Mortgage Loan Complaints on Rise

OCC data show mortgages making up a bigger share of total loan complaints
By MortgageDaily.com staff
8/27/2003

Data recently released by a government agency suggest loan complaints are on the rise.

According to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), mortgage loan complaints have risen from 2,680 in 2000 to 4,159 last year. For the first quarter of this year, mortgage loan complaints are at 1,259 or, on an annualized basis, 5,036.

However, the rise in complaints is dwarfed by the rise in originations during the same period. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America reports that 1-4 family mortgage originations during 2000 and 2002 were $1.0 trillion and $2.5 trillion, respectively. While originations -- including those from lenders not reflected in the OCCs data -- rose 150% from 2000 to 2002, mortgage loan complaints rose just 55%.

The OCC, which charters, regulates, and supervises national banks, reported that as a percentage of total loan complaints, mortgages have gone from 11% in 2000 to 23% for the first quarter of this year.

Home equity loans represented 4% of total first quarter loan complaints, the OCC data showed.

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