Complaint pace reignites after March slowdown (Under the Hood)

Auto loan- and lease-related complaints filed through June 30 with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau surged 38% year over year. Consumers lodged 9,017 complaints through midyear, up from 6,523 in the prior-year period. The spike in complaints came despite a retreat in enforcement activity at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB ). The agency has rescinded dozens of guidance documents in recent months and has withdrawn from several lawsuits, including a case filed against subprime lender Credit Acceptance Corp. and an appeal related to expanding the CFPB’s unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices authority. In addition, 90% of the CFPB’s staff has been laid off since President Donald Trump took office, leaving the agency with about 200 employees. Yet the CFPB website appears to be actively promoting its complaint-collection tool. Typing the CFPB’s URL (consumerfinance.gov) into the search bar automatically redirects to the agency’s complaint page (consumerfinance.gov/complaint) with a message encouraging visitors to submit complaints about financial products and services. The page states that the CFPB sends more than 50,000 complaints to companies per week and will forward grievances to other agencies should they be more qualified to assist. The auto finance complaints collected through midyear translated to a pace of 1,500 grievances per month, compared with an average of 1,000 per month in the two previous years. At that rate, yearend volume is on track to exceed 18,000 complaints, up from 13,000 last year. June complaints up 50% YoY With Inauguration Day looming, complaints this year got off to a quick start, totaling nearly 2,000 in January alone — the highest ever single-month total. Complaint volume averaged 1,300 in February and March, despite President Trump’s move to halt CFPB operations . Complaints picked up again in April and May, topping 1,400 and 1,600, respectively. Though June volume dropped back into the 1,300 range, it was still nearly 50% higher than the pace of complaints filed in June 2024 or June 2023. Like last year, repossession issues and loan-management concerns were the most common topics of complaint. Combined, those two categories accounted for more than half of all auto finance grievances filed through midyear. On the repo side, consumers were most often disgruntled that loan balances remained after their repossessed vehicles were sold at auction. For instance, some complainants mistakenly thought that they were no longer responsible for the deficiency balance if the lender charged off the account. Subprime lenders were most often cited by consumers for repo-related loan balance complaints. Credit Acceptance topped the list with 80 complaints, followed by Santander Consumer USA with 66 and Westlake Financial with 60. Carvana affiliate Bridgecrest Acceptance Corp. and Capital One Financial rounded out the top five, with 43 and 37 complaints, respectively. Two other repo categories — post-repossession account reinstatement and notice to repossess — saw complaints double through midyear. In all, 344 people griped about account reinstatement, compared with 165 through June 2024. Similarly, 320 people fussed about their repo notices, up from 157 in the year-prior period. Billing issues at forefront Within the loan or lease management category, the biggest consumer gripe hinged on billing problems. Some complainants disputed late fees, missing payments or extra charges, while others alleged unauthorized or misallocated payments, among other things. Of the 1,047 complaints in the billing sub-category, Ally Financial was called out 76 times, while Santander was fingered 73 times. Capital One Financial, Westlake, Toyota Motor Credit Corp. and Hyundai Capital America were each named at least 40 times. Other frequently cited sub-categories centered on an inability to receive a vehicle’s title after the loan is paid off, problems with ancillary products or services and loans opened without consent or knowledge. By state, consumers in Florida lodged the most auto finance complaints, accounting for 11% of the total. Texas placed second at 10.2%, and California placed third, at 9.7%. Georgia was the only other state with a complaint ratio surpassing 5% of the total. Overall, complaints about auto loans and leases grew at a faster year-over-year clip than those related to payday loans (26%), credit cards (21%) and mortgages (3%). On the other hand, complaints about student loans — particularly concerning repayment plan confusion, inaccurate loan balances and servicer errors — shot up 68% YoY as collections on defaulted loans resumed in May after a five-year pause. Register here for “Digital strategies for exceptional customer experience,” a free Auto Finance News webinar set for Tuesday, July 15, at 11 a.m. ET.

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