The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported 1,186 complaints against debt collectors in October, according to an analysis of newly published data.
The breakdown of complaints includes:
485 (or 40.9%) continued attempts to collect debt not owed
244 (20.6%) communication tactics
233 (19.6%) disclosure verification of debt
82 (6.9%) false statements or representation
80 (6.7%) improper contact or sharing of info
62 (5.2%) taking/threatening an illegal action
WebRecon, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based data firm that also tracks monthly lawsuits against collection agencies and creditors, provided the breakdown.
The status of the months complaints are as follows:
751 (63.3%) closed with explanation
241 (20.3%) closed with non-monetary relief
127 (10.7%) in progress
29 (2.4%) closed with monetary relief
25 (2.1%) closed (2.1%)
13 (1.1%) untimely response
Of the company responses, consumers accepted 1022 (86.2%) of them, and disputed 164 (13.8%) of them
The types of debt behind the complaints to the CFPB were: 378 other (phone, health club, etc.); 275 unknown; 259 credit card (which totals 21.8% of complaints); 127 medical; 51 mortgage; 34 non-federal student loans; 30 auto; 30 federal student loans; and 2 payday loans.
The top five sub-categories for complaint types were:
322 (27.2%) debt is not mine
181 (15.3%) not given enough information to verify the debt
156 (13.2%) frequent or repeated calls
125 (10.5%) debt was paid
61 (5.1%) attempted to collect wrong amount
California led all states with 163 complaints reported to the CFPB, followed by Texas (104), Florida (98) and New York (92). Rounding out the top ten states were: New Jersey (47), Arizona (46), Georgia (45), Pennsylvania (41), Virginia (34) and South Carolina (31).
