Mortgage-related consumer complaints submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) fell between the first and second quarters of this year, according to a review of the CFPB’s consumer complaint database conducted by HousingWire.
A total of 5,652 mortgage-related complaints were submitted to the bureau between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2024. That total fell to 5,005 in the period between April 1 and June 30 — a decrease of 11.45%.
More than 3,000 of the complaints in Q2 were attributed to conventional mortgages, while Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages yielded 847 complaints and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) mortgages drew 446 complaints. Another 365 complaints were related to home equity lines of credit (HELOCs), while only 74 complaints were attributed to reverse mortgages.
The vast majority of the recorded complaints — 2,721, or 54.3% of the total — were attributed to “trouble during the payment process,” with most of that share coming from issues related to taxes, escrow or insurance.
The next largest share within that segment was related to borrowers expressing frustration in communicating with a company to fix an issue in either the management or servicing of a loan.
Following payment process troubles, the next largest cohort — 1,169 of these complaints — primarily revolved around borrowers who struggled to pay their mortgage. There were 484 specific complaints related to consumers trying to communicate with a company “to fix an issue related to modification, forbearance, short sale, deed-in-lieu, bankruptcy, or foreclosure,” according to the database. There were 300 complaints in this segment that were specifically related to a foreclosure.
Nearly all complaints in Q2 2024 (4,965 of the 5,005) received a timely response from the company, while only 40 did not. Some customers consented to allowing more identifying information with their complaint. This illustrated that 620 complaints were attributed to U.S. military service members, while 583 were attributed to older Americans and 226 identified as both.
