The CFPB has issued its March 2016 complaint report which highlights complaints about debt collection and complaints from Florida consumers.  The CFPB began taking complaints about debt collection in July 2013.

General findings include the following:

  • As of March 1, 2016, the CFPB handled approximately 834,400 complaints, including approximately 22,800 complaints in February 2016.  Debt collection represented about 32 percent of complaints submitted in February 2016.  Debt collection complaints, together with complaints about credit reporting and mortgages, collectively represented about 69 percent of the complaints submitted in February 2016.
  • Complaints about “other financial services” showed the greatest percentage increase based on a three-month average, increasing about 66 percent from the same time last year (December 2014 to February 2014 compared with December 2015 to February 2016).  This category includes complaints about debt settlement, check cashing, credit repair, refund anticipation checks, and money orders.  Complaints during those periods increased from 104 complaints in 2014/2015 to 173 complaints in 2015/2016.
  • Payday loan complaints showed the greatest percentage decrease based on a three-month average, decreasing about 14 percent from the same time last year December 2014 to February 2014 compared with December 2015 to February 2016).  Complaints during those periods decreased from 466 complaints in 2014/2015 to 401 complaints in 2015/2016.
  • Connecticut, Kansas, and Georgia experienced the greatest complaint volume increases from the same time last year (December 2014 to February 2014 compared with December 2015 to February 2016) with increases of, respectively, 31, 30, and 25 percent.
  • Hawaii, Maine, and South Dakota experienced the greatest complaint volume decreases from the same time last year (December 2014 to February 2014 compared with December 2015 to February 2016) with decreases of, respectively, 25, 19, and 14 percent.

Findings regarding debt collection complaints include the following:

  • The CFPB has handled approximately 219,200 debt collection complaints.  As of February 2016, debt collection complaints represented about 26.3 percent of total cumulative complaints.
  • The most common issues identified by consumers for both first- and third-party collectors involved continued attempts to collect a debt that the consumer reported is not owed.
  • The second most common issue for first-party collections was communication tactics (such as frequent or repeated calls, workplace phone calls, and failure to honor requests to cease communications).
  • The second most common issue for third-party collectors was disclosure or verification of debts (such as receiving insufficient information to verify a debt).

Findings regarding complaints from Florida consumers include the following:

  • As of March  1, 2016, approximately 80,200 complaints were submitted by Florida consumers, of which about 27,600 (34 percent) were from Miami consumers, about 10,400 (13 percent) were from Tampa consumers, and about 9,700 (12 percent) were from Orlando consumers.
  • Mortgages were the most-complained-about product, representing 30 percent of the complaints submitted by Florida consumers and 36 percent of the complaints submitted by Miami consumers.  (Nationally, mortgage complaints averaged about 26 percent of all complaints received by the CFPB.)
  • Debt collection was the second most-complained-about product, representing 24 percent of the complaints submitted by Florida consumers and 21 percent of the complaints submitted by Miami consumers.  (Nationally, debt collection complaints averaged about 26 percent of all complaints received by the CFPB.)