Deirdre Cummings
Legislative Director, MASSPIRG
617-747-4319
[email protected]
MASSPIRG Education Fund exposes Top 10 list of financial complaints from Baystaters in 2021
Media Contacts
Credit Reporting, Debt Collection top list of consumers’ pain points
MASSPIRG Education Fund
BOSTON–In 2021, from across the country, a record number of people filed complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Public Consumer Complaint Database. Here in Massachusetts, we filed 8,331 complaints, with some categories of problems rising to the top (or sinking to the bottom, you might say). The Top 10 issues that Baystaters complained about were led by credit reporting and debt collection.
“The COVID-19 pandemic was hard enough without having to deal with inaccurate information on our credit reports and debt collectors trying to collect debts not owed,” said Deirdre Cummings, MASSPIRG Education Fund’s Consumer Program Director. “To paraphrase the Academy Award-winning film Network, Massachusetts consumers are mad as heck and they’re not going to take it anymore. People are letting the CFPB know their grievances in unprecedented numbers, the agency is responding, and that should make all of our lives better.”
Over the last 10 years, MASSPIRG Education Fund and its national partner, U.S. PIRG Education Fund, have released more than 20 detailed reports based on complaints in the CFPB complaint database.
Informing Baystaters about the most rampant problems facing consumers in our state is part of our work in recognition of National Consumer Protection Week 2022. All week, MASSPIRG Education Fund is providing consumer protection tips and tools to help Americans address some of the most common consumer issues that threaten our health, safety or financial security. To see all of our resources for consumers, go to: https://masspirgedfund.org/blogs/blog/usf/national-consumer-protection-week-2022
Tips on how to find and eliminate mistakes on your credit report, https://masspirgedfund.org/feature/usf/how-find-mistakes-your-credit-report-0
Reducing ID Theft, how to freeze your credit file, https://masspirgedfund.org/feature/usf/identity-theft-soaring-reduce-your-risk-dramatically-simply-freezing-your-credit-files
Top 10 issues that Baystaters comlained about in 2021,
