Update On ForbearanceSPOTLIGHT ON MORTGAGE FORBEARANCE ONE-YEAR LATER

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Analysis of Consumer Complaints

Against 12 of the Largest Retail Banks Filed with the

U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

From March 1, 2020 to September 23, 2021

OVERVIEW

The Committee for Better Banks “COVID Scorecard: Spotlight on Forbearance” found many of the largest banks in the US failed to communicate their COVID-related forbearance policies to customers and poorly implemented relief plans under the CARES Act. While pandemic-related unemployment surged, so did requests for relief from consumers facing unprecedented economic uncertainty. As part of CBB’s Better Banks Accountability Project, this research updates our earlier report with U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) mortgage-complaint data from March 1, 2020 to September 23, 2021.

We compiled this data by searching for mortgage related complaints on the following issues: forbearance, deferment, loan modification, refinance, and repayment plan. Then we evaluated 12 of the largest retail banks on the level of complaints filed against each of them with their relative mortgage loan volume and market share. Specifically, for each bank, we measured:

  • The number of consumer complaints submitted;
  • The total number of forbearance-related issues raised in the complaints;
  • Average number of issues per complaint;
  • Number of multi-issue complaints;
  • COVID-19 or pandemic-related complaints; and
  • Complaints citing “balloon payments” and “without my knowledge”.

KEY FINDINGS