Examination of the potential relationship between rising car prices and larger loan amounts and monthly payments, and the impact of those changes in auto loan characteristics for consumers.
Consumers, including those with insurance, incur significant charges related to medical care. Nonprofit healthcare providers are required to establish financial assistance policies for consumers who cannot afford services. In this blog, we explore the connection between eligibility for these financial assistance programs and the prevalence of medical collections using our Making Ends Meet Survey.
Housing costs rose rapidly last year but some people feel this inflation more than others. New research shows that low-income renters’ credit card debt increased by nearly 40 percent over the last year, far faster than owners.
This blog post examines recent changes in overdraft and NSF fee revenues reported in call reports to understand how announced changes in overdraft policies affected these revenues.
Access to credit plays a critical role in financial resiliency, especially during an economic downturn. Credit card companies used credit card line decreases to reduce their credit exposure during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic. New research explores the impact of credit line decrease decisions on consumers.
The Department of Education announced that the student loan pause will continue through August 31, 2022. Here are three things to keep in mind.
Release of report outlining diversity and inclusion based on public facing data and information reported to the Bureau.
New analysis in our Making Ends Meet survey series shows that consumers’ finances improved during the pandemic as pandemic policies kept consumers who lost their jobs from suffering financial hardship. But some pandemic-related flexibilities and forbearance programs failed to reach many consumers facing hardship.
Our latest Data Point report takes an in-depth look at the different types of auto lenders, the interest rates they charge, and the correlations between the interest rates they charge and the rates of default among their subprime borrowers.
This post is the fifth in a series documenting trends in consumer credit outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Access to new credit cards has decreased, but access to mortgages and auto loans has increased since the start of the pandemic.
This post is the fourth in a series documenting trends in consumer credit outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit card limits stagnated or declined for most credit score groups early in the pandemic, but have been rising in recent months. Despite a spike in accounts closed by creditors at the start of the pandemic, accounts are not being closed at unusual rates.
This post is the third in a series documenting trends in consumer credit outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic disruption of the pandemic does not appear to have caused consumers to run up large credit card balances. The opposite seems to be the case, since April 2020, credit card balances and utilization rates have continued to decline, and the share of credit card borrowers that carry a balance rather than pay in full have also declined.
This post is the second in a series documenting trends in consumer credit outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since July 2020, consumers have transitioned out of assistance to varying degrees across all credit products, but a significant share of mortgage borrowers continue to receive assistance.
New research finds that over 2.8 million consumers have information on their business loans and other commercial credit products on their consumer credit reports. An examination of commercial and consumer credit also finds common inconsistencies in reporting practices and strategies, with the potential for significant implications for consumers.
We continue to monitor the market to assess new and developing risks to consumers, and we share updated charts from our report that show an improving economic picture, yet sustained housing insecurity risk.
New Bureau research examines consumer credit trends through April 2021, finding little increase in delinquencies on credit cards, auto loans, mortgages, and student loans during COVID-19. Delinquency rates also remain lower than pre-pandemic levels, likely as a result of public and private interventions.
In this blog, we explain the data source and analytical approach, as well as key findings from the report ‘A Brief Note on General Lending Patterns of Small to Medium Size Closed-end HMDA Reporters’
The Bureau hosted its 5th Research Conference that highlighted recent research in consumer and household finance. The conference brought together members of the academic and policy research communities, including a keynote address by Raphael Bostic, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
A new analysis in our Making Ends Meet survey series looks at how consumers use payday, auto title, and pawn loans. Use of these loans is persistent from year to year. Some consumers of these loans have lower cost credit available, while others lack access to other credit.
A new analysis in our Making Ends Meet survey series looks at the early impact of COVID-19 on the financial status of consumers, finding that their ability to stay on top of their finances was greater in June 2020 than June 2019, likely as a result of government policies and private programs to reduce financial distress.
A new CFPB report shows more than 11 million renters and homeowners are behind on their housing payments. Communities of color are disproportionately vulnerable to housing insecurity. Here's what we’re doing to prevent harm to vulnerable consumers.
In furtherance of our mission, I have directed the Division of Research, Markets, and Regulations (RMR) to take some immediate actions, and I want to share my directions publicly.
A CFPB-led research experiment suggests that people seek to find balance between paying off debt and having savings.
In this update to our May 2020 report examining the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on credit applications, we find that credit card inquiries were still 30 percent below their pre-pandemic levels in September, while auto loans were depressed by 20 percent.
We use the Bureau’s Making Ends Meet survey to study whether financially vulnerable consumers have turned to credit card debt during the coronavirus pandemic. We find that credit card debt fell even for consumers who were financially vulnerable before the pandemic.
