Complaints about mortgages down, but issues remain – CFPB

The CFPB’s latest data found that mortgage complaints have declined – but many customers still report issues, especially with servicing

Complaints about mortgages down, but issues remain – CFPB

Complaints about mortgages went down in December, but consumers still say they have issues with servicing and misapplied funds, according to a new report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mortgage complaints actually dropped by 1% in December, according to the CFPB’s latest complaint snapshot. However, the agency still sees frequent complaints about mortgage issues, and two of the three companies that received the most mortgage-related complaints were also among the most complained-about companies overall.

“Today’s snapshot shows that consumers continue to report running into issues when making payments on their mortgages or when trying to overcome obstacles to keep themselves in their homes,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said.

As of Jan. 1, the CFPB had fielded about 260,500 mortgage-related complaints, the agency said. Some findings of the latest monthly snapshot were:

  • More than 80% of mortgage-related complaints had to do with servicing
  • Consumers frequently claimed that their funds were misapplied. Many also complained that electronic monthly payments to their financial institutions weren’t properly credited to their loan accounts.
The three companies that received the most average mortgage complaints were Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Ocwen. Wells Fargo and BofA were also among the top 10 most complained-about
 

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