Reports

Forced collection of Social Security benefits increasingly pushes borrowers into poverty and hardship, undermining the purpose of the Social Security program.

Consumers in Native American communities disproportionately experience medical debt in collections on credit reports.

2024 Student Loan Ombudsman annual report, with an analysis of student loan borrower complaints and policy recommendations.

The CFPB's annual report to Congress summarizes its activities, and those of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in administering the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 2023. This report also highlights consumer protection issues in medical and rental debt collection.

The findings in this edition of Supervisory Highlights cover violations of law and consumer harm in the areas of auto and student loan servicing and debt collection.

Removing low-balance medical collections from consumers’ credit reports improved credit scores but has not yet led to more credit applications.

Medical collections on consumer credit reports have been an area of focus for CFPB research in recent years. In addition to studying trends in medical debt as a whole, CFPB reports have documented the burden of medical debt on older Americans, and the incidence of medical collections in rural counties in Appalachia and the Deep South region.

The Bureau’s annual report to Congress summarizes the Bureau’s activities to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 2022 as the primary federal regulator of the consumer debt collection industry. This report also includes activities conducted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2022 in relation to debt collection.

Every two years, the CFPB reports on the state of the consumer credit card market. Our report for 2023 covers the use, cost, and availability of credit cards.

This issue spotlight describes the risks workers and consumers face when they become indebted to the employer or the employer’s affiliate as a condition of employment.

CFPB report highlighting consumer complaints received by the agency's Office of Servicemember Affairs. The report discusses issues related to digital payment apps also known as [person-to-person (P2P) payment platforms], and actions the agency has taken and the results it has achieved to protect the military community from financial harm.

This report provides an overview of the trends in third-party debt collections tradelines on consumer credit reports from 2018 to 2022.

This is the 28th edition of Supervisory Highlights. The findings in this report cover examinations in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination, mortgage servicing and payday lending completed between January 1, 2022, and June 31, 2022.

This report is required by statute. It covers the student lending market, complaints, challenges for consumers, and makes recommendations to policy makers.

An analysis of the risks that nursing home residents and their caregivers face by assessing consumer complaints, nursing home admission contracts, and debt collection lawsuits.

Charity care is one of the main forms of assistance hospitals offer to low-income consumers to help cover the cost of medical treatment.

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.

The Office of Servicemember Affairs’ 2021 annual report on the top financial concerns facing servicemembers, veterans, and military families, based on the complaints they submitted to the CFPB.

This is the 26th edition of Supervisory Highlights. The findings included in this report cover examinations completed between July 2021 and December 2021 in the areas of auto servicing, consumer reporting, credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, mortgage origination, prepaid accounts, remittances, and student loan servicing.

The Bureau’s annual report to Congress summarizes the Bureau’s activities to administer the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) in 2021 as the primary federal regulator of the consumer debt collection industry. This report also includes activities conducted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2021 in relation to debt collection.

This report summarizes key areas of concern in medical debt collections and reporting. The report begins with a section describing the medical debt landscape. It then discusses the negative consequences of medical debt for consumers. Next, it outlines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical debt. The report concludes with a brief discussion of federal and state regulatory developments.

This report outlines challenges faced by justice-involved people and their families in navigating their finances at each stage of the criminal justice system.

This is the 25th edition of Supervisory Highlights. The findings included in this report cover examinations completed between January 2021 and June 2021 in the areas of credit card account management, debt collection, deposits, fair lending, mortgage servicing, payday lending, prepaid accounts, and remittance transfers.

The 2021 Annual Report of the CFPB Education Loan Ombudsman reviews student loan complaints, the student loan and education ecosystems, the return to repayment, and servicing transfers.

Every two years, the CFPB reports on the state of the consumer credit card market. Our report for 2021 covers how consumers use cards, the price they pay for using them, the availability of credit cards, the practices used by credit card companies and debt collectors, and innovation in the market.