The government agency responsible for investigating consumer
finance complaints made some of its data available to the public
this week. The
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published
Tuesday
a report of complaint activity it received between July 21, 2011
and June 1, 2012.
In addition, the bureau unveiled a website that allows consumers
to track credit card complaints by type of dispute, region and
issuer.
Mortgages top consumer complaints
While the CFPB has been taking consumer complaints since July of
last year, it initially only accepted complaints regarding credit
card companies. Then, on December 1, 2011, it also began to receive
mortgage complaints. Finally, on March 1, 2012, the bureau opened
its complaint process to private student loans, consumer loans and
other bank products and services.
Despite receiving mortgage complaints for only half of the year,
the CFPB reports the largest percentage of consumer contacts they
have received have been mortgage-related. Between July 2011 and
June 2012, the bureau received 19,250 mortgage complaints compared
to 16,840 credit card complaints. Another 6,490 complaints were
made about bank services and products while 1,270 came in regarding
private student loans.
Mortgage complaints often surrounded issues relating to loan
modifications, collections and foreclosures. Other common
complaints involved payment issues, loan servicing and escrow
accounts.
To address the complaints, the CFPB sent most of the inquiries
to the company in question for their review and response. In cases
in which the company agreed to provide some monetary relief for the
consumer, the median amount of relief reported was $410.
Credit card complaints made public
According to the CFPB report, the most common credit card
complaints were billing disputes. Other complaints involved annual
percentage rates,
identity theft
and fraud. When a credit card company offered monetary relief to a
consumer, the most common amount provided was $25.
In addition to publishing credit card complaint information from
the previous year, the CFPB says credit card dispute details will
be made public going forward. The bureau is publishing the data on
its online
Consumer Complaint Database
.
While consumer names, addresses and account details will be
hidden, other complaint information will be published. This
information includes the name of bank, the zip code from which the
complaint originated and the type of dispute. The database also
tracks how each complaint was closed.
"Each and every time we hear from American consumers about their
troublesome transactions with financial products, it gives us
important insight," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a
statement. "By making our data publicly available, initially in the
area of credit cards, we hope to improve the transparency and
efficiency of this essential consumer market."
As with mortgage complaints, credit card complaints are sent to
the company for its review and response. The CFPB then prioritizes
its investigations to focus on those cases in which the company
fails to provide a timely response or the consumer disputes the
company response.