“Bank of America’s share of complaints reported by the CFPB has steadily declined to just 5 percent of the total volume, reflecting continued improvements to our customer service and our success helping more than 2 million mortgage customers avoid foreclosure”, a statement said. In 2014, the CFPB put in place strong rules that protect consumers throughout the mortgage process – from taking out the loan to paying it back.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday that it received more mortgage-related complaints about Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Ocwen Financial Corp.in the third quarter of 2015 than about any other mortgage companies.
The Bureau received 25,732 complaints in August 2015, and 4,574 of those (17.7 percent) were about mortgages, making it the third-most complained about category behind debt collection (29 percent) and credit reporting (22 percent). Additionally they complain that servicers often move forward with foreclosure proceedings while a modification application is still under review. The new report spotlights mortgage complaints and complaints from consumers in the Denver, Colorado metro area. “The Bureau will continue to work to make sure that consumers are being treated fairly on their mortgage issues”. In late August, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) wrote a letter to the CFPB recommending that the Bureau cease publishing the monthly snapshot, saying that the analytics are not based on an industry-wide collection of data; they provide only an “insular view of market-data based only on complaint information that the CFPB receives” and therefore do not paint a complete picture.
Over half of the consumers submitting mortgage complaints in the past month complain about problems that occur when they are unable to make their payments, particularly with loan modifications and foreclosures. Overall, the CFPB received 972 fewer complaints in August 2015 than in July 2015.
30 percent of mortgage complaints problems making payments, such as problems arising when loans are transferred and payments not being applied according to the consumer’s instructions. The volume of complaints from Nebraska rose by 54%, while Nevada’s complaint volume increased by 45%.
Product trends: In a year-to-year comparison, consumer loan complaints, which include pawn loans, title loans, and installment loans, showed the greatest percentage increase – 47% – almost doubling from the same time last year.
Each month, the Report breaks down complaint volume by product looking at a three month average and comparing the same to 2014.
The CFPB issued its Monthly Complaint Report today.