The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its monthly complaint report yesterday. According to the report, the CFPB received 21,800 complaints in January 2016. The total number of complaints received between November 2015 and January 2016 is up nearly 10 percent to 20,877, from the previous year.
The biggest increase in complaints was in “other financial services” complaints, which include check-cashing, credit repair, debt settlement and a few other kinds of complaints. Those kinds of complaints rose 77 percent between November 2015 and January 2016, where 178 complaints were received.
Payday loan complaints showed the greatest percentage decrease from November 2014 to January 2015 (467 complaints) to November 2015 to January 2016 (409 complaints), representing about a 12 percent decline.
Student loan complaints showed the greatest month-over-month percentage increase (23 percent). Debt collection, mortgage and credit reporting complaints continue to be the top three most-complained-about consumer financial products and services, collectively representing about 67 percent of complaints submitted in January 2016.
Complaints were up 12 percent year over year in Massachusetts, where there were 221 complaints per 100,000 residents.
In Connecticut, where there are 250 complaints per 100,000 residents, complaints were up 23 percent year over year.
The 10 most complained-about companies, in descending order were, Equifax, TransUnion, Experian, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Ocwen, Nationstar Mortgage and Capital One, according to the report.
