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Reports

We study how consumers interact with financial products and services to help identify potential problems in the marketplace and achieve better outcomes for all. Review our reports and analyses to help inform your decisions, policies, and practices. And, see reports that we periodically prepare about the CFPB.

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Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Financing and Consumer Financial Outcomes

This report documents research findings on PACE financing from 2014 through 2020. This is in support of the PACE rulemaking mandated by EGRRCPA. We find that for consumers whose PACE loans are originated, mortgage delinquency rates increase by 2.5 percentage points over a two-year period following PACE origination, compared to those whose applications were only approved. These effects are larger for consumers with lower credit scores and with more expensive loans.

Category: Data point | Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Consumer Credit and the Removal of Medical Collections from Credit Reports

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies removed medical collections under $500 from credit reports in April 2023. We study removals of medical collections from credit reports that occurred between 2012-2020 to shed light on the potential effects of this reporting change. We find associated increases in credit score and credit availability.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Insights into Consumers’ Financial Standing and Distress from 2019-2022: Evidence from a CDFI

This staff report provides a window into the financial circumstances faced by customers of Southern Bancorp Bank, a CDFI that serves some of the most economically underserved areas in the United States. We explore how account balances and the share of customers with a negative account balance evolved from 2019 to 2022.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Report on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Rule Voluntary Review

This report contains the findings of the Bureau’s voluntary review of the final rule on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act the Bureau issued in October 2015 (2015 HMDA Final Rule) and related amendments (collectively, the HMDA Rule).

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Making Ends Meet in 2022: Insights from the CFPB Making Ends Meet survey

The annual Making Ends Meet survey report shows how consumers’ finances changed from 2021 to 2022. After increasing during the pandemic, financial health declined from 2021 to 2022 across several measures. The finances of Hispanic consumers and consumers under age 40 deteriorated rapidly between 2021 and 2022.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Consumer Credit Trends Report: Paid and Low-Balance Medical Collections on Consumer Credit Reports

This is part of a series of reports of consumer credit trends produced by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau using a longitudinal sample of approximately five million de-identified credit records from one of the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

New Data on the Characteristics of Mortgage Borrowers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This COVID-19 Special Issue Brief follows up on a May 2021 report that discussed the characteristics of mortgage borrowers, including demographics, during the COVID-19 pandemic. A significant number of homeowners have transitioned out of those forbearances over the last year due, in part, to improving economic conditions and the expiration of protections under these programs for many loans beginning in the Fall of 2021. Given these changes, our goal in this report is to better understand the characteristics of borrowers who remain in forbearance, as reported through January 2022.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

Subprime Auto Loan Outcomes by Lender Type

This data point examines outcomes for subprime auto loans by lender type. It finds that borrowers with loans from some kinds of financial institutions pay higher interest rates, and experience vehicle repossessions more quickly after delinquency, than comparable borrowers with loans from other kinds of financial institutions.

Category: Office of Research Publication |
Published

The Recovery of Credit Applications to Pre-Pandemic Levels

This report is an update to CFPB’s May 2020 report and December 2020 blog regarding the effects of COVID-19 on credit applications (or credit inquiries). It examines the different paths of recovery for types of credit applications.