RSSComplaints about credit reports and from consumers in Louisiana were spotlighted in the latest monthly snapshot from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
As of Feb. 1, the bureau handled approximately 185,700 credit reporting complaints. Some of the findings in the snapshot include: customers have problems disputing items on their credit reports; complain about inaccuracies on the reports; and are confused about credit scoring.
Consumers in Louisiana have submitted 12,400 of the 1,110,100 complaints the CFPB has handled as of Feb. 1. Of those complaints, 4,500 came from consumers in the New Orleans metro area. The product generating the most ire from state residents was debt collection, accounting for 34 percent of complaints. That number is slightly lower in New Orleans, at 32 percent, but both are higher than the national 27 percent.
Complaints in the state overall grew by 31 percent from the three-month period November 2015 to January 2016 to the same span this year, higher than the national growth rate of 21 percent.
The bureau handled approximately 1,110,100 consumer complaints across all products nationally, as of Feb. 1, with about 29,000 of those coming in January 2017. Debt collection topped the list of complaints for the month, at 7,730. Student loans and credit reporting came in next, at 5,389 and 4,620, respectively.
For the three-month period from November to January, student loans had the greatest increase compared to the same three-month period a year prior. The bureau received 497 complaints from November 2015 to January 2016, and 2,425 from November 2016 to January 2017.
That spike came around the same time the bureau filed a suit against student loan servicer Navient in January. The bureau also expanded its complaint intake form to include federal student loans – in addition to private ones – in February 2016.
“Credit reports provide the means for consumers everywhere to take important steps in their financial lives,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The bureau will continue to work to ensure that credit reports are accurate and when disputed issues arise on credit reports consumers are able to resolve them quickly and with little hassle.”
