CFPB reports on debt collection complaints

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its debt collection annual report and one statistic sticks out as especially troublesome.  The report states, “In 2017, the Bureau handled approximately 84,500 debt collection complaints, making it one of the most prevalent topics of complaints about consumer financial products or services received by the Bureau.”  Out of all the complaints the CFPB receives, complaints about not owing the debt is the most common:

[T]he most common debt collection complaint is about attempts to collect a debt that the consumer reports is not owed. The vast majority of these consumers report that the debt is not their debt (57 percent) or that the debt was paid (27 percent), while the remaining consumers report that the debt resulted from identity theft (11 percent) or was discharged in bankruptcy and is no longer owed (5 percent). In response to many of these complaints, third-party collectors close and return the account to their clients or provide the consumer with additional information about the account.

This is more proof that verification of the claimed debt needs to be made.  However, on that point, “Most consumers who complain about written notifications report they have not received enough information to verify the debt (72 percent).”

Dealing with third party debt collectors and buyers can be difficult.  It can hard if not impossible to get the information needed to determine if a debt is owed and the correct amount without the help of an attorney.  Please give our office a call if you are having trouble with this issue.