Consumer Protection Law
Complaints about your mortgage lender or broker often concern your interest rate, prepayment penalties, fraud, deception, or other matters about your home.
Taking these steps can help troubleshoot the problem and get results more quickly:
If you are unsuccessful in problem-solving with your bank, contact an attorney to discuss your legal options. They may advise you to make a formal complaint.
There are a variety of federal and state laws protecting consumers' financial rights that an attorney can explain to you.
For instance, lenders and brokers are required to provide certain disclosures to borrowers about rates, fees, and other terms and conditions of lending. If a lender or broker has violated any of the applicable laws, there will be certain legal remedies available to you.
You can make a complaint about a financial institution to various government agencies. Below is information about how you can submit a complaint to the appropriate agency.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) handles complaints about FDIC insured state banks, which are not members of the Federal Reserve System. You can submit a complaint about your financial institution.
You can also contact the FDIC Regional Offices - Division of Compliance and Consumer Affairs for regional phone numbers and addresses.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The OCC handles complaints about National Banks. (Usually, these are banks that have "National" in their name or "N.A." after their names.)
You can submit a complaint by completing the OCC Online Customer Complaint Form.
You can also contact the OCC by mail, phone, or fax.
The Office of Thrift Supervision previously handled complaints about Federal savings and loans and Federal savings banks. In July 2011, it merged with the Office of the Comptroller.
You can submit a complaint about your financial institution by completing a Consumer Complaint Form on HelpWithMyBank.gov.
The Federal Trade Commission handles complaints concerning most non-bank lenders, such as mortgage and finance companies and state credit unions. You can submit your complaint through the FTC's Online Complaint Assistant.
(Note: The FTC Online Complaint Assistant is sort of a one-stop-shop for a variety of complaints collected by the FTC. This includes complaints about non-financial companies, business practices, identity theft, and episodes of violence in the media. Don't get confused if you see questions related to these topics when using the Online Complaint Assistant. Just answer yes/no when going through the process so that your complaint can be directed to the right place.)
The Federal Reserve Board handles complaints and regulates state-chartered banks and trusts. The agency also administers Truth-in-Lending, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
You can submit your complaint by completing the Federal Reserve Board Online Complaint Form.
You can also download the form and submit it to the Federal Reserve Board by mail or fax.
The National Credit Union Administration handles complaints about National Credit Unions. For Federal Credit Union (a credit union with the word "federal" contained in its name or any credit union in Delaware, South Dakota, Wyoming, or Washington, DC), NCUA is the regulator.
You can file a formal complaint by using the NCUA form or contact them by website, mail, or phone.
Some credit unions are probably regulated by a state supervisory authority where the credit union's main branch is located. These credit unions usually:
Are you unsure if your credit union is state or federal? Use the Find a Credit Union tool to search by name and look up the credit union's charter number. Federal credit unions have charter numbers under 60000, state-chartered credit unions have charter numbers greater than 60000.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) handles complaints about loans guaranteed by the VA. Contact the VA Regional Loan Center by clicking here.