Mortgage-related complaints involving Bank of America flooded the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recently released public database of consumer financial complaints.
Mortgage complaints alone made up 49% of all consumer reports received by the CFPB for the period stretching from July 21, 2011 to February 28, 2013.
BofA (BAC) loaded up the complaint box, representing 29% of all complaints filed to date, according to CFPB data. Overall, consumers filed 51,000 mortgage complaints with the CFPB by April 1 and approximately 15,000 of them are associated with BofA, the consumer agency explained.
A BofA spokesperson said, “We have been intensely focused on improving the process for our mortgage servicing customers and, importantly, virtually all (98%) of the mortgage-related files received from CFPB since the process was initiated have been closed.”
Loan modification, collection and foreclosure issues were behind 67% of all complaints filed against Bank of America. In addition, loan servicing, payments and escrow account issues accounted for 20% of the CFPB filings.
“As a result of the Countrywide acquisition, Bank of America became the largest mortgage servicer at the peak of the housing crisis, and the servicer of a disproportionate share of loan types impacted by the economic downturn,” BofA said.
It added, “While we make every effort to provide a good experience for all customers, the servicing of mortgage loans in delinquency or foreclosure predictably results in more frequent customer concerns, as reflected in figures for all institutions in the report.”
Wells Fargo (WFC) had the second highest complaint amount, but they contributed almost half the amount as BofA, representing only 16% of total complaints.
Wells Fargo noted in a company statement that they appreciate the efforts of the CFPB to bring light to these concerns. “When we get complaints directly from our customers or through the CFPB or other channels, we thoroughly investigate them and if we’ve made a mistake, we work to do what’s right for our customer,” the company said.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) had the third highest mortgage complaint amount, bringing in 9% of the total complaints.
A JPMorgan spokesperson said, “We look to resolve customer issues as quickly as possible. Our customer satisfaction ratings have improved dramatically in the last year.”
