In its monthly snapshot of consumer complaints released this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reports that the leading frustration among consumers is being wrongly hounded by debt collectors.
“Today’s report shows that consumers continue to report being harassed about debts they already repaid or debts they do not owe,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “The bureau will continue to work to ensure that consumers are not being wrongly pursued by debt collectors.”
Of the 1,058,100 complaints the CFPB has received through Dec. 1, approximately 285,000 were about debt collection. The most, 39 percent, were about being harassed by old or non-existent debts. Other major complaints were for accounts forwarded to third-party collectors without notice and daily calls at both home and work by collectors. Portfolio Recovery Associates, Inc., Encore Capital Group, and ERC were the three debt collection companies that had the most complaints.
In November alone there were 6,730 complaints about debt collection, most among the 23,000 complaints the CFPB received nationally. Credit reporting was the second most complained about consumer products with 4,138 complaints, while mortgages was third with 3,954 complaints.
The CFPB, created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, accepts complaints on credit cards, mortgages, bank accounts and services, private student loans, vehicle and other consumer loans, credit reporting, money transfers, debt collection, and payday loans.