Illinois Top Ten Consumer Financial Complaint Issues 2021 In the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Public Consumer Complaint Database

Illinois PIRG Education Fund download of complaints in 2021 ranked by issue selected by the consumer to describe the problem they were having with a company in a complaint product category.

Illinois PIRG Education Fund

Complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) hit another record in 2021, led by issues with credit reports.

Analyzing CFPB complaints is one of the ways that Illinois PIRG Education Fund keeps a pulse on issues consumers are most concerned about.

Complaints filed with the CFPB’s Public Consumer Complaint Database hit 496,028 in 2021, an increase of nearly 12% from 2020. 

The No. 1 complaint was “Problem with a credit reporting company’s investigation into an existing problem,” with 5.032 complaints. 

The No. 2 issue was directly related: “Incorrect information on your credit report,” with5,000 complaints.

It’s troubling that the No. 1 and 2 complaints concerned erroneous information on people’s credit reports or their unsuccessful attempts to resolve the mistakes.

Credit reports are a key part of Americans’ financial identity, whether they like it or not or consent to their information being collected or not. Information on credit reports drives decisions on whether someone is approved for a loan or credit card, the interest rate of loans and credit cards, whether a tenant is approved to rent a house or apartment, the premiums paid on auto or homeowners’ insurance and even whether someone is offered a job.

Consumers are strongly encouraged to get copies of their credit reports regularly from the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. By law, consumers are entitled to a free copy once a year from each of the bureaus. Through April 20, you’re entitled to one free copy each week from each bureau, because of pandemic legislation passed by Congress. Go to annualcreditreport.com or call 1-877-322-8228.

Credit reports were also the topic of the No. 4 complaint – “Improper use of your report.”

The other big bucket for complaints: debt collection. The No. 3 issue was “attempts to collect debt not owed,” with 39,009 complaints. The No. 6 and No. 10 complaints concerned “written notification about debt” and “took or threatened to take negative or legal action” on a debt.

Other issues among the top 10 complaints concerned checking or savings accounts, trouble when making a mortgage payment, a problem with a purchase on a credit card statement and struggling to pay a mortgage.

Complaints to the CFPB have been climbing for years. Besides last year’s nearly 500,000 complaints, the 2020 total – 444,551 complaints — represented a 60 percent increase from the 277,366 complaints in 2019.

Because complaints involving credit reports always top the list, here are a few resources to help you:

 

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