second most-complained-about consumer product was credit reporting, which accounted for 4,902 complaints. The third most-complained-about financial product or service was mortgages, accounting for 3,718 complaints.
- Product trends: In a year-to-year comparison examining the three-month time period of December to February, student loan complaints showed the greatest increase—429%—of any product or service. The Bureau said it received 551 student loan complaints between December 2015 and February 2016, while it received 2,913 complaints during the same time period a year later.
- State information: Montana, Georgia, and Missouri experienced the greatest year-to-year complaint volume increases from December 2016 to February 2017 versus the same time period 12 months before; with Montana up 53%, Georgia up 53%, and Missouri up 39%.
- Most-complained-about companies: The top three companies that received the most complaints from October through December 2016 were Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian.
The Monthly Complaint Report can be found at: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201703_cfpb_Monthly-Complaint-Report.pdf