The number of complaints filed with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau increased by 61% from 2021 to 2022, but that share of those complaints that were related to debt collection dropped by 50%, according to data released as part of a report analyzing the increase in complaints that was released by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund.
A copy of the report can be accessed by clicking here.
A huge increase in the number of credit reporting complaints was the focus of the report. The number of complaints related to credit reporting jumped to more than 600,000 in 2022, compared with 308,000 in 2021. Three out of every four complaints that consumers filed in 2022 had something to do with credit reporting, compared to debt collection, which represented 7% of all complaints, down from 14% in 2022. Overall, the number of debt collection complaints dropped to 59,493 in 2022 from 70,339 in 2021.
Within debt collection, attempts to collect a debt not owed was the biggest issue for consumers in 2022, accounting for about one-third of all collection complaints. That was followed by written notification about debts, which had about half as many complaints as attempts to collect debts that were not owed.
Three debt collectors — Portfolio Recovery Associates, Resurgent Capital Services, and Encore Capital Group — were among the top 20 companies in terms of the volume of complaints filed by consumers in 2022, finishing in 18th, 19th, and 20th positions. TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian were the top three companies complained about, each receiving more than 177,000 complaints. By comparison, the three debt collection companies in the top 20 had a combined 8,500 complaints filed on them by consumers last year.
