CFPB Issues Semi-Annual Report To Congress, Highlighting Debt Collection Issues

On November 20, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its eighth semi-annual report.  

The principal focus of the report was an articulation of the data collected by the CFPB through consumer complaints, including those from the debt collection industry.  According to the report, 30 million consumers currently have accounts in collection, with an average amount of $1,500 each. 

The report noted that debt collection complaints accounted for 32% of all complaints received by the CFPB from October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015.  Of those complaints, approximately 40% dealt with "continued attempts to collect debt not owed." 

The report also found that debt collection companies responded in a timely fashion to 92 percent of the complaints that it received from October 1, 2014 to September 30, 2015.