Newsroom

November 06, 2013

CFPB releases debt collection complaints, seeks comments

The CFPB announced on Wednesday it will target consumer concerns in the debt collection market, first by collecting information on the tactics and accuracy of information used by debt collectors, and second by releasing 5,000 debt collection complaints to the public.

The CFPB estimates there are more than 4,500 debt collection firms in the multi-billion-dollar industry, many of them third-party firms hired by the original creditors. Through information collected with its advance notice of proposed rulemaking, the bureau said it would focus specifically on consumer complaints related to debt collectors doing the following:

  • contacting the wrong person;
  • contacting consumers too frequently;
  • threatening lawsuits, wage garnishing, property seizure, imprisonment and other false threats;
  • attempting to collect more than the owed amount;
  • not providing consumers with correct or sufficient documentation of the debt.

The bureau hopes to collect information to answer whether federal rules should limit debt collectors' contact frequency with consumers, with a focus on the various methods and technology used to contact them.

The 5,000 complaints the bureau is releasing now have been received and responded to in the past four months, since the topic of debt collection was introduced.