The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Consumer Response Annual Report for 2020 recently presented to Congress noted the agency handled 54 percent more complaints than in 2019.
The CFPB indicated there were approximately 542,300 complaints last year—in comparison to 352,400 complaints handled the year prior. The report sought to examine the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the consumer financial marketplace.
“The pandemic has been among the most disruptive long-term events we will see in our lifetimes,” CFPB Acting Director Dave Uejio said. “Not surprisingly, the shockwaves it sent across the planet were felt deeply in the consumer financial marketplace. Consumer complaints provide the CFPB with an important real-time window into where consumers encounter problems in the marketplace. The CFPB expects companies to respond to these concerns and that consumers receive responses from companies that address the issues consumers raise in their complaints.”
The report revealed, among other data, credit and consumer reporting complaints accounted for more than 58 percent of complaints received, followed by debt collection, credit card, checking or savings, and mortgage complaints; consumers submitted approximately 32,100 complaints mentioning coronavirus or related keywords in 2020; the CFPB received more complaints from consumers about inaccurate information on their credit and consumer reports in 2020 than in 2019; and the CFPB received 40,800 complaints from self-identified servicemembers, veterans and military families.