The most frequent consumer debt collection complaints filed with the CFPB in 2023 were attempts to collect debts that actually were not owed, the bureau said in its annual Fair Debt Collection Practices Act report.
The CFPB said that those complaints amounted to 53% of the debt collection complaints filed with the bureau in 2023.
Many of the complaints filed by the bureau were similar to those filed in 2022, the bureau noted.
“Complaints about attempts to collect a debt that the consumer reports is not owed has been the predominant issue selected by consumers since the CFPB began accepting debt collection complaints in 2013,” the CFPB said. The bureau warned that debt collectors who pursue consumers for incorrect amounts may be violating the FDCPA and that the CFPB will take action where that is occurring.
The CFPB said that one trend may be contributing to the frequency of complaints–the “financialization” of various consumer markets, that is, the increased offering of financial products or services in the market, as well as the introduction of new financial products or services in the market, particularly in the medical and rental-housing markets.
The CFPB focused much of the report on medical debt and reported that:
- Complaints about consumers failing to receive written notification were the second-most common issue raised by consumers. The bureau said that 69% of the people filing complaints about written notifications said they had not receive enough information to verify the debt. Those types of complaints were particularly common in complaints about medical debt, according to the CFPB.
- Consumers also filed complaints with the agency regarding the collection of allegedly owed medical bills that they said already had been paid through the financial assistance programs that non-profit hospitals must operate under federal law.
- Many consumers reported having problems navigating between healthcare providers, insurance, and debt collectors that fail to communicate with each other.
- Non-profit hospitals have partnered with financial institutions in offering medical payment products, such as open-end lines of credit, credit cards, and installment loans, that enable the hospitals to get compensated for bills at the time of enrollment and the financial institutions and their debt collectors to engage in collection “practices that would be prohibited by IRS regulations” if engaged in by the hospitals themselves, such as adverse credit reporting.
- Many debt collectors have closed accounts or returned them to their clients without any follow-up. That, the CFPB said, is an indication that those debt collectors lack confidence in the information they have about the debt.
Overall, the CFPB said it received 109,000 debt collection complaints in 2023. Of that total, the bureau sent 63% to companies for their review and response, 28% to other regulatory agencies and the bureau reported 9% to not be actionable. As of March 1, 2024, less than 0.1% of the debt collection complaints were pending with the consumer and less than 0.1% were pending with the CFPB.
In addition to the extensive discussion of complaints, the report also included a summary of debt collection issues uncovered in CFPB supervisory examinations as well as debt collection enforcement actions brought by the CFPB and the FTC.
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