The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Ombudsman’s Office received a record number of inquiries in fiscal year 2024.
With 2,398 inquiries, the total was up from the 2,376 inquiries received in FY2023 and the highest since the CFPB opened in 2011, according to the CFPB Ombudsman’s Office annual report released Thursday (Dec. 5).
The CFPB Ombudsman’s Office is a resource meant to help consumers, financial institutions, consumer or trade groups, and others resolve process issues that arise from their interactions with the CFPB, according to its website. It is independent, impartial and confidential, per the site.
Among the inquiries it received in FY2024, 56% were questions, 23% were complaints, and the remainder were about other topics of concern and feedback, according to the annual report.
“This year, we reflected on our ombudsman standards of practice of independence, impartiality and confidentiality as we assist consumers, financial entities, consumer or trade groups, and others in informally resolving process issues with the CFPB,” Ombudsman Wendy Kamenshine said of the report in a Thursday blog post.
“Our standards of practice are evergreen; they are ever relevant and foundational to our work, serving as a framework as we advocate for fair process in new ways each year.”
A common issue heard from consumers this year, as in previous years, had to do with the CFPB’s consumer complaint process, according to the report. While the process is designed to obtain a response from the company and and give the consumer an opportunity to share feedback on that response, many consumers said they found the company’s response unsatisfactory and expected the CFPB to do more to resolve their individual complaint.
“As we have discussed in previous annual reports, there continues to be some misconceptions about what the CFPB’s consumer complaint process does or does not provide for the individual consumer,” the report said.
Individual inquiries received from company representatives in FY2024 often sought to clarify information on the CFPB website, gain regulatory guidance, get help responding to consumer complaints submitted to the CFPB, or learn how to raise whistleblower concerns, per the report.
In each case, the Ombudsman’s Office directed these individuals to useful resources, the report said.
In another recent report, the Annual Report of the CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman, the regulator said it received a record high total of more than 18,000 complaints from student borrowers.
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